This is to open a healthy debate. Please remember, its not to hurt anyone who doesn't agree with me or who are apple fanboy/ fangirl. Your thoughts are highly appreciated
As someone who went through an ipad 1, 2, and chose the 3 - after testing the 1 and 2 for about a week each, I will respond in general and say you are incorrect overall, but will respond to each point:
1. Same design but fatter and heavier - 50 g heavier than iPad 2 and 30 g lighter than iPad. What a retrograde style, amazing !!!
Heavier battery = heavier weight. Blame the battery manufacturers for not having better technology...Captain Picard's tools are not yet available.
2. 4G won't work outside US - so its an incomplete 4G device but you have to pay same price even you get 3G only speed in your country!
My whole area is 4G, and since I don't travel much outside the US, this is not an issue, and would be for most people.
3. Battery is huge which takes more time to charge. The feature (4G) that is backed up by this huge battery does'nt work in Europe. So you carry extra weight (and spend more time and electricity) for nothing !
How do you know that the 4G system will not work in EU in the near future?
4. Its dual-core (tricky) processor, anyway. Cant be as fast as quad-core for example, Tegra 3.
IIRC the ipad 3 is quad-core.
5. Camera in most cases is useless but nice to have. You still fight in low light conditions. May be Apple is hoping someone will bring flash with 30-pin connector for iPad. They (want to make us) love to carry end numbers of accessories
Flat-out wrong. The ipad camera takes FAR better pics than my kodak digital camera, my blackberry bold (which is also 5 MP), and my Canon Elph. The ipad camera is superb, IMO, FAR superior to the one on the ipad 2.
6. Front camera is s(h)ame. Apple dont want someone see blackheads on your face!
Not sure about that claim, but who cares - its for video phone calls, not for highly detailed pictures like on the back one.
6. Give me one example of tablet with mono (single) speakers. iPad really stands out here!
Am perfectly happy using the external speaker as is, it works fine for me for the video streaming. The thin shape of the ipad disallows woofers or other types of speakers which require more depth, so having stereo on such a thin device would be pointless. If you want better sound quality, use the headphones.
7. Old cases (that are body-fitting) becomes obselote.
You claimed above the progressing forward with improved technology is important, but now you attack apple for doing that. Future iterations of the ipad will no doubt change its shape further. You're under no obligation to purchase future editions requiring new cases.
8. Adding a portfolio case to new ipad becomes almost the same weight as ultrabook, for example, MBA 11.
Not true, I use the Targus Hughes, which is a leather case and while it adds weight, is hardly troublesome. I walk around with it all day long, and it does not bother me at all.
9. Retina Display is gorgeous but not always practical requirement. The texts will become sharper but anyway you have to zoom to avoid eye strain for reading small texts (and large texts are pretty readable), same what you do with iPad 2. Now, app size is increasing and Apply s(t)ick to 64 GB at most.
The reason I opted for a 3, even after realizing how amazing the ipad 2 is, was the screen first, then the processor. I spent alot of time comparing the 2 screens - and there is no comparison. You look at websites like the NY Times, and the difference is astounding.
10. If you are business people (do work with office files, send email with multiple attachments and transfer files between other devices very often), you still have to rely on other tablet/PC.
Hardly, I use superb apps like Goodreader for emailing my clients, and other apps for mailing multiple attachments.
11. Still no higher (external) storage option
If you run out of room, delete excess files you don't need. I have a 64 GB, and if i fill it up then I am not efficiently handling all of its contents correctly.
Bottom line, I thought the ipad 2 was a superb device, and would have kept it had i not walked into an apple store and compared the NY Times site on it to an ipad 3 in the store - it was night and day.
Mind you, the refurb ipad 2/64 GB/wifi for $549 is a steal for an excellent machine, and might be the best overall deal/price-point for all of the ipads, but i am VERY happy with my ipad 3, and would recommend it to anyone seeking a tablet with a top-notch screen and long battery life.
