Original iPad VS iPad 2

Original iPad VS iPad 2, which one do you like better? The iPad 2 will be available in the US from March 11th on the airwaves of AT&T and Verizon. Customers in Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, UK and other lucky countries will be able to purchase this amazing gadget from March 25th. What is the difference between an original iPad and iPad 2? With more new features of the new generation of iPad, let's see what is changed on iPad 2.

1. Size

The iPad 2 follows the style of super-slim iPod touch, measuring 0.34 inches in thickness and weighing in at 1.33 pounds. These changes might sound subtle, but once you feel the iPad 2 in your hands, the difference is significant especially when carrying the tablet for extended periods of time. Apple is quick to point out the iPad 2 is 33 percent thinner and up to 15 percent lighter (depending if you buy the WiFi or WiFi+3G model).

2. Processor

The original iPad featured 256MB of RAM and the A4 chip, a 1 GHz processor also used inside the iPhone 4, Apple TV and iPod touch. The iPad 2 doubles the memory to 512MB and uses the dual core 1 GHz A5 chip. This means significantly faster performance in single operation and multitasking environment. What does this mean in the real world? More RAM means more simultaneous apps. A dual-core processor will make those apps runs faster even when other apps are running in the background.

3. Pictures and Video

The lack of a front or rear-facing camera on the original iPad was one reason many, including myself, took a pass. The iPad 2 features a VGA front-facing camera which records 30 frames per second and a back camera which records 720p HD video, also at 30 frames per second. When taking still shots you’ll also be able to use the 5x digital zoom on the rear camera. The addition of cameras will be huge when using Skype for iPad, FaceTime or PhotoBooth for iPad. Those three apps alone might be worth the upgrade.

On the back, there’s an unimpressive 1.0 Megapixel camera that also includes 5x digital zoom, geotagging and is still capable of 720p HD video capture. A second 0.3MP camera on the front can be used for video calling, via Apple’s own FaceTime app or Skype.

4. Apps

There are two new iPad applications which will come preinstalled on the iPad 2 once it hits the stores on March 2nd. The two apps FaceTime and PhotoBooth obviously won’t come to the original iPad due to the lack of a camera. Though we’ve seen hackers enabling FaceTime on iPad 1 to receive video and voice chat.

In all probability the PhotoBooth app will also come to the iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4G too, unless the GPU on these is not capable enough to handle the rendering. In that case we’ll see in on iPhone 5 in June.

5. Multimedia

As you'd expect from a device with twice the power and up to 9 times the gaming performance, the iPad 2 is a pretty immense entertainment device.

As well as the additional horsepower you're treated to gyroscopic sensors for more accurate game control, front and rear-facing cameras for 720P video capture and FaceTime calling plus mirrored HDMI-output, meaning you can play your games, watch your movies and surf the web on your big screen HD television, no set-up required!

The original iPad is no slouch in the fun and games department though, with access to the same huge library of apps as the iPad 2, and the same impressive display which does even the most visually striking movies and television shows justice.

Conclusion: According to the comparison above, we may find iPad 2 is absolutely the winner. It isn't all doom and gloom for the original iPad either though, as the arrival of a new and improved devices usually pushes the price of hardware down nicely, and we confidently predict that the original device will see something of a resurgence as it's opened up to sections of the market that might have been precluded from ownership previously, by the high price-tag. A new generation of a device is sure to have its own shining point. All in all, you need to make a comparison from all aspects according to your own needs. Our original iPad VS iPad 2 reviews is just for your reference.

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