Video performance impressed across multiple apps, including the video player, HTML 5 Web video, and third-party apps like the ABC Player (in horizontal, full-screen mode). Still, I had mixed experience with YouTube videos in both standard definition and high definition (it was unclear whether this was due to a network latency issue or to the iPad YouTube app, though video played more smoothly at a lower resolution on my iPhone 3GS at the same time). For example, when I played the Avatar movie trailer in high def, it stopped playing while it loaded in the background and then caught up. Disney's official HD trailers had the same problem. Once the HD video loaded, it played smoothly; but loading was a bottleneck. More-standard fare, like YouTube content such as Miley Cyrus's "The Climb Official Music Video" (shown in HQ mode) exhibited notable pixelation.

Graphics designed for the iPad--in particular, graphic novels from IDW and Marvel--and the realistic, fluid page movements in iBooks looked stunning; so did games designed for iPad, and high-resolution photos. But the iPad's attempts to scale iPhone apps to fit its larger screen fell short. Text and graphics in these apps looked blurry and were filled with artifacts; the effect was much like what you get when you try to view standard-definition video on a high-def screen.

Another oddity: The iPad has a single speaker, at the bottom of the unit--not a great arrangement if you want to lean it on your lap, since that action will obstruct the speaker. Though the iPad's speaker sounds better than the ones on, say, the iPhone or the iPod Touch, that's not saying much. Audio lacked bass and depth; and the lack of a stereo option feels was disappointing.

Another hardware omissionis the absence of a camera, which means that you can't use the unit for videoconferencing. There's no multitasking either, though that's rumored to be coming in a software update. And you don't get any storage space; if you want to view images from a camera, you're only recourse is to buy the $30 SD Card dock adapter or the $30 USB port adapter. Unfortunately, neither of these options allow you to use the iPad in a way that mimics a more versatile netbook. Also, the device's inability to accept a USB flash memory drive and to access any of an array of file types is unfortunate and hampers its ability to compete with less expensive, slightly bulkier, but more .

A final notable omission is Apple's lack of Adobe Flash support, which means that the user can't view content from as-is services like Hulu and the full YouTube catalog on the iPad. Though some sites are switching to HTML 5, the iPad's lack of the far more common Flash format is disappointing.