If, however, you envision yourself primarily reading on your new iPad, you may well benefit from getting that new iPad and its Retina display. Once again, the iPad 2's screen isn't lousy by any stretch, but prolonged reading periods may cause less total eyestrain with the high-resolution display in the new iPad ensuring the crispest text possible.

In fact, there's only one iPad use case which entirely rules out the iPad 2 as an option--and that's if you intend to use your new tablet as an oversized still and/or video camera.

The iPad 2's rear-facing camera lousy. It takes blurry photos little better than a non-smartphone's junky included camera. The new iPad's front-facing camera is unchanged from what you'll get in the iPad 2, but it's intended primarily for video chats. The rear-facing camera, on the other hand, is a 5-megapixel iSight camera. It won't measure up to what you'll find in an iPhone 4S, but it's certainly comparable to the iPhone 4's camera.

That said, an iPad makes an awkward camera: It's big, and holding it up to snap photos requires two hands. But if you expect to use your iPad for photography, spring for the new model.