iPad 2 Officially On-Sale Tomorrow Why You Shouldn't Buy It

The iPad is undoubtedly a huge success for Apple and in many opinions the best tablet on the market today. Trying to follow on that success tomorrow Apple is releasing it's traditional yearly product line update, one which most consumers will likely flock to. But should they?

For any of the Apple fans out there that currently own the iPad my answer is a resounding no and here's why!

We've heard the details, the iPad 2 is marginally thinner, lighter and slightly faster than its predecessor. In terms of actual upgrades it features a new cpu, more memory, a new case, dual cameras and of course the newest release of Apple's mobile operating system  iOS 4.3. This is all great and all but the details you need to focus on are the actual hardware updates which are the new Apple dual-core A5 processor the additional memory (reportedly double that of the old iPad) and the cameras. After-all these items are the only real reason you'd want to upgrade the weight and thickness are so marginal they would hardly be noticed.

For those that have an iPad even if you sale your current model you are going to have to add roughly $200-250 to purchase your iPad 2. Now stay with here. The total reported cost of the new parts you get are roughly in the neighborhood of $75-100. The cpu is somewhere around $20, the added memory tops out at $60 and the new front facing VGA camera, we'll say another $10-15. So you are spending roughly 2-3 times the actual cost to get only a slight increase in performance.

From the early reviews the camera, while a nice feature, is anemic to say the least. Why Apple decided not to upgrade either of the cameras is beyond reason but the new front facing camera is a VGA camera. The sensor is decent but nothing better than the iPod and a fair piece worse than the rear camera. Something most reviews scathed about.

The additional memory is a great add-on but hardly going to be noticeable for most tasks. iOS and most of its apps just don't use that much memory. The dual core cpu is probably the best overall addition and will give users an increase in performance. How much and how noticeable it will be will really depend on the users and the applications they use.

Personally I don't see a justification in terms of the price to performance. To me the gains just aren't there. If it were me I'd hold on to my iPad and wait for the next, hopefully bigger/better, release that should provide more features and overall more functionality. Make Apple release a meaningful upgrade not just another costly minor update!

Now that said, for those of you that don't own an iPad and are on the fence about buying a new one I'm not going to say don't. Any geek out there will agree the iPad is a great device and the entry level price point is hard to beat. The iPad also offers a ton of extras via the Apple App Store that have yet to be matched. The draw back is that there are a ton of competitors out there that offer as much if not more as the iPad. The Xoom is making major waves, the Samsung Galaxy Tabs are making a few ripples and there are a few alternatives coming down the pipes that could make a big splash.

So I guess what I'm saying is you should seriously evaluate your decision before you leap.