Many of you showed interest in the Kobo ereader that Beth reviewed last week. I recognize geeks like myself when I see them, so I'm happy to review the iPad for you, and introduce you to, yes, a Canadian alternative!

The whole 'Pad' phenomena is a bit confusing ... just when we were all excited about the big capabilities of the small iPhone, the iPad came out, in Canada, in May of this year. But what is it? Is it just a big old iPod? Technically, it is a tablet computer, and comes somewhere between a laptop and a smartphone. Does that help?

People who have tried the iPad, love it for reading books on, playing games and watching movies. It is also supposedly wonderful for displaying your photos on, reading email, listening to music, word processing, spreadsheets and presentations. Cool!

Some say that the book reading capabilities alone are worth the price, despite some drawbacks. Your book displays just like a, well, a book! The pages look like paper and make a papery turning sound when you flip them with a finger! Being able to read in landscape mode rather than portrait is a huge benefit as well and since the battery lasts for about 10 hours, depending on how fast you read, you could really make headway on War and Peace!

Here in Canada, our very own Research in Motion is getting ready to launch their Blackberry PlayBook, complete with a 7-inch screen, Flash-capable video and a front and rear high-definition camera.  This means that you can video conference right on it! It is 9.7 millimeters, and weighs a tiny  .9 pounds. In contrast, the  iPad is 9.56 inches (242.8 mm) x 7.47 inches (189.7 mm) and weighs 1.5 pounds (.68 kg) for the Wi-Fi model and 1.6 pounds (.73 kg) for the Wi-Fi + 3G model. Relatively hefty compared to the PlayBook. You can do all the same cool stuff on the PlayBook that you can on the iPad, just not yet.

RIM is planning to release the PlayBook  in 2011 which, at that time,  will only be able to connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi.  Of course, RIM is planning on offering up 3G and 4G versions down the road. While the iPad starts at $499, no price has been quoted yet, for a new PlayBook.

So do you need one, especially if you already have a laptop and/or a smart phone? It seems that the key features of this type of computer are the portability and convenience. The touch screen eliminates the mouse and keyboard. They are light and manageable with one hand. You can carry them around easily. I don't know if I need one, but I sure would like one! What about you? Does it seem worth it or just something else people want for the cool factor?

 :: images courtesy of Buy Canadian First members.

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