Well I have been using my “New” iPad for a couple of weeks and am very pleased with it.  For starters I have not noticed any heating issues that have been referenced by others.  For full disclosure I am probably a typical user – email, web browsing, composing letters and emails, some spreadsheet work but I am not a gamer so do not push it hard.  By the way, I still love the Belkin keyboard case.  The keyboard is detachable which allows for a variety of ways to type when you are not on a flat surface and having the “right shift key” makes touch-typing realistic.  Having said that, I have used the “New” iPad to watch live broadcasts and some short subjects.  Battery life seems comparable with my original iPad – I did not have the iPad 2 – and have not witnessed any issues with the battery lasting the full day and often times more than that.

The new retina display is gorgeous with everything sharp – a noticeable improvement over my original iPad – again I did not have the iPad 2.  Due to increased battery size, the “New” iPad weighs more than the iPad 2 but is still lighter than the original iPad so to me there is no issue here.  Having said that my guess is that the small increase in weight over the iPad 2 is negligible and probably not noticeable unless you have one in each hand.  But the real kicker is the 4G LTE connection.  Today, I had my first opportunity to use the “New” iPad in a 4G LTE area (here in Tonto Verde we only have 3G) and the difference is nothing short of amazing.  For instance, there were 7 app updates for the iPad and 4 for my iPhone.  I started the iPhone updates first but the seven updates for the iPad were completed a number of minutes – I did not time it but it was over 5 minutes more – before the 4 for the iPhone running on 3G!  As a matter of fact the connection speed was noticeably faster than what I have at home on my wireless network and a guaranteed 12 meg connection from Cox. Hard to believe. Can’t wait for the new iPhone which is rumored to have 4G LTE.

So why would one purchase the “New” iPad?  For those with the iPad 2 I suppose it is a tough call unless you are in a 4G LTE area and routinely do things where the speed increase really pays off.  But for those of us that have, or had, the original iPad I think the additional features are worth the upgrade.  Additionally, as I noted in an earlier post there is a market for your current iPad which helps offset the cost of acquiring the new one. I had another reason to upgrade.  My original iPad was on AT&T that does not have the coverage or speed that one can acquire from Verizon – my “New” iPad is on Verizon.

As I am writing this post, I received a review by Walt Mossberg, the Wall Street Journal tech writer, about the new Nokia phone and in it he highlighted the differences between 4G LTE service for AT&T and Verizon.  Here is Walt’s comparison.  While Walt’s comparison is on a phone I suspect that the same hold true for iPads.

And if LTE—which I consider the only true 4G network in the U.S.—matters to you, bear in mind that AT&T offers that service in just 31 markets, versus 203 for Verizon. In most places, the Lumia, like other AT&T phones, including the AT&T version of the iPhone, delivers a slower version of 4G, which is really just a souped-up version of 3G.

In the end, your own circumstances will drive whether or not the “New” iPad is worth the jump but if you do I doubt that you will be disappointed.