I have had a Nook color and HP Touchpads and another Android tablet. I jumped on the iPad because I'm a screen junky. I loved the screen the moment I saw it, and retina is pretty crazy. Although I prefer AMOLED displays, the retina is pretty amazing.
As far as the upsides/downsides here is my take as a non iOS user prior to my iPad.
Positives:
Screen is amazing
Battery life rocks ( 10+ hrs easy especially on my wifi model. I have been on it all day, recorded about 15minute of video at the air show and played air supremacy online for 30 minutes and I have 15% left since 9am.)
Well built (feels good after playing with some 'premium' tablets using plastic for the rear panel)
iOS is built for tablets. Sliding panels in twitter and most other apps is very nice.
The camera is amazing for a tablet (see included photo)
Negatives:
iOS gets annoying (lack of a back button, most navigation buttons on top of screen gets old in portrait mode)
A little heftier than the iPad2 but it's worth the extra weight.
Not a factor:
Warm back - don't listen to the others. The back gets warm but is nothing unusual. If you've ever picked up your laptop after running for a while and it's warm under it, that's what it feels like.
All in all I love my iPad and wouldn't trade it for anything at this point.
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