So I got my hands on one of those 16GB iPad and, although I’m residing in Canada, it was fairly easy to get believe it or not. Now what do I think of it? Well it is pretty much the coolest, easiest and fastest way to access your stuff on the web, playing games, viewing photos and watching videos that you’ve ever experienced. Seriously. So all the hype was, say, adequate. But it is not without flaws for sure.

It has no file manager, no camera and no Flash support. The first two are a bummer. Flash? Meh it’s no biggy for me and don’t miss it. The biggest bummer has to be the lack of a camera. That is tragic…come on Apple! Think, Skype maybe? Video conferencing? Eeeh how about iChat?! Hey you can’t have it all, right?!

Now let’s talk about some key features…

The virtual keyboard – The keyboard is impressively quite useable. In portrait mode or landscape I have no problem with it at all. It takes a bit of times to get used to it but, once you grab hold of it, it’s just fine. Perhaps not for writing a novel but it works fine for blogging, Facebook and stuff like that.

Positioning and Weight – The darn thing ain’t really light. The specs read 1.5 pounds which may seem like nothing but holding the iPad in the air while reading an e-book can get uncomfortable. Of course, it’s relatively small size and accelerometer allows you to rotate the device to any angle you wish in a breeze so it always remain in a pleasant position. Fed up of reading in landscape then rotate to portrait.

The Web – Steve Jobs was right at the introduction back in January: You’re no longer “browsing” the web your “holding” it in your hands! Surfin’ the web on this thing is just awesome. Smooth, vivid colors; everything looks alive and more personal it seems.

Gaming – Thanks to its fast processor playing games on this thing is really really cool. Mind you I haven’t tried any heavy games on it yet but some of my personal favorites like Virtual Pool HD and Labyrinth 2 HD (both designed for the iPad) runs very smoothly and fast; no hiccups! I’m going to try heavier games later this week.

Needless to say I am enjoying the iPad, so far. I have very little doubt that anyone with an open mind, who’s curious about trying out new techno things will love the iPad. Can it replace your laptop or PC? Well that all depends on what you do. Think of it as a lite computing device for everything that’s done “in the cloud” such as banking, blogging, YouTube, Facebook and so on. It’s an amazing gaming device and book reader as well. But it could also be used for so many other things and for working professionals in various areas.

Q&A for my hommies who can’t wait until late May to get the Canadian version:

Can I access the App Store from the device? No. The Canadian App Store is not up yet. However, you can get a lot of iPad apps through iTunes on your computer then sync them to your iPad. Even with a Canadian account it works. Just open iTunes and do a search for “iPad” and a bunch of iPad apps will show up. Or just search for an app name and iTunes give you both results for iPhone and iPad, if available.

Can I purchase and download iWork apps from iTunes? Nope, not yet. No iBooks either.

Can I download the Kindle e-book reader? Yes, that one is available on the Canadian iTunes store already. Some free and cheap books are up for Canadian customers too.

Can the iPad replace my laptop or PC? It can if you want to! But don’t expect that you’ll be able to install Microsoft Word on it. The iPad is not really designed to replace anything. It’s a new class of computer, lightweight, loooong battery life and very very easy to use it’s not even funny.

Can I carry it to the club tonight? Like I said, it’s not going to be out for another 5 weeks here in Canada so don’t get too drunk because you’ll be crying to your mamma the next morning.

Questions? Don’t be shy…