So, I have had the iPad for a few weeks now (since the day before launch) and I have to say that I am astounded by this device!

I received my iPad 3G + Wifi 32GB the day before launch with several accessories including the iPad Dock, Keyboard Dock, Camera Adapters, VGA Cable, Extension Lead, and Apple iPad Case (reviews to follow).

First impressions where how neat the boxes are, recently Apple have been doing a really good job on cutting down on packaging, and I would say they have succeeded in every box which was delivered to me, except for the iPad itself. Though, the box was beautiful (and I probably wouldn’t want it any other way) it did seem to waste a lot of packaging.

Anyway, on to the important stuff: The iPad itself.

Having lifted the lid of the box I was greeted by a sheet of black glass, and that, essentially, is it. The 9.7″ LED-backlit display is just stunning, with a 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi), and a huge viewing angle (thanks to the IPS display) the iPad really is all about the screen.

Flipping the iPad over reveals, what I think is, an even more beautifully design aspect of the device (perhaps hindered slightly by the black bar of the 3G version, but nonetheless a beautiful design, which frames the black Apple logo in the centre of the aluminium rear of the device wonderfully.

Since the iPad runs iOS (previously iPhone OS) the only button essential to it’s operation is the home button, which is situated and the bottom centre of bezel surrounding the iPad’s display. The iPad’s design has been criticised by a few tech blogs for having the roughly one inch thick bezel around the display, but in actual fact this is entirely necessary for the function of the iPad, to ensure that there are no unnecessary touches of the iPad’s multi-touch display.

A feature I originally thought I wouldn’t find at all useful on the iPad is the screen rotation lock, however, after a few weeks with the iPad it has come to be something I use a lot, to stop it rotating when reading a book in bed, or when watching a film on the train.

The iPad is marginally heavier than I had expected, but in a good way. It feels solid, and well made – it makes you feel that you have paid for quality. The iPad sits in your hands nicely, not too heavy that you can’t hold it for long, and not too light that you’r worried it will be knocked out of your hands.

A sign of a good piece of design and engineering is one that looks as though little effort has gone into it’s design, but the Hardware of the iPad has been well thought out by Jony Ive (Apple’s SVP of design), who has clearly put a lot of effort into it’s design, although it appears simple, and effortless. Yet another success for Apple.