Having had a play around with the iPad, I can see the appeal but I can’t see the justification.

The day after it came out, I had a play around with it in the new Best Buy store in Southampton. As an iPhone owner – after quite some time of resisting – it was nice and easy to get to grips witht the tablet offering from Apple. I could quite easily see myself sitting on the couch with one browsing various sites while not really paying attention to the TV. In essence, I could see it filling the gap that never really existed between my (Windows) laptop and my mobile.

But, what I don’t get is how you can possibly justify the price tag, bearing in mind what it does – or rather, what little it does, pound for pound. I can have a quick gander at news websites on my iPhone. If I want to watch video, I’ll do it on my laptop or Playstation 3. If I want to quickly check my email, my phone will let me quickly do so, while I can clean out my inbox using the computer.

The few brief minutes I had messing around with the Apple iPad proved that it is very good at what it does. Very good. Did it convince me it was worth it? Erm, no. Far from it. I’m sure if I would one I would love and cherish it – the sort of reaction all Apple products seem to provoke for some reason or another (although I think my 3GS is far from perfect, by any stretch of the imagination). The basic iPad, at £430 can only do a fraction of what my three-and-a-half year old, £500 Compaq laptop can.

I’m interested what the incoming tablets from other manufacturers bring. The apparent cancellation of the Microsoft Courier is a blow, as that genuinely looked like something new and different. HP’s Slate looks like it may also be around the £500 point, which will more than likely put me off. So I guess we wait and see what the Android family comes up with.