[HarryT]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

I recently went in a competition to win an iPad.
After thinking about it, I realised I'd end up selling it unused.

You appear to be suffering from some quite alarming misconceptions. Permit me to enlighten you.

Books? My liseuse suits me fine already.

Yes, the PRS-600 is an adequate bookreader, but the real benefit of the iPad when it comes to books is that it's "format-agnostic". By installing different reading apps you can buy books from, and read books from pretty much any eBook store, whether it be Amazon, B&N, Waterstones, or whatever. No dedicated reader can do this.

Videos? The download costs are atrocious.

Download costs? What download costs? If I want to watch video on my iPad, I copy it to the iPad via my PC, just as you do with books on your Sony.

Games? I prefer a real PC or console for real games, thank you.

I'm not a game player, but I would imagine that having the ability to play games on the same device that can do so much else would be a real bonus.

Internet? It looks third rate and doesn't have a keyboard, and the download rates are again atrocious. No Flash (again).

It makes a superb mobile internet device. I really have to ask how much you've actually used an iPad? There is a "soft keyboard" because it's not meant to be a full-time data-entry device, just like there is a soft keyboard on your PRS-600. The difference between the iPad and the PRS-600 is that, if you do wish to use it for significant amounts of text entry, you can do so with a "real" external Bluetooth keyboard.

Apps? Expensive, and they cost to download (and run).

There are currently something like 230,000 apps available. A great many of them are either free, or cost very little. Eg, the apps that I use most often on my iPad are:

iBooks
Kindle
BBC News
eBay
PayPal
Wikipedia
Met Office Weather

and they are all free. There's only one app that I've bought, and that was the unabridged Chambers Dictionary, which I paid about a quarter the price of the paper version. I'd say that's pretty good.

The only way to transfer to and from the device is by mobile phone network, which costs a fortune!

The main method of getting files onto the iPad is via a USB cable, just as you do with your Sony. You can transfer files wirelessly, but to say that it costs a "fortune" is a little disingenuous, to say the least.

Even if it was Wi-Fi enabled, it wouldn't be good enough given the lack of network connectivity I would face!)

"Even if it was Wi-Fi enabled"? That's a strange thing do so, given that all iPads do indeed have WiFi. Perhaps you're getting confused with your PRS-600, which has neither WiFi nor 3G?

Battery life? Practically next to none.

I recharge my iPad once a week, which is the same interval at which I charge my PRS-600. Usage-wise, I'd say that the PRS-600 and iPad have a very similar battery life. It's not as good as the Kindle, but considerably better than the nook. Is that "practically next to none"? For me it's not, but perhaps you consider that the battery life of your PRS-600 is also very poor?

I'm not attempting to rouse on Apple here - it's just not a useful product.

Do you really think you're in a position to judge whether or not it's useful? I don't mean to be impolite, but you don't really seem to know very much about it. 3 million+ people have obviously decided that it is a useful device. I certainly think it is.