fast processing, lightweight, great display, excellent price

I had to replace my 4th Gen iPad because it died. Two years old and it just died. This is not typical of iPads and I tried not to hold this failure against them all. I found it difficult to not have an iPad, so I purchased an iPad Air (didn't have the money for an Air 2 because I had just bought one for my husband for Christmas). I am very happy with my iPad Air. It is quick, works well and is smaller than my 4th Gen. I was disappointed that the Air didn't fit my old Kensington Keyboard Cover, but was able to find one on Amazon for a reasonable price. I also bought Apple Care. It added quite a bit to the price, but my experience with the 4th Gen convinced me it is worth the price.

I got this when bestbuy is having this on sale for $499. I also get a 10% coupon from local post office. It's a great product at this price. Much faster and lighter than my IPad3.

The price was a big deterent but once you can overcome that you're in for a full iPad experience. Even better than the previous versions I used is the better display, smaller size & lighter weight. The battery appears to last longer and the ever Apple Store is also a big advantage. It's also very kids friendly. On the down side is the quality of the saved photos and the malleable aluminium body which can actually bend into a curve if you put too much weight on it. Overall, I think it's a great product for its generation.

Although not a game changer like the original iPad, which created a whole new product category, the iPad Air is simply the best iPad I have ever had. And I own or have had iPad 1, iPad 2, iPad 3, the original iPad mini, and an iPad mini with retina screen. The Air is light and thin enough that except for those times when I literally want to put an iPad in my coat pocket, I would rather have the larger screen and full color gamut of the Air than then reduced screen and more limited color gamut of the iPad mini with retina screen. Moreover, it is so much faster, lighter, and thinner than prior full-size iPads. Lastly, the bezel is thinner on the sides as well. All of which makes for about as much of a home run as possible short of the original's creating the tablet product market. Apple simply knocked it out of the park with this one. On a related note, new leather smart cases are also a hit. Good quality leather and fit like a glove that doesn't add much bulk to the form factor, a marked improvement on both counts from prior Apple cases. So much so that I haven't even thought about third party cases this time. In sum, Apple, there is in substitute (at least for tablets).