Reviews from the folks who Apple sent an iPad to early are starting to come out. What did they think?

Boing Boing's Xeni Jardin called the device a "a touch of genius," and added:

Flick the switch and the novelty hits… The display is large enough to make the experience of apps and games on smaller screens stale. Typography is crisp, images gem-like, and the speed brisk thanks to Apple's A4 chip and solid state storage. As I browse early release iPad apps, web pages, and flip through the iBook store and books, the thought hits that this is a greater leap into a new user experience than the sum of its parts suggests.

Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal and AllThingsD said the iPad comes close to being a laptop killer:

If people see the iPad mainly as an extra device to carry around, it will likely have limited appeal. If, however, they see it as a way to replace heavier, bulkier computers much of the time — for Web surfing, email, social-networking, video- and photo-viewing, gaming, music and even some light content creation — it could be a game changer the way Apple's iPhone has been.

The New York Time's David Pogue took a look at the iPad from two angles. One for techies:

The bottom line is that you can get a laptop for much less money — with a full keyboard, DVD drive, U.S.B. jacks, camera-card slot, camera, the works. Besides: If you've already got a laptop and a smartphone, who's going to carry around a third machine?

…And a review for "everyone else:"

The Apple iPad is basically a gigantic iPod Touch…

The bottom line is that the iPad has been designed and built by a bunch of perfectionists. If you like the concept, you'll love the machine.

The only question is: Do you like the concept?

Gizmodo has a tidy matrix of additional reviews. You can check it out here.

Via Gizmodo