The iPad 2 won’t be here for two more days, but Macworld, Engadget, and others are flooding the Twitternet with the reviews we’ve all been waiting for. Reviewed in ebony and white with all of those colorful smart covers, your purchasing decision was just made easier.

Joshua Topolsky:

It might frustrate the competition to hear this, but it needs to be said: the iPad 2 isn’t just the best tablet on the market, it feels like the only tablet on the market. As much as we’d like to say that something like the Xoom has threatened Apple’s presence in this space, it’s difficult (if not impossible) to do that. Is the iPad 2 a perfect product? Absolutely not. The cameras are severely lacking, the screen – while extremely high quality – is touting last year’s spec, and its operating system still has significant annoyances, like the aggravating pop-up notifications.

Jason Snell:

The iPad 2 also has 512MB of RAM—twice that of the original iPad—and a 200MHz bus speed, likewise twice that of the original.

Though the iPad 2 is an improvement on the original iPad in numerous ways, it’s still an evolutionary product, not a revolutionary one. If you’re happy with your current iPad, there’s no reason to dump it just because there’s a shinier, newer one. (This is not to say that millions of people won’t do just that. I mean: shiny!) If you’ve invested in iPad accessories such as a dock or case, keep in mind that you probably won’t be able to use them with the new iPad.

Walter S. Mossberg:

Apple’s design wizards have made the new iPad feel much airier. Placed on a table between the original model and the new Motorola Xoom, it makes the others look bloated. Its top surface doesn’t even reach the side buttons on the original model. It has much more sharply tapered edges, and a new, optional, white color adds to the sense of lightness. While the 1.33-pound weight isn’t that much less than the original’s, I found the difference noticeable when carrying the device.

David Pogue:

My friends, I’m telling you: just that much improvement in thinness, weight and speed transforms the experience. We’re not talking about a laptop or a TV, where you don’t notice its thickness while in use. This is a tablet. You are almost always holding it. Thin and light are unbelievably important for comfort and the overall delight. So are rounded edges, which the first iPad didn’t have.

MG Siegler:

The single biggest change form a physical perspective is the thickness. Holding the original iPad now feels a bit like holding a slightly bulky monitor compared to the iPad 2. The iPad 2 feels much more like holding a clipboard — albeit a mildly heavy one. The move to cut the thickness from 13.4mm down to 8.8mm really makes a huge difference when you switch from holding one to holding the other.

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