Yes, I know – I am usually a bit of an apple-basher. However, I have to admit, I have found a pretty big exception.

A close relative of mine recently got her hands on an iPad 2 with Wi-Fi and I couldn’t resist giving it a play with.

Being an iPod touch 4G owner myself, I’m quite familiar with the iOS software – so that was nothing new to me really. However, there are evidently some crucial advances from the iPod touch to the iPad which make it such a joy to use.

First of all – the screen. It is, well and truly, the best touchscreen I have ever used. Full stop. The on screen keypad is just so joyful to use – I’ve never known a keypad which is so easy to type on without making mistakes.

And simple things like web browsing just seem to be so much more fun on the decent 1024×768 screen – although you do sometimes miss the retina display when you own an iPod touch or iPhone.

I’ve never been very happy with the price of Apple gadgets – but I think the iPad 2 makes the starting price of £399 quite justifiable. I still think the iPhone is stupidly overpriced – but I could just about put up with the price of the iPad.

It isn’t quite as portable as I’d like with it feeling quite heavy after a while, but for a home tablet it seems ideal.