We've yet to get our hands on one of Apple's new iPads, and until we do we'll reserve judgment. But bloggers, journalists and tech geeks everywhere are sounding off on the hot new gadget. Here's what some of the tech pundits had to say. And, don't forget to vote in the TechFlash poll, where it looks like readers are satisfied with their Web-enabled personal computers and phones.

Devin Coldeway, TechCrunch: "It’s a big iPod. That much is clear — it’s not really a tablet computer. Of course, the benefits of a giant iPod are manifest: you can check email easily, movies and shows will look nice (though not full HD), and the e-books looked great. But the fact is you’re limited by Apple in every way they can limit you. It’s got all the same fetters as an iPhone and has no expandable storage or USB port. Until you hack it to run Chrome OS, you’re going to be using this thing exactly the way Apple tells you to. It’ll be nice if that’s what you want, but it’s not the universal tablet I was hoping for. Nevertheless, I see every secretary and PA carrying one of these in a month."

David Pogue, technology columnist, The New York Times: "Like the iPhone, the iPad is really a vessel, a tool, a 1.5-pound sack of potential. It may become many things. It may change an industry or two, or it may not. It may introduce a new category—something between phone and laptop—or it may not. And anyone who claims to know what will happen will wind up looking like a fool."

Mark Wilson, Gizmodo: "Apple didn't really sell this point, but it's the single biggest benefit of the iPad: speed. It feels at least a generation faster than the iPhone 3GS. Lags and waits are gone, and the OS and apps respond just as quickly as you'd hope. Rotating between portrait and landscape modes, especially, is where this new horsepower manifests in the OS."

Jonathan Glancey, architecture and design correspendent, The Guardian: "Bigger than a mobile phone and smaller than a laptop, the iPad will be carried around the house and in bags to and from schools, colleges and workplaces. Will its shiny plastic and metal surfaces scratch? How will it cope when it drops on floors and pavements? Will it need, and does it come with, a special bag to carry it about in and protect it? Just how robust will it be? Apple has surely addressed such questions, yet the proof of the digital pudding will lie in the e-ting. Meanwhile, expect to read – many times over – of how Steve Jobs really did look like a contemporar Moses at the product launch, coming down from Apple's very own Mt Horeb with what many computer pundits said would be called the iTablet. The iPad will do many things, yet I doubt if it will allow users to talk to burning bushes or strike water from a rock. With the hype surrounding this coolly sophisticated gizmo, you might expect nothing less."

Dan Frommer, Silicon Alley Insider: "Apple CEO Steve Jobs trotted out on stage in San Francisco today, promising 'a truly magical and revolutionary' new product. He didn't deliver. The Apple iPad, unveiled today, met base-level expectations -- it's a big iPhone. And to Apple's credit, it's cheaper than we thought, which will drive adoption. But Steve didn't show off any must-have features or applications. And after seeing the iPad, we're not nearly as impressed as we were after Jobs unveiled the iPhone three years ago."

Adam Frucci, Gizmodo: "A lot of people are psyched about the iPad. Not me! My god, am I underwhelmed by it. It has some absolutely backbreaking failures that will make buying one the last thing I would want to do."

Paul Miller, Engadget: In quite a few ways, Apple's iPad and iBooks announcement today was a shot across the bow of Amazon's Kindle. Sure, Apple played nice, even saying that Amazon has done a "great job of pioneering" the e-book space, but you can't help but think that Apple thinks of itself as the evolution of the Kindle, not mere competition."

Rik Myslewski, The Register: "Unlike Palm's webOS or Google's Android, the iPad's operating system remains a single-tasker - that is, when running third-party apps, since Apple reserves the benefits of multitasking for its own apps, such as iTunes. Also missing in action is any sort of a camera, either still or video. Of course, using a 240-by-180mm device as a point-and-shoot would be rather ludicrous, but those who had hoped that the iPad would include a front-mounted video camera for video-enhanced communication were disappointed - especially considering that the iPad does include built-in speakers and a microphone."

Mike Melanson, Read Write Web: "Minutes after the iPad announcement this morning, we all looked around and asked the same thing: Does it really have no camera? These days, we expect more and more that our devices will do everything we need. Take the iPhone, for example. It is a phone, mp3 player, Web browser and digital camera all in one. When Steve Jobs took the stage to announce the new iPad, he made one thing very clear. The iPad was not here to compete with netbooks, as netbooks, according to him, are simply less powerful laptops. We have to say one thing in defense of the netbook - at least it comes with a camera."