Use your iPad – or your iPod touch or iPhone – as a guitar amp thanks to this lead that connects to your guitar. Download the iShred Live app and you can create effects while you play. Ideal for practicing on the go.

Origami Workstation (incase, £19.95)

Ingeniously simple, the Origami Workstation holds an Apple bluetooth keyboard (sold separately) and when you’re ready to work it folds open to reveal the keyboard and create a stand for the iPad. Dock the keyboard with your iPad and you’re ready to go. For those who want to occasionally use their iPad for a lot of typing, it’s a much nicer solution than most of the keyboard cases available.

Professional Case with Bluetooth keyboard (iLuv, £79.99)

However, if you do prefer a keyboard case to the Origami Workstation, this is a good -and affordable – option. The case will hold your iPad and the keyboard is magnetised, meaning it will stay in place when you want it to but can also be removed if necessary. The keyboard is not as pleasant to use as Apple’s bluetooth model but some people will be swayed by the fact that the case will protect your iPad too.

i4 Charging Station (iDAPT, £39.99)

Put simply, this is brilliant: any household that needs to charge multiple gadgets on a regular basis should own one. Though we’re listing this as an iPad accessory, iDAPT can supply attachments to charge all manner of mobile phones, tablet computers, ereaders and handheld games consoles. Just choose the attachments that meet your needs and click them into place. The i4 will charge four devices simultaneously and is a great way of cutting down on cables.

Powerdock Dual (Griffin, £49.99)

If, like many people, you own an iPad and an iPhone this gadget will let you charge both at once, while also providing a place to keep your keys and loose change. The ‘valet dish’ is very much a matter of taste – the iPad can look slightly monolithic when it’s in position. But if you like the way it looks then this is a very tidy way to charge both gadgets at once.

i-Station Base (Logic 3, £59.99)

A dock is handy if you want to use your iPad to play music or as a digital photo frame. It will also charge the iPad as well. This dock, from Logic 3, is low-key and puts the emphasis on functionality. The sound from the speaker is clear and powerful. There’s an app for it, which lets you display local weather, a world clock and more, as well as allowing the included remote control to operate the iPad. And thanks to a removable connector, the iPad can sit in the dock in either portrait or landscape mode.

Fidelio Primo DS9000 Premium Speaker Dock (Philips, £409.95)

It’s not cheap but this speaker dock, which features a real wood cabinet, is designed to deliver high quality sound. Its curved design will look good in any room and the dock can take an iPad, iPod or iPhone so there’s plenty of flexibility when it comes to which member of the family will be in charge of the tunes.

Smart Cover (Apple, from £35)

It’s Apple’s own accessory that takes the crown as the must-have add-on for the iPad 2. Unlike the official cover for the original iPad, which was prone to collecting dust and hid the gadget away, the Smart Cover barely adds to the thickness of the iPad 2 and keeps the design visible. However, it’s most impressive feature is the ease with which it attaches itself magnetically to the iPad 2. More magnets put the iPad 2 to sleep when you close the cover and wake it up again when you remove it. The cover folds into a triangle to act as a stand for the iPad 2 either for typing or for watching video. The Smart Cover is available in leather or polyurethane and comes in 10 colours, from subdued black leather to bright polyurethane pink.

Best iPad Accessories

After it was announced back in January, the unfortunately named Apple iPad ($699 direct, 64GB Wi-Fi) seemed like it could be the company’s first major clunker in a long time: An expensive niche product that would inhabit a nebulous region between laptops and smartphones, but wouldn’t quite eliminate the need for either one. Aside from Apple enthusiasts, many of us wondered who would drop hundreds of dollars for this not-quite-computer. But having used the iPad for some time, I can tell you that the device just makes sense. When you combine basic-but-essential work tools with iWork, an improved browser, e-mail, iPod, and photo applications, a well-executed e-Book platform withiBooks, and throw in thousands of downloadable apps and games, and package it all in a gorgeous, slim slate with a beautiful 9.7-inch touch screen, you have yourself a winner. Is the iPad cheap? No. Is it flawless? Not at all. Omissions including support for multitasking, a built-in camera for video chats, and Flash support in Safari leave room for improvement, but otherwise, the Apple iPad is a very convincing debut. And it will undoubtedly be a driving force in shaping the emerging tablet landscape.

The Basics, Pricing, and Design
There are two different iPad flavors: Wi-Fi-only and Wi-Fi + 3G. (This review will focus on the Wi-Fi-only iPad, see ourApple iPad 3G review for details on the 3G-enabled version.)

Pricing starts at $499 for the 16GB Wi-Fi-only model, and continues like this: $599 (32GB Wi-Fi only); $699 (64GB Wi-Fi-only); $629 (16GB Wi-Fi + 3G); $729 (32GB Wi-Fi + 3G); and $829 (64GB Wi-Fi + 3G). Remember, if you buy the Wi-Fi + 3G model, you’ll need to pay AT&T for 3G coverage. (The device is locked to AT&T’s network, so you can’t use another mobile carrier.) You can opt to pay for coverage on a continual monthly basis ($14.99 per month for 250MB or $29.99 a month for unlimited data). There’s no commitment or contract to sign, so you can switch your 3G service on and off whenever you like, and with no service, your 3G iPad will still be able to connect to the Web via Wi-Fi. In the U.S. you can purchase AT&T’s 3G service right on your iPad 3G.

The iPad measures 9.56 by 7.47 by 0.50 inches (HWD) and looks a lot like a giant iPod touch($299, 32GB, ), except for its brushed aluminum back (the iPod touch has a shiny metallic back). From all the hype, you might expect it to be featherweight—and if you’re tucking it into a bag, it’s a lot lighter to tote than a laptop—but at 1.5 pounds, the iPad feels a little heavy when you hold it up with a single hand for long periods. The 9.7-inch LED-backlit IPS touch-screen display, which features 1024-by-768-pixel resolution, is framed by a 1-inch black border. If you’re holding the iPad vertically, below the display you’ll find Apple’s familiar Home button which, when pressed, whisks you back to the iPad’s main screen. Along the top panel, there’s a headphone jack, a microphone, and an On/Off button. The left panel is clean, while the right panel houses the volume rocker and the screen-rotation lock, which is a Hold button for the accelerometer, so that sudden moves don’t unintentionally shift the iPad’s screen orientation. The built-in speaker and proprietary 30-pin connector live on the bottom panel. It’s also worth noting that the hole that appears below the surface above the display is an ambient light sensor.