Is the iPad all that?

The short answer is yes. It is the next generation of mobile computing.
Even before I got the iPad, my iPhone started eclipsing my MacBook Pro as the goto computer e-mail, Facebook, Web surfing, checking news, etc. H and I frequently joked that my MacBook Pro was an obscenely large phone charger.
The iPad has accelerated that process. Its larger screen makes Web surfing and e-mailing much better. Web pages are readable and typing e-mails a breeze. Facebook is even better since it is possible to use the Web interface. (The iPhone app makes Facebook usable on the small screen, but it cannot match the full Web interface.)
I have used my iPhone for blogging, but it was not something I'd choose to do. On the iPad blogging is a joy. The bigger keyboard makes typing easy. I also like the spell checking. The iPad not only points out spelling mistakes, it offers suggestions to correct the mistake. I use BlogPress which is a universal app.
Along the same lines, I've also used pages to write fairly lengthy documents. Again, I found the key board easy to use. It is best using in it landscape mode is much better than portrait, but that is a problem for Pages. In landscape mode all of Pages controls are hidden. This means that you have to flip back and forth to do any formatted text. Pages also falls down when it comes to transferring documents between the iPad and a computer. The process is convoluted and lossy.
For pure fun, the iPad rocks. The ABC app is magical. The shows are clear, smooth, and portable. There are commercials, but they are not as egregious as watching on cable. The games I've played are also kicking. My two favorites are Harbor Master HD and Parcel Panic. The graphics are amazing and the speedy processor handles the action without a hitch.
Running iPhone games on the iPad is a mixed bag. They looked lost on the screen when played at regular size. When played at 2x they are pixelated. For some games, the pixelation is not too big a deal. For others, it is a deal breaker. One advantage is that all the games play much smoother than they do on my vintage iPhone.
The iPad also shines as an e-book reader. iBooks does a decent job displaying crisp text. It also does an excellent job displaying images. The built-in dictionary is a nice touch, as is the ability to look up words in Wikipedia. The bookstore software makes getting books easy. The UI eye candy is a nice touch even if it is useless.
Is the iPad perfect? Can it replace my laptop? No. It cannot do any photo editing. I haven't found a decent money management app. The storage capacity is tiny. There is no way to print from it. I cannot find replacements for some of the applications I use for work that will run on it. (Although there are a number of apps that will allow me to connect to my work computer to use them.)
Of course most of the problems can be solved by software. Eventually a developer will create apps that fill in the gaps.
When that happens, my MacBook Pro will truly be just a very large phone charger.