I’ve been using my new iPad this first week, and yesterday was asked about my initial impression.

I have to admit that it’s not necessarily love at first sight, although the iPad itself is a remarkably well built and designed product.

I’m not really a gamer, and spending time watching videos on a small screen is something I reserve for long flights to the mainland.

My goal in trying out the iPad was to hopefully create a minimalist computer kit for use on days when I don’t really need to haul around the full MacBook Pro with the whole array of high-powered software, from Photoshop to MS Word to a version of Windows XP. I figured that if it is possible to cut 5 pounds from the carry-around-town computer tool kit, it would be well worth the entry price.

So, in my view, the key is conceptualizing the right niche for the iPad’s capabilities, then finding the right array of apps to match my expectations in real use.

Okay, that’s the theory. Here are my impressions.

First, there are things it does well right out of the box. Email-aholics will relish the ability to casually pick up the iPad and instantly check mail while sitting around the house. Well, as long as you’re within range of a WiFi network. We have an Apple Airport network running in our house, and it works flawlessly with minimal setup. Web browsing? The initial experience is excellent. The browser is fast, pages render well, and are easy to read. Ebooks? I think Apple says iBooks? Reading is nice, although after not too long your arm will be tired of holding the iPad unless you’ve got a convenient lap or table to rest it on. No breakthrough experience here, but it works well.

I haven’t run into any online newspapers or magazines yet that pack the kind of “wow” factor that can be expected to save the publishing world, but I keep reading that they’re on the way. We’ll see.

But web browsing and blogging are hampered by the iPad’s current lack of multitasking. It can only run one application at a time, although an announcement this week promises an update to multitasking by this summer. Anyway, you can’t find something interesting on a news web site and quickly copy and paste it into a blog entry running in another window, as you would on your other computer. You can accomplish the same task, but it’s a much slower process. Select what you want to copy, copy it, go back to the main menu page, select the other program, paste into it, then return to the main menu page, go back to the Safari browser, and pick up where you left off.

In short, it will do in a pinch, on a short trip perhaps, but it’s not really made as a blogging platform.

I suppose that gets to the bigger point. The iPad shouldn’t be viewed as a laptop replacement, at least not right now. If you really need a laptop’s range of abilities in a light package, get a MacBook Air.

The iPad is really a subset of, or a complement to, a laptop. In terms of my purposes, it does a narrow range of tasks quite well, and you can manage a larger range of things in less efficient fashion. If you are interested in those things, the iPad can be a compelling buy.

There’s a learning or use curve involved. First there’s the virtual keyboard. I was quite frustrated by it when I first started playing with the iPad. Then I remembered that I had a similar experience when I first got my iPhone. I find myself quickly slipping into typing nonsense because the keyboard lacks any tactile guides for your fingers to rely on, so my fingers tend to slip out of alignment and start hitting random keys. And this keyboard is very sensitive, so the slightest touch adds unwanted characters to what you wanted to type.

At first, I reverted to the hunt & peck, two-finger style of typing. Later in the week, I was able to take somewhat intelligible notes during a morning-long conference. It required paying more attention to the act of typing than I’m used to, mostly in order to keep my hands aligned properly with the virtual keys while the iPad sat in my lap. But it worked better than I expected.

And battery life is great. I took notes during the 9 a.m. to noon conference, then worked most of the afternoon, and still had about 65% battery life at the end of the afternoon.

And, I admit, this was followed by a trip to the Apple Store to add their external wireless keyboard to the kit (cash register sound, ka-ching!). It only weighs 11 ounces, so it only adds modestly to the overall weight of the package, but makes more substantive typing a whole lot easier and more productive.

I should say that the Apple iPad case is quite nice and very functional except that it prevents you from using the iPad dock. I would have thought either (a) they would have been designed to be compatible, or (b) each would have a prominent warning to keep people from making the mistake I did of ordering the two incompatible items.

In terms of a carrying case, I dredged up an almost-new Tom Bihn bag I had purchased for my 12″ Powerbook just before the computer was stolen several years ago. It’s very light, the iPad (safely in its Apple case) slides easily inside the main compartment with the keyboard and a power adapter for Sprint “Overdrive” wireless broadband access point, which slips into the outside pocket.

The Apple ads refer to data and files transferring seamlessly between the iPad and the rest of your computer world. Well, I would have to say things are not yet quite as advertised, or at least it isn’t immediately clear to me how to get those seamless transfers.

I already use Apple’s MobileMe service, which gives you a bunch of online storage (which they refer to as the iDisk) for files, photos, web page, etc., and the ability to sync files, including calendar, contacts, and bookmarks, between computers.

Problems. First of all, the iDisk app is made for the iPhone, so appears on the iPad running at phone-screen size in the middle of the larger iPad screen.

And although the iPad can access the virtual storage on MobileMe, it appears to be “read only”. So I can open a file from my laptop that was uploaded to the virtual storage, read it on the small screen, but I don’t think I can edit it.

A quick check online makes it sound like transferring files that can actually be worked on requires a wired sync, so it’s not something that can be accomplished on the fly.

A further complication–the iPad comes with a version of Pages, Apple’s word processing software that they say can read and edit MS Word documents. But if I start with a Pages document from the iPad, apparently I need the latest version of Pages on my laptop in order to open it or save it in the more interchangeable Word format. Of course, wouldn’t you know, the version on my laptop is not the latest version (ka-ching!).

My workaround so far has been to write in Pages, or in the Notes app, then copy and paste the text into an email and send it to myself. Not ideal, but workable.

With new iPad applications appearing daily, there’s going to be a slow process of identifying and testing the things that will, I’m sure, eventually make all of this much simpler than it seems today.

How I wish I were just a gamer! This looks like a hot game platform.

Then there’s the WiFi issue. Some users have reported being unable to keep a signal even while close to a wireless router and while other computers aren’t having any issues. Apple has apparently acknowledged some problems and suggested interim fixes.

I have had some issues with the iPad losing the signal from the “Overdrive” 4G wireless hotspot that gives me traveling broadband service.

On the one hand, I sat at a bus stop one morning with the Overdrive in my pocket and the iPad easily connected, letting me check email and read news while waiting for the bus. On the other hand, I have experience dropped connections where the iPad has to ask for the password to log on again. So I give mixed reviews on that point. Generally, it works well but with some moments of frustration.

As it is, I feel the iPad is something like a camp kitchen. It lets you get some key things done away from the comforts of home without dragging along the kitchen stove and sink, and it does those things fairly efficiently, as long as you don’t expect all the comforts and conveniences of home.

But the iPad is different in that it does certain things as good as or even better than your other computers due to its form factor and intuitive user interface.