It took me a long time to get onto Apple’s online store and order a new iPad, but the trouble was worth it. The new Apple tablet looks to be incredible.

By the way, Apple calls it the new iPad. But what’s its official moniker? The iPad 3? The iPad HD? The New iPad? I like “iPad HD,” so that’s what I’m going with until I see Apple officially calling it something else.

I do wish that Apple offered a 128GB version. Or at least an iPad with an expansion slot. We also didn’t get the haptic display technology that some folks were predicting. But I wasn’t expecting it. Of course, for the iPad 4, who knows?

The advance buzz on the iPad HD has been great. This is from “CNET”: Neither the newest MacBook Air nor new Intel ultraportable laptops can boast that kind of display resolution and none offer a standard model with built-in broadband–and certainly not the LTE variety of 4G, which is considered the most promising. Even on the chip front — considered a big advantage for Intel — Apple graphics chip technology is catching up to Intel’s built-in graphics silicon. And none of the ultrabooks — though considered extremely svelte–are as portable or thin as the iPad.” (Read more at http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-57391849-64/ipad-hd-will-surpass-laptops-on-key-features/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title .)

And here’s what “Reuters” (http://macte.ch/iNsyt) has to say: “Apple Inc is betting a 4G-equipped iPad will tempt more U.S. consumers to pay extra to watch high-quality video on the go, and in turn, give Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc a revenue boost. Until now, Apple’s fan legion has been reluctant to shell out extra money even for iPads with 3G connections. The cheaper Wi-Fi-only model — with more limited Web access — is by far the top-selling one today.

“The newest iPad will be capable of operating on a high-speed 4G ‘LTE,’ or Long-Term Evolution network, according to a source familiar with the product. At speeds roughly 10 times faster than current 3G technology, that may go a long way toward banishing the sometimes shaky video quality of older devices.”

— Dennis Sellers