New IPad '3' Release: Consumer Reports Found More Pros than Cons

ConsumerReports.org heralds the new iPad for its revolutionary 2048 x 1536, 3.1 million-pixel display, describing it as a new benchmark in excellence, providing the best rendering of detail and color accuracy we've ever seen on a tablet display. 

The tablet's battery, which has been criticized by consumers for overheating and taking hours to charge, has been deemed as having longer lasting battery life than any other tablet, according to Consumer Reports.

While acknowledging that the new iPad gets warmer than the iPad 2, Consumer Reports carried out further tests and concluded that the warmer temperature was not an area of concern.

The new third-generation iPad gets up to 10°F warmer than the iPad 2, according to tests carried out by Tweakers.net. Their team ran GLBenchmark for five straight minutes on both the iPad 2 and the new iPad, and then performed a thermal image comparison. The lower left side of the new iPad measured up to 92.48°F, which Apple maintains is within normal thermal levels.

Apple has slammed the critique saying the new iPad operates well within the thermal specifications of the tablet.

I have been using the new iPad for almost two weeks -- a week before it was released to the public -- and I've seen no heat issues. I use my iPad every day over LTE and Wi-Fi, holding it my hand and on my lap and the device doesn't get hot, Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller told The Loop.

Consumer Reports celebrated other features of the new iPad including its 5-megapixel camera and its fast performance on Verizon's 4G networks.

The new iPad Features include:

 Processor: A5X quad-core processor touted as twice as fast and four times better performance than Tegra 3 chip.

Camera: 5-megapixel backside illuminated sensor on the back, 5-element lens, IR filter, and ISP built into the A5X chip.

Video: 1080p video recording.

Voice Dictation: Supports U.S. English, British, Australian, French, German and Japanese.

4G LTE: New iPad now has 21Mbps HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA at 42Mbps, with LTE taking the cake at 73Mbps. Verizon, Rogers, Bell, Telus and AT&T will be the LTE partners.

Battery Life: 10 hours of battery life still! 9 hours on 4G

Size: 9.4mm thin, weighing 1.4lbs.

Price: $499 for 16GB! 32GB is $599 and 64GB for $699.

Release Date:  In stores March 16.