We have had the Aple ipad for about six months, since our last laptop broke down. at the time we considered buying a laptop with a high spec, but decided to buy an ipad and lower spec laptop instead (I'll explain in a minute)
For starters the iPad looks great, as with most apple products, and is very easy to use especially if you are already familiar with an iPhone etc. Apps are downloaded in the same way etc. In fact it is very much like using a big iPhone, just without the facility to call or text. Not all the same Apps are available for the ipad, but you can download iphone apps for the ipad and use them in the same way, they just look a little different on the screen.
The biggest advantage of the ipad is how instantly you are able to use it. I bought a smartcase, which essentially turns the ipad on and off as you 'open it'. In my opinion you really need this to make the best use of the ipad. Previously, with a laptop, If I wanted to look something up on the internet it would take a few minutes for the laptop to get going. with the ipad I open the smart cover, enter my password and go straight to my internet browser in seconds.
The other advantage is how portable it is, which also makes using Skype much easier, as you can be sitting on the sofa with the ipad chatting to your friends and family.

Ok, so now the downsides, and why at the moment it cant replace a laptop.
1) You cannot connect things like a memory stick to an ipad. As we have a digital camera, the only way to upload our pictures from this is onto the laptop.
2) You cannot (easily) print from an ipad. I do believe there are Apps out there to allow you to do so but from my research they are very expensive
3) It does not have storage in the same way as a laptop, therefore you can't keep lots of files 'saved' on your ipad. it also doesn't support things like JAVA. you can keep lots of song and pictures on it if you want, but I don't really see the point. I have a Flikr account which means I can access all my pictures if I want to without storing them on the ipad.

I decided to go for the wifi version only over the 3G option as I only wanted to use the ipad at home, and so this is a much cheaper option, and I didn't want to be tied to another mobile phone type contract of paying out monthly. If you do take the ipad out of the house then you can still use it anywhere you can get wifi etc for example in hotels or cafes.

So there you have it. It wont replace a laptop in my opinion but it is a great little piece of kit