The "New" iPad: My Initial Impressions

I stopped by the local Best Buy last Friday and picked up the latest edition of Apple's iPad. I think it is officially called the "new" iPad, but in my mind it is the iPad 3.

I purchased the low-end iPad - the 16GB, Wi-Fi. My original was the 32GB, Wi-Fi. Prior to making the purchase, I checked my original iPad to see how much memory I had used. I had used only 8GB. I don't store videos or photographs iPad, so most of my usage comes from apps and resources for Logos Bible Software.

Here are my initial impressions:

• The retina display is nice, but unless you have an original iPad sitting next to the new iPad, I'm not sure you could see the difference. Part of this has to do with the fact that several of the apps I use have not upgraded yet to support the higher resolution of the new iPad.
• The new iPad is clearly faster than my original iPad. I notice this when writing an email and attempting to add an email address into the "to:" field. On my original iPad, I could touch the field and type in the first letter or two of my contact, and it would take five seconds or more to autocomplete the address. With the new iPad, the autocomplete is almost instantaneous.
• It could be my imagination, but it seems that the battery life is draining faster than it did with my original iPad. Clearly, my usage habits haven't changed in the last couple of days, but it seems the battery is draining faster. I started the day with a full charge this morning, and by mid-afternoon I am down to 75 percent. I would estimate I've used the iPad for a total of two hours so far today for mostly email, web browsing, and writing. I am using my bluetooth keyboard right now, but I've only had the bluetooth turned on for the past hour.
• Again, it could be my imagination, but it seems like the new iPad is generating more heat than the orignial. I do have a different case with the new iPad, but I can't see how the case would make that much difference, especially when I have the iPad propt up for writing. If I touch the back of the device, it is clearly generating quite a bit of heat. Is this normal?

So, my initial impression of the "new" iPad is mixed. Clearly, I appreciate the improved speed and retina display, but, if it is indeed true that the battery has less stamina than the original and the device is generating a lot of heat, those will be major drawbacks for me.

Is anyone else experiencing similar symptoms with the new iPad?