Apple's iPad 2 goes on sale

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Lindsay Pigg was at The Woodlands Mall when the doors opened at 6:30 a.m. Friday to wait in line.

She was first in line of almost a dozen people waiting outside the Apple Store for the 5 p.m. local time release of the iPad 2. The tablet computer will replace the original for many, including Pigg, who bought theirs and have since returned or sold them off.

“I returned it because I bought it not long before the announcement of the second one,” she said Friday morning.

Residents are only allowed to buy a maximum of two units per person, said A.J. Clark, a resident in line who planned to buy two.

“I’m looking forward to the cameras on the new one, especially for things like video chat,” Clark said.

The tablet was released at 5 p.m. local time at all 236 Apple stores, as well as Best Buy, Verizon, AT&T, Target and Wal-Mart, according to Apple. The new design is 33 percent thinner and consequently lighter than the previous model released April 2010.

The new unit has a dual-core A5 processor and two cameras, including a front-facing camera and a rear one that shoots 720p HD video. The units are selling between $499 and $829 depending on the memory capacity of the different models.

“This is the most powerful one and has a lot more processing power,” Clark said.

The original iPad sold more than 15 million units in its first nine months of sales; CEO Steve Jobs emerged from his medical leave to announce the release of the new version, which is seeing tablet competition from other Motorola, Dell and Samsung.