When I purchased my first gen iPad about a year ago the only use for work I had in mind was to show work samples or presentation slides to potential employers or clients. It has a great screen and is fun to flick images. Things have changed for the better in the past year. In addition to a lot of interesting games, there are many useful apps for architects. I'm in no rush to get rid of my laptop but it's good to know that I don't have to lug it around everywhere. With apps like autodesk WS, I can open a dwg file from an email attachment right in my ipad and view it, mark it up or do some basic editing. I was a bit unsure of the speed or ease of use but I was surprised. Though my 16GB ipad ran out of memory on my first try but no issues after I restarted it. I guess its time to start saving for a 32gb ipad 2 :)
For those of you interested, I have made a list of some of my favorite ipad apps
here> apps-for-architects Please add your fav in comments. It's always better to get first hand review of apps from fellow architects!