You're going to laugh, Dave, but my kids keep figuring out the simple four-digit numeric passcode I use on my iPad. They then log in and read my email, buy stuff, and generally raise Cain. It's awful. I don't want to lock up my device. Is there a way I can have a more complicated, harder to guess password or passcode on my iPad 3?

You've seen people with skins or stickers on the back of their Apple iPad devices. Looks tricky to put them on, doesn't it? In this video I'll show you step by step how I put a cool SkinIt sticker on the back of my new iPad! Video by Dave Taylor of AskDaveTaylor.com

Psyched to get my new iPad and, even better, I'm selling my older iPad 2 to my brother-in-law. All good, but I need you to tell me how to erase everything on the iPad before I give it to him. I know that there's a simple sequence for reformatting / erasing everything on an iPhone, but can I do the same on my iPad?

Since I assume you see them all, Nook or kindle, color or black and white? Bbased on best overall value, usefulness and ecosystem. Leaning toward kindle fire due to Amazon ecosystem and prime... plus free book rentals from library.

I love my Apple iPad. I think it's way better than the Kindle can ever be, and in addition to using it for games and Internet, I also want to be able to read books on the iPad, but I don't want to pay for the books through iTunes, which is expensive. Instead, there are tons of free-to-download books on Google Books and similar. Can I get any of those and read them on my iPad?

It's one of the great ironies in modern technology: progress keeps rushing us towards smaller and thinner, lighter and more flexible, but every step in that direction makes our gizmos more fragile. Think about your friends with smartphones. How many live with a cracked or shattered screen because they can't afford to replace it? How many laptops have defects because they've slipped off a desk or someone's put too much weight on it when closed?

The Apple iPad is a beautiful example of this conundrum. The latest iPad 2 is an amazing feat of engineering, so thin and light that it's almost unbelievable that it can be so powerful with that footprint.

But drop it even two feet from a table onto a tile or concrete floor and you'll be heading to the Apple Store for a replacement, grumbling all the way.

Apple makes an iPad case but its Smart Cover is more about protecting the glass surface than protecting the entire device from any sort of fall, which is a problem. As much as I want to tote around my iPad without any protective cover at all, it's a risky business.

I took the plunge and added "personal hotspot" service to my AT&T iPhone and it seems pretty cool, but I'm not sure of the best way to tap into the personal hotspot wifi with my new iPad 2. I'm a bit afraid to just mess things up. Got any tips?

Just bought a new Apple iPad 2 and want to prep your old iPad 1 for resale? You might be lucky and sell it to a relative (or be really nice and give it to them, for that matter), in which case it isn't a crisis if some of your information remains on the device, but if you're tapping into Craigslist or eBay, you'll want to know exactly how to reformat the iPad back to its out-of-the-box state for the new user.

I saw that Apple released a new version of the iOS firmware for the iPad and iPad 2 and want to update my iPad to run the latest and greatest. Is there a way I can do that with just an iPad, or do I need to have my computer involved with the iPad update too?

Hi Dave. I have an iPad and have really enjoyed using it, but now that the iPad 2 is available from Apple. Well. I have to get it. Shiny toy syndrome and all that. My question: what's the fastest and easiest way to configure my new iPad so it has all my apps, music, videos, etc., from the original iPad I have?