I own a copy of every type of iPad, and have been working with them from 2 months before they were available in Aus. Have rolled out several thousands of them over the past three years, lost count of the actual numbers, but I'm up to 600 odd this year (my day job is in education)
In all that time I've had just 2 DOA and 2 original iPads that suffered premature battery death. All replaced under warranty. Not bad quality control, you'd have to be unlucky to get a dud one.
They can also survive a hell of a beating and still be usable. I had one that was 'banana'd', glass all but destroyed, and still worked, but the home button was intermittent! (Didn't get warranty on that one!!!)
(Despite all that, my preferred backup is paper!)
Last edited by garrya100; 3rd May 2013 at 10:51.