iPad Air review, price, specs: The $499 iPad Air is super lightweight, retain the incredible Retina display that has made Apple tablets impressive and touts the “power of lightness” in its specs. And despite its compact size, the unit has one of the fastest processors in the market today, the 64-bit processing A7.

But despite all the accolades for this small but powerful device that sports a fast 64-bit processor, the price is still a turn-off for some.

According to ZDNet, though Apple’s fifth-generation 9.7-inch tablet is faster, nicer and lighter, it’s still a “premium-priced device.” One of the downsides the tech site noted about the gadget is that it is expensive, especially if you want to accessorized the product for maximum business activity. The base model starts at $499 in the U.S.

In terms of design, the new iPad Air lives up to its name. It’s much lighter and thinner than the previous-generation iPad 4. In a review by ZDNet, it noted that it’s 20 percent thinner (7.5mm versus 9.4mm) and 28 percent lighter (469g versus 652g for wi-fi only, 478g versus 662g for wi-fi-plus-LTE). The new tablet is also 8.9 percent slimmer, primarily brought by thinner bezels.

The 64-bit A7 processor and M7 motion coprocessor in the tablet makes it a very fast device. The A7 delivers twice the processing and graphics performance of the A6X chip in the former iPad 4. Just like the iPhone 5S, the A7 is supported with 1GB of RAM and a low-powered coprocessor that handles sensor data from the accelerometer, gyroscope and compass according to ZDNet.

But in what could be the best feature of the new iPad Air and one that effectively eliminates the usual complaint of short battery life, the new iPad Air delivers up to 10-hours of battery life. Assuming no heavy duty use is applied, the iPad Air can be a workplace device that will last 9-5.

The space gray version of the iPad Air as well as its silver variant starts at $499 for its 16GB version. Compared to Google’s Nexus 10, the iPad Air is $100 cheaper than one of it’s most high-profile competitors.

For $500, would you still get an iPad Air? Or would you opt for something else?