I've been trying a variety of browsers and a few other apps for the iPad. Things definitely start to make sense when you've got some decent software installed. It's still not perfect, and it's still Apple, so I may just jump ship to another device quite soon.
It strikes me that the iPad is best used as a Reader - I suppose that is all it's meant to be (without extra peripheral keyboards). So, I thought I better have a look at the Kindle - I didn't know it had free 3G browsing. I think that is enough for me to try one - I'll post a new topic elsewhere on the forum about it...