Keith,
my wife and I both have had Ipads since the very first ones were available. We use them for all kinds of things besides my music requirements.
As far as my music gigs are concerned I now do not have to carry a truck load of books because I have nearly 5000 leadsheets in PDF format on my Ipad. This is important to me because I don't play by ear and have very few songs memorized - even after decades of playing them.
Run down to any of the local stores and try one out. Ask the sales person to demo them for you and show you other options as well. Right now, no other manufacture compares to Apple for the numbers of Apps available.
Deane