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What type & size of Ipad do I really need?

C

CyrusOz

macrumors regular
Original poster
I plan to run my ipad's internet access off my Imac by using the airport setting rather than having a seperate internet service (I can't justify purchasing a second internet service if I don't need to) for the Ipad and I think i'll only really need the Ipad to use apps or read books or the odd movie when I'm filling in time in waiting rooms or commuting etc. I guess I'll always leave the bulk of the movies on the Imac and transfer single movies or a few at most across to the Ipad so I can take them with me. I huess I'll probably use the Ipad for viewing photos and as a slideshow picture frame when family come over.

So based on this type of projected use, does anybody really think I'll need anything larger than a 16gb with Wi-Fi? I'm not sure I'll need the 3G version as most places I go will have Wi-Fi access available anyway.

Oh yeah, very important question.... does the Ipad display books that are in pdf format? If so do they display them very well? I gave up transferring pdf books to my Iphone and Blackberry as the text only shows up so tiny that I can't read it, and if I zoom in it get's so pixelated that I can't read them that way either which sucks. So with the Ipad can I only read ebooks that display in the internet browser or in the ebook dedicated viewer, or can I view books in various file types?

Thanks for your assistance with these annoying questions peeps. 😕

CyrusOz
 
From the sounds of it, the 16GB WiFi version is all you need. The extra space will probably be wasted if you rely primarily on your desktop for media. You can also try something like Air Video ($3 in the App Store) to access media via WiFi. 3G was a good deal when unlimited was still an option, but the hardware premium and effective cost of service won't provide much benefit for you.

The upcoming 1.1 version of iBooks (shipping with iOS4 next week?) will allow PDF reading alongside the ePub formatted books it currently uses. Other formats or files protected by something other than iBooks' DRM are not supported by iBooks, but may be viewed by some other app should one be available for that purpose.
 
Sounds like you've already made up your mind to get the WiFi model, which makes sense considering the needs you've expressed. Now the only thing you need to decide is how much memory. If your main goal is to read books then the 16 g model, as someone else suggested, would fill the bill. If you plan on doing other things (playing movies, music or storing other large files) then you probably want to look into either the 32 g or 64 g.

Oh on the movies . . . I just downloaded Alice in Wonderland (newest version with Johnny Depp) and it took almost 2 g (about 1.86 I think).
 
I think you should go for a 32gb
With a 16gb you'll eventually end up deleting things to make room for new things like I'm doing with my iPod touch, I find it much handier to have everything on my iPad at once
And once you watch a movie or tv show on your iPad you you'll want to watch more just because it's fantastic with a large screen
 
harry*333 said:
I think you should go for a 32gb
With a 16gb you'll eventually end up deleting things to make room for new things like I'm doing with my iPod touch, I find it much handier to have everything on my iPad at once
And once you watch a movie or tv show on your iPad you you'll want to watch more just because it's fantastic with a large screen
Click to expand...

Good points. I have an old 8GB Touch that is full with one movie, a 200 track playlist, and the rest apps. Video content will surely help eat through storage like nobody's business. Even with iPad apps being larger than their iPhone/Touch equivalents in general, you really only need to dedicate, overestimating, 8GB for apps. 16GB should still be enough. That said, if you have $100 to spend, get the 32GB instead.

And movie watching on the iPad is not as quite great on my end. The antiquated 4:3 aspect does not play friendly with widescreen content (read: nearly every single movie). Certainly better than on my phone due to screen size and quality, but 4:3? In this day and age? Really?
 
Fantastic assistance peeps, thanks very much. I think i'll go for the 32gb WiFi as a minimum, the 64gb if that's all that's available.

Thanks again, you've made my purchase so much easier/simpler. 🙂
 
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