I reeeeaallly want an iPad Air but I am trying to convince myself to hold of until the air 2... So hard to just not order one online or something.
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All iPads Anybody that's never had an iPad waiting until the new one?
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The ever popular response that rings true and makes the most sense.
"If you need it now, buy it".
Trying to hold off until the next one is announced or release may be longer than you expect and there's no guarantee that WWDC in June will make any announcements. In fact, the next products that are inline for an update are the Macs, OS X/iOS, Apple TV and of course the iPhone. iPad Air came out in October of last year. Apple could very well hold off until their usual September announcements for any iPad updates.
They may very well hold out until October, the next big announcement i think will be the iPhone 6, maybe then the iWatch, so the iPad may not come until October again. I too want an iPad Air 2, but for the moment i can hold on to my iPad 3.
The bottom line is do you want an iPad because you have use for it, or just to be cool? If you have a real use for it, don't worry about getting the "latest and greatest", and get the iPad Air because it most certainly a great device, and it won't suddenly be useless when the next iPad comes out. My Dad is using my 1st Gen iPad now, and it serves his needs for now.
I have wanted a touch screen tablet for a while, but I will only buy one if I will use it. I only consider iPad tablets because the usability is head and shoulders above the current competition.
The iPad 2/3/mini (A5) web browsing and app switching was slow enough compared to my laptop that I wanted to use my laptop instead.
The size and weight of the iPad 4 (A6) was too close to my laptop, and my laptop was much more powerful, so I wanted to use my laptop instead.
The iPad Air/rMini (A7) now has a fast enough internet speed, the OS is fast enough, and the size and weight are close enough. But the tab switching and page refresh bug in iOS 7 safari has caused me to wait for either 2GB RAM or significant safari optimization. When one of these happens, I'll use an iPad often enough to make a purchase worth the money.
The "If you need it, buy it" statement does not pertain to this situation. I don't need an iPad, I want it, and that is true for most people. The real question is "buy it if you will use it enough for the purchase to be worth your money."
To answer your question, I would either buy the refurbished iPad Air now or wait until the iPad Air 2 release, which will most likely happen between July and September.
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Or you could use any of the dozens of excellent third party browsers. On the rMini I use exclusively Mercury. Safari for the occasional link 'copy' four finger swipe left, drop and paste into the Merc bar, and instantly populated! iCab is also excellent. I like Mercury for its 'memory' of how you enjoy the page (if you're revisiting)...font size will be adjusted for you the way it was when you left, easy full screen switch, excellent 'sharing' options, bookmarks from Safari import. There's nothing 'slow' about the UI for sure. If you're on capable wifi or buy an LTE model you'll forget there's a safari 'reload' bug (there isn't. It's fast as hell and ain't getting any quicker!)
Too easy to get caught up in the noise on forums, critical reviews, etc....but when it comes to reality, that is EXACTLY why iOS, iPad specifically has ruled the roost for browsing, buying online, enjoying video, music, magazine or book of choice. And with close to a half million iPad 'optimized' apps available, you're BOUND to find a 'connection' with the Air. The developers are aiming at that A5/6 market right now ( the masses) and the Air is computationally anywhere from 30-125% quicker than the '4'. Graphically (other than a weird triangle GL bench) the iPad Air is in the order of 100-300% faster! Who cares about RAM! It's got plenty....if you know you're going to do some intensive work, kill the other open programs, boot your game, video/audio NLE/DAW of choice and go to town
Don't give up on iPad ownership because Safari has a 'bug'
A. It doesn't. It wipes the floor in literally ALL Browser and SunSpider/JScript benchmarks with the completion...including the latest '2014' hardware.
J
PS...you have NO idea what you've been missing
. I love my laptop too. But the iPad, the Eco system open to us with the power and efficiency that lasts one an entire weekend away from the socket. Put the laptop down. Read a book, play some games or surf the web again trying the third party browser market. It doesn't matter what you're into, your hobby....it's there, it's represented. You just need to quit over justifying your purchase and pull the trigger! Check out the warnings call. The 'happy' people. The ones that KNOW their next tablet is an iPad. As soon as the other one comes out, it's irrelevant. The prior year model is always holding its value. Trust me, from experience if you take care of it you'll be able to recoup 70-85%. Buy refurb maybe closer to 90-95
Good luck
J
Too easy to get caught up in the noise on forums, critical reviews, etc....but when it comes to reality, that is EXACTLY why iOS, iPad specifically has ruled the roost for browsing, buying online, enjoying video, music, magazine or book of choice. And with close to a half million iPad 'optimized' apps available, you're BOUND to find a 'connection' with the Air. The developers are aiming at that A5/6 market right now ( the masses) and the Air is computationally anywhere from 30-125% quicker than the '4'. Graphically (other than a weird triangle GL bench) the iPad Air is in the order of 100-300% faster! Who cares about RAM! It's got plenty....if you know you're going to do some intensive work, kill the other open programs, boot your game, video/audio NLE/DAW of choice and go to town
Don't give up on iPad ownership because Safari has a 'bug'
A. It doesn't. It wipes the floor in literally ALL Browser and SunSpider/JScript benchmarks with the completion...including the latest '2014' hardware.
J
PS...you have NO idea what you've been missing
. I love my laptop too. But the iPad, the Eco system open to us with the power and efficiency that lasts one an entire weekend away from the socket. Put the laptop down. Read a book, play some games or surf the web again trying the third party browser market. It doesn't matter what you're into, your hobby....it's there, it's represented. You just need to quit over justifying your purchase and pull the trigger! Check out the warnings call. The 'happy' people. The ones that KNOW their next tablet is an iPad. As soon as the other one comes out, it's irrelevant. The prior year model is always holding its value. Trust me, from experience if you take care of it you'll be able to recoup 70-85%. Buy refurb maybe closer to 90-95Good luck
J
On the rMini, how does the page load speed of Mercury, without the Nitro JavaScript engine, compare to Safari? Is it as fast as a good laptop? And is there an easy way to sync OS X Safari bookmarks with Mercury bookmarks?
Another reason I wasn't interested in the iPad Air/rMini was because its iOS 7 multitasking view was slow and very stuttery, and web browser scrolling was also less smooth. This was on 7.0.x, which was when I looked at the iPad Air/rMini. Are all of these issues fixed?
I bought an Air the day it was released, and I've never noticed it being slow, stuttery or not smooth. The only thing that I've noticed is that Safari does reload more often than it did on my iPad 3, but as another poster mentioned, if you are on a fast enough connection, it's not really that annoying. Other than the reload, the Air is every bit as fast and smooth as my iPad 3 in every respect.
Was this slow and stuttery iPad a display model at a store? Just buy one from somewhere with a return policy and try it out at home. iPads aren't for everyone, but playing with one in a store isn't going to give you a true idea of what it's like to have one. The best part of an iPad experience is curling up with one on the sofa, or in bed, or on the train, or while waiting in the doctor's office. That's not something you can experience while playing with a display model tied down to a table.
The iPad Air was a display model, so that could have been why it stuttered.
I have had experience with iPads though. I looked at the iPad 1 and 3 when they were released. Web browsing, wireless, and multitasking were slightly too slow on an iPad 3 compared to my laptop, and it was almost as big and heavy as my laptop anyway, plus it got very warm.
For me, safari is noticeably faster than third party browsers on A5 devices. But on an A7 device, how does the page load speed of third party browsers compare with safari?
I always do my best to wait until the new release if possible. I recently bought a mini ipad but only because I wanted it for an upcoming trip, otherwise I would've waited for the next release.
When I realized I first wanted an iPad was about 8 months after the iPad 1 was released and it seemed like a long wait for the iPad 2 to be released but I was happy I waited. So I'd say wait for the next update.
When I realized I first wanted an iPad was about 8 months after the iPad 1 was released and it seemed like a long wait for the iPad 2 to be released but I was happy I waited. So I'd say wait for the next update.
I don't use third party browsers, so I can't tell you if they are faster than Safari. I don't really notice a difference in speed between Safari on the Air vs on the iPad 3. But then I never noticed a difference in speed between the 3 and web browsers on my computers, either. If I think about it, the computers are probably faster, but I never feel like the iPads are too slow.
The Air does improve on the iPad 3 in terms of getting warm. The 3 was the worst iPad in getting too warm. I think the best ones in terms of not getting warm were the 1 and 2. I skipped the 4, so don't know about that. The Air very occasionary gets warm, but nowhere as often or as warm as the 3.
In terms of weight, the Air is a tremendous improvement. Although, which laptop was it that felt as heavy as the iPad 3? The iPad 1, I can imagine that it might have felt as heavy as a 11inch MBA, but from 2 on, I'm having a hard time thinking of a laptop model that would feel as if they weighed the same.
Thanks for your help!
For the weight: my laptop is heavier than the iPad 3, but there was not a big enough weight difference. I felt that, for my usage scenario, the iPad 3 was big and heavy enough that I ended up using my speedier laptop anyway.
Sorry if I've missed it, but what is your usage scenario?
For me, I knew I wanted the iPad from the moment the first one was announced, because for years, I've wanted a laptop without the keyboard. I like to read in bed, and for that, the keyboards always got in the way. There were these laptops that sort of folded over into a tablet, but they were way too heavy and pricy. Even the original iPad, heavy as it was, was heavenly because it had no keyboard.
I've always liked having a keyboard with a laptop because I use keyboard shortcuts to speedily control most everything. So it never crossed my mind that I would want a laptop without a keyboard. But when the iPad was released, I could see the iPad replacing a few of the tasks I do on a laptop. Plus, I was intrigued my the novelty of a bigger touchscreen and the potential for new computing applications.
One thing I didn't like doing on my laptop was reading. When the iPad came out, I thought it would be great for reading and web browsing and also videos and apps. But compared to a book or kindle, the iPads 1-4 were too heavy, large, and conspicuous to hold and carry everywhere. It was easier to place a laptop on my lap than to constantly hold the iPad. And I didn't like the XGA screen resolution for reading because the text looked pixelated. But now, the retina iPad mini and possibly the iPad Air finally have the right form factor and resolution for me.
I think at least 70-80% of my iPad usage is reading. I sometimes do type on it, like I'm typing this post on my iPad right now, but a physical keyboard is a lot faster if I have a long document to type.
The rMini and Air are both great devices for reading. I prefer the Air, partly because I have bad eyesight and partly because my mobility issues make the smaller touch targets on the mini a bit awkward to deal with. But for most people, I think the rMini makes a perfect reading device.