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Buying advice: iPad 1 or iPad 2

J

JimmyMac123

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 20, 2010
4
0
I've been thinking recently of getting an iPad now that the 1st gen costs less than the 2nd gen. But I just cant decide between the ipad 1 and the ipad 2.

These are the prices for the 1st gen ipad:

16gb wifi only: 350€
32gb wifi only: 399€

iPad 2nd gen prices:

16gb wifi only: 479€
32gb wifi only: 579€

I'm a business student and also have an office job. I do a bit of traveling to conferences and seminars. And feel that an iPad would be a better fit for me when i'm on the go. Usually I travel with a MacBook but rarely open it up.

I would use the ipad for:

Checking email
Writing email
Web browsing
Skype calling and chating
Movies
YouTube videos
Reading PDFs
Taking notes


Can you help me to decide which model I should buy? should I buy the ipad 2 or save my money and buy the ipad 1?

Thanks in advance
 
In terms of actual performance, the only difference between the 1 and 2 is how fast it is and how much RAM it has. So the 2 will load pages and apps faster (though not "oh-my-god-how-did-i-ever-live-with-the-first-gen" faster) and the extra RAM means you're far less likely to have to wait for web pages to reload when you switch between windows in Safari.

So unless you've got the type of personality where every millisecond of speed will have you a little less likely to tear your hair out, you don't need to feel like you're missing out on a lot by going with the first-gen. Is the iPad 2 nicer? Yeah. But if €130 or so is a meaningful amount of savings for you, then buy the first-gen and you should be quite happy.
 
C N Reilly said:
In terms of actual performance, the only difference between the 1 and 2 is how fast it is and how much RAM it has. So the 2 will load pages and apps faster (though not "oh-my-god-how-did-i-ever-live-with-the-first-gen" faster) and the extra RAM means you're far less likely to have to wait for web pages to reload when you switch between windows in Safari.

So unless you've got the type of personality where every millisecond of speed will have you a little less likely to tear your hair out, you don't need to feel like you're missing out on a lot by going with the first-gen. Is the iPad 2 nicer? Yeah. But if €130 or so is a meaningful amount of savings for you, then buy the first-gen and you should be quite happy.
Click to expand...

I received my 1st Gen the day before the 2nd Gen went on sale, and I am very happy with my decision to save some money and get more power (32gigs).
 
Get an iPad 2. But wait a bit and see if Apple fixes the backlight bleed issue.
 
Last edited:
Whichever fits your budget.

Newer apps and games will make better use of the better processing power of the 2.

If buying now there is no doubt in my mind go for 2.
 
hoofbite said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_6 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E200 Safari/6533.18.5)

Get an iPad 2. But wait a bit and see if Apple fixes the backlight bleed issue.
Click to expand...

i have no backlight bleed issue in normal use. if i go looking for it, ie go into a pitch black room and change it from 50% brightness to 100% brightness and look extremely closely, then there is some slight bleed in the corner. but since i'd never use 100% brightness in a pitch black room and look at it that close to my face, then its a non-issue
 
C N Reilly said:
In terms of actual performance, the only difference between the 1 and 2 is how fast it is and how much RAM it has. So the 2 will load pages and apps faster (though not "oh-my-god-how-did-i-ever-live-with-the-first-gen" faster) and the extra RAM means you're far less likely to have to wait for web pages to reload when you switch between windows in Safari.

So unless you've got the type of personality where every millisecond of speed will have you a little less likely to tear your hair out, you don't need to feel like you're missing out on a lot by going with the first-gen. Is the iPad 2 nicer? Yeah. But if €130 or so is a meaningful amount of savings for you, then buy the first-gen and you should be quite happy.
Click to expand...

Yeah the 130 € between the 16gb is something that could be spent somewhere else. And the difference between the 32gb models is 180€!

I have an iPod Touch 3rd gen that I bought back in 2009 and still use today. It actually has the same RAM as the iPad, i'm just wondering if it (iPad 1) will be slower than my iPod touch 3rd gen because of the size? But I haven't been too frustrated with the performance.
 
andythursby said:
i have no backlight bleed issue in normal use. if i go looking for it, ie go into a pitch black room and change it from 50% brightness to 100% brightness and look extremely closely, then there is some slight bleed in the corner. but since i'd never use 100% brightness in a pitch black room and look at it that close to my face, then its a non-issue
Click to expand...

Right, but some are worse than yours. I think we know this from all the images we have seen.

So if the OP got an iPad2 now there is a chance they could end up with one of the 'worse' ones.
 
hoofbite said:
Right, but some are worse than yours. I think we know this from all the images we have seen.

So if the OP got an iPad2 now there is a chance they could end up with one of the 'worse' ones.
Click to expand...

i never said there is no issue, i'm just saying not all of them are like that. it is hit and miss but the people i know have no issues either
 
The answer is simple, if you are tight on money buy the iPad 1 if not splurge on the iPad 2 given availability of course.
 
I got an iPad 1 because iPad 2's weren't available and it fits my needs quite well. I'll upgrade when iPad 3 or a higher resolution iPad is introduced but for now I'm very happy with iPad 1.
 
No regrets

Saved myself £140 and bought a refurbed iPad1. Put some of the savings towards a 3g model. No regrets.
 
iPad 1 here, no regrets. Purchased the same day version 2 came out.
 
Love the iPad2, but mine does have the back light bleeding issue - waiting on a replacement from the local Apple store.

I wouldn't worry too much about the back light issue though, as Apple will give you a replacement if it has the problem.
 
I picked up an iPad 1 for about $340 and don't have buyer remorse or feel like I should have dropped the extra cash to get the iPad 2.
 
If you just spend as little money as possible, a used iPad 1 is a great value. But at the price fpr the new ones I'd rather go for the iPad 2.
 
I picked up a 32GB first gen from Verizon for $400. I think it's a great item! I'd highly recommend the "classic" iPad as some are calling it. :D
 
Torn here as well. Returned my second iPad 2 for significant light bleed and now see that at&t is selling "Classic" iPad 64GB 3G for $529. That's s heckuva deal.
 
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