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Buying advice iPad 2 or new iPad?

D

davidinva

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 29, 2009
591
30
Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, USA
Going to buy an iPad. Debating between an iPad 2 32 GB wi-fi and the new iPad 32 GB wi-fi. Prices are $499 and $599.

My uses will be some surfing, some photo sharing (pics taken at the time, but not left on the iPad for long - except some favorites). I will do some ebooks, some games (sharing the iPad with some grandnieces). Won't be reading for long periods of time.

I have looked at the new iPad at BB and it is warmer to the touch.

My thought is to buy the iPad 2 and then upgrade in a couple of years. Am I being too cheap?
 
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davidinva said:
Going to buy an iPad. Debating between an iPad 2 32 GB wi-fi and the new iPad 32 GB wi-fi. Prices are $399 and $499.

My uses will be some surfing, some photo sharing (pics taken at the time, but not left on the iPad for long - except some favorites). I will do some ebooks, some games (sharing the iPad with some grandnieces). Won't be reading for long periods of time.

I have looked at the new iPad at BB and it is warmer to the touch.

My thought is to buy the iPad 2 and then upgrade in a couple of years. Am I being too cheap?
Click to expand...

New 32gb iPad is $499? That's a steal. Grab me one while your at it.
 
I recently returned my ipad3 to get a 2. With the unevenness of the new displays, the retina display wasn't worth it for me. I prefer the even backlighting and much better viewing angles of the 2's panel. Add to that the lower weight and thickness, the longer battery life and much shorter charging time, and the 2 seems a more attractive prospect to me.

The retina display is nice, but a luxury, and the whole point of a beautiful display is defeated by the low quality of the panel apple is using. I think the new iPad has been compromised in too many ways to accommodate the higher resolution. Next iPad will be a great upgrade when it has the retina wih non of the shortcomings. Until then, I think the 2 remains the best tablet option. Add to that that it is cheaper, and that it silently got spec bumped to ipad2,4 with even better battery life than the old 2, and you have a winner.
 
If you're going to be taking pictures, the camera on the new iPad is far superior to the one on the iPad2.
 
I was debating the same thing. Then I remember why I didn't bite on the iPad 2 when it first came out. It was the screen. For me it just looked softer than my Macbook pro.

When the 3rd gen came out, the specs weren't that great but its a step up from the previous models. Last month I took my iPad on a trip, and was stuck in traffic. The battery life faired better than my MBP even with the screen on full resolution and playing a heavy graphic game.

get the new
 
Go with iPad 3. Think about it this way: 2 years from now, mostly all tv's, computers, tablets, and phones will be high definition. The iPad 2 is nice and all, but think about the future and keeping the tablet for years. I believe thats enough itself to get the iPad 3.
 
redrum42 said:
I recently returned my ipad3 to get a 2. With the unevenness of the new displays, the retina display wasn't worth it for me. I prefer the even backlighting and much better viewing angles of the 2's panel. Add to that the lower weight and thickness, the longer battery life and much shorter charging time, and the 2 seems a more attractive prospect to me.

The retina display is nice, but a luxury, and the whole point of a beautiful display is defeated by the low quality of the panel apple is using. I think the new iPad has been compromised in too many ways to accommodate the higher resolution. Next iPad will be a great upgrade when it has the retina wih non of the shortcomings. Until then, I think the 2 remains the best tablet option. Add to that that it is cheaper, and that it silently got spec bumped to ipad2,4 with even better battery life than the old 2, and you have a winner.
Click to expand...

I don't want to be mean or troll anyway, seeing as I have been here a while. But IDK what you are looking at, ever since owning the new iPad, every type of screen as I have seen is so pixelated it gets really annoying. I was browsing BB the other day, saw an iPad 2 and regular iPad, they were way different from each other. The new iPad's screen is really amazing for what it is, especially reading text. The old iPad 2, along with TV and the computer now, cannot compare in terms of viewing. OP I recommend the new iPad, use it for a week and you will see what I mean, if you don't like it return it and get the 2. Although I doubt you will. Performance-wise sure they may be the same, but the whole new experience with the new Retina screen makes up for it all.
 
If only for the fact that you will be using the iPad to read (even for short periods) I would recommend going for the new iPad. Reading a book on the retina display is a far superior experience to the previous screens.
 
Buy iPad 3 or wait for the iPad mini, if it will be shipped finally. If not, wait for the iPad 4.
 
I think the only version of the iPad 2 you can buy now new at the Apple store is the 16 GB in either black or white; I don't believe the higher-capacity ones are available now as new (although you might find one in a store's inventory of unsold iPad 2 devices).
 
Go with whichever YOU prefer. In my house we've added two iPad 2s since the 3 came out. Both bought refurbished and more in line with the price point we wanted to pay for them. I've been using a 2 for over a year now and read on it every day. No complaints. I've played with the "new" iPad but think the screen is over hyped. I have a retina screen on my iPhone 4s and really can't tell a huge difference after using it since launch. My eyes adjusted. My husband and daughter love their 2s and I've not heard one of them complain that they didn't get the "new" iPad instead.

Good luck with whichever you decide. The iPad is one of my favorite gadgets ever!
 
I gave my perfect iPad 2 to my husband and upgraded to the 3rd gen iPad. First two units I received had uneven screen tints and third has pinkish tint but is otherwise fine so I'm living with it for the LTE speed and retina display. That being said, I just bought my dad a new iPad 2 3G still in stock at Best Buy and it had a much brighter, perfect tint screen straight out of the box. There are some downsides to the iPad 3: longer charge time, lower brightness level, and heat being three of them. But the LTE and retina are nice. I'd think long and hard about your decision, especially if cost is a concern for you. iPad 2's are great machines for the money. You have to decide for yourself.

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Stardotboy said:
If only for the fact that you will be using the iPad to read (even for short periods) I would recommend going for the new iPad. Reading a book on the retina display is a far superior experience to the previous screens.
Click to expand...

But text is smaller- could be an issue for some.
 
koigirl said:
But text is smaller- could be an issue for some.
Click to expand...

Text displays at the same size whether on an iPad 2 or 3--although it is much sharper on the 3. I'm not sure what you mean here.

OP, I also think you should get the new iPad. Many of the issues people are experiencing are very overblown. I've had my new iPad since launch and it has a perfect screen with no tinting or uneven backlighting. After playing games, there is no noticeable heat issues either.

Keep in mind this forum is a place were people with issues come to seek assistance, you won't hear as much from the vast majority of people with perfect units.
 
I am with the new iPad for 2.5 weeks after owning ipad2. One advantage that has not been mentioned at all I think is how fast typing is, in ipad2 I had lag sometimes, in ipad3 it is lightning fast.
 
koigirl said:
I gave my perfect iPad 2 to my husband and upgraded to the 3rd gen iPad. First two units I received had uneven screen tints and third has pinkish tint but is otherwise fine so I'm living with it for the LTE speed and retina display. That being said, I just bought my dad a new iPad 2 3G still in stock at Best Buy and it had a much brighter, perfect tint screen straight out of the box. There are some downsides to the iPad 3: longer charge time, lower brightness level, and heat being three of them. But the LTE and retina are nice. I'd think long and hard about your decision, especially if cost is a concern for you. iPad 2's are great machines for the money. You have to decide for yourself.

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But text is smaller- could be an issue for some.
Click to expand...

There is no difference in text size. And text can always be zoomed in or out.

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barkomatic said:
Text displays at the same size whether on an iPad 2 or 3--although it is much sharper on the 3. I'm not sure what you mean here.

OP, I also think you should get the new iPad. Many of the issues people are experiencing are very overblown. I've had my new iPad since launch and it has a perfect screen with no tinting or uneven backlighting. After playing games, there is no noticeable heat issues either.

Keep in mind this forum is a place were people with issues come to seek assistance, you won't hear as much from the vast majority of people with perfect units.
Click to expand...

QFT. My display looks amazing as well. And the retina display is not overhyped in any way. If you're doing any reading, or if you want your pictures to look amazing, I would never recommend the 2 over the 3.

I feel like when the 2 came out, all anyone talked about was "Why doesn't the iPad 2 have a retina display? I am waiting until there's a retina display." Now that it does have one, everyone is like, "That's all we get in the new model? Just a retina display and a faster GPU and more RAM and a better camera? I'll wait for the iPad 4."

Translation: The people whining about how the screen is over hyped are often simply justifying NOT buying one. Just how they were justifying not upgrading from the 1 to the 2 because the 2 DIDN'T have a retina display.

My advice--get the 3 if you have the dough.
 
koigirl said:
There are some downsides to the iPad 3: longer charge time, lower brightness level, and heat being three of them. But the LTE and retina are nice. I'd think long and hard about your decision, especially if cost is a concern for you. iPad 2's are great machines for the money. You have to decide for yourself.
Click to expand...

FWIW: My iPad 3 has a fine screen without any uneven tints. The long charge time I haven't noticed (though I don't doubt it's there). Nor have I noticed any significant heat increase, nor is the screen any less bright than the iPad 2 I gave to my significant other when I got my 3.

But text is smaller- could be an issue for some.
Click to expand...

The text is exactly the same size, only clearer and better defined.
 
The point is - I own the top-of-the-line model iPad 3. I owned iPad 2. I owned original iPad as well. I decided to keep 3rd generation for the retina display and LTE. I have no doubt the 4th generation model will improve the technology. But it is a fact that ipad 3 takes longer to charge - this is verified by Apple and various reviewers. And it does not run as bright on lower end of brightness scale - this was verified by an Apple Genius at my local store. And it does run warmer - not hot but warmer. Apple verifies this as well. This is not to say there are not benefits to the iPad 3. However, it would be disingenuous to say that there were not some compromises made with relation to battery size, etc., to facilitate a retina screen with affordable technology available today. It is what it is. And for the life of me, I don't understand why stating those facts is some sort of threat to people on this forum.:confused:
 
Wait for the 7.85 inch iPad to be released this fall. A 1024x768 display in a smaller package will be the gadget to get this year. Higher screen dpi, A5 (not the A5X) processor, smaller battery and cheaper price. I’m waiting for that model to come out but the market nuts may not like a cheaper iProduct. They want people buying overpriced igadgets to boost stock prices.
 
In electronics the general rule is never buy old but in this case I personally see no major advantage over the 2. So buy either one you can't go wrong.
 
LostSoul80 said:
You're kidding, right? :eek:
Click to expand...

Nope. Resolution isn't everything when it comes to displays, and in other respects the new retina display is poor quality. Apple has pushed into new technogy too quickly and had to compromise too much. There is always a compromise between backlight evenness and thickness of panel. Apple has always unfortunately chosen thin displays over even ones. It makes sense: most people don't care about display evenness. Most people don't even care about resolution, apple has had to convince them they should with the whole retina branding. But those of us who do care are not OCD. I've been to apple stores and went though many ipad3s. It is not some faulty displays, they are all sub standard.
 
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