Buying the original iPad from AT&T 64GB 3G?

[katyoshi]

Just want your opinion...after reading many threads and reviews, it seems if you already own a original iPad for basic everyday uses, then the original iPad will still do some damage in terms of killing time and using it for college as a consumption device (not a powerful productive device). I have the iPad original 64GB wifi only and thinking about buying the AT&T 3G 64GB for $529 and selling my current ipad+extras on craigslist for a little more than the price AT&T is selling their original ipad for. I'm not trying to sell it here on macrumors so don't worry...I prefer to deal locally in Hawaii.

Reason why I'm doing this is because I need 3G while I'm at work and tethering my iphone with MyWi has been great but it drains my battery when it's on for a full 8-12 hour work day although I use less than 2gb/month. Plus, when I put the iPad to sleep, it loses connection from my iphone 4 and I have to manually connect my ipad to it again. It's a hassle for a long, fast-paced work day. I made an order through apple website to buy the iPad 2 AT&T 3G 64GB and whenever it comes in...I'm going to "give" my original iPad 64GB 3G to my sister so she can also have a 3G device for her time in nursing school. Any thoughts about this miraculous plan?

 

[Ca$hflow]

I think it's a well thought out plan. I think the 64GB 3g original ipad is a phenomenal deal compared what you would pay for the ipad2 equivalent. Unless of course you wait for 3 months, however you'll still pay full retail.

What sucks I noticed is that apple doesn't sell refurbished 3g models, only wifi models. I wonder why.

 

[katyoshi]

I think it's a well thought out plan. I think the 64GB 3g original ipad is a phenomenal deal compared what you would pay for the ipad2 equivalent. Unless of course you wait for 3 months, however you'll still pay full retail.

What sucks I noticed is that apple doesn't sell refurbished 3g models, only wifi models. I wonder why.

I think I'll bite the bullet and buy the original ipad 3G since data plan is what I need in areas without free or accessible wifi at the clinic i'm going to be at. Maybe I'll just be patient and wait for the ipad 2 to either come down in price or just wait for next year...I'm not a hardcore gamer and neither do I play a lot of games on it anyway since i'm busy with school/work...plus I have a PS3 to enjoy while at home to relax and an iphone 4 to play games. I don't play those hardcore fighting games though. I'd say it's a guarantee that the ipad 2's on craigslist or something will be cheaper?

 

[katyoshi]

I purchased! Someone might say: "Why the hell did you buy another ipad original?!" Well I need the 3G feature and the price for a brand new one was unbelievable. I believe the iPad 1 will serve me well for another 2 years or until a fascinating iPad 3 update comes along...

How do you guys like your ipad 1 3g?

 

[Buck987]

I purchased! Someone might say: "Why the hell did you buy another ipad original?!" Well I need the 3G feature and the price for a brand new one was unbelievable. I believe the iPad 1 will serve me well for another 2 years or until a fascinating iPad 3 update comes along...

How do you guys like your ipad 1 3g?

the ipad 2 is not $300 better than the original ipad at this point...and that $300 you can put towards the iPad 3 when me might see some meaningful changes.

good deal

 

[katyoshi]

the ipad 2 is not $300 better than the original ipad at this point...and that $300 you can put towards the iPad 3 when me might see some meaningful changes.

good deal

thanks. I don't plan playing infinity blade lol... I plan on using it in clinic to help with patient care and it seems ipad 1 does the job. I also been using it for reading PDFs, medscape, etc. I was just all up in the hype for ipad 2...

 

[kellen]

I'm in the exact same position op. Seems like a great deal for a new first gen.

 

[katyoshi]

I'm in the exact same position op. Seems like a great deal for a new first gen.

Yeah, if you can afford data plans, then get it. If this is your first ipad and don't care about either ipad 1 or ipad 2, then get this one. I've never seen this price brand new for a top of the line original ipad 3G. Plus 2GB free for the first month is great although you have to pay for month 2. Then cancel data plan after and use only when you need it. I seem to be one of the many "basic" users although downloading/uploading files and other stuff on ipad 2 may be faster, but i'm not sure how much faster for $300+ more...apple is still selling their refurbished products for $729 for these same specs!

 

[katyoshi]

Here's my proof for anyone who's interested. Just some other details...for heavy productivity, I'll use my 2009 MBP. I stream a lot now days from netflix and amazon on demand...apple's itune store for consuming media content (i'm talking more videos) are still quite expensive for ME.

 

[racer1441]

This makes perfect sense to me.

I did get the iPad 2 on launch day, wifi only. It's new and nice, so I'm not going to carry it out into the field ect. Picked up a iPad 1 -3g for a few hundred on eBay. Has the 3g when I'm out, and being older and cheaper, I'll take it out to job sites, climbing, ect.

 

[katyoshi]

The thing is now, since i'll have "paid" 3G data plans for 2 months, I'll be using it extensively to get my data/money's worth.

 

[mcdj]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

The problem you now face is unloading the other iPad. Prices on 1st gen are dropping quickly. I couldn't sell my 1st gen 64gb 3G here or on craigslist for $500. I ended up selling to gazelle for $550 2 weeks ago. Now they're offering $350.

 

[mjoshi123]

I was in bestbuy today and bought iPad 3G 64GB with pricematch to At&T. So if you want, you can buy same from bestbuy with pricematch. I feel this is better value compared to iPad 2 and especially when I'm buying it for my son with special-ed usage.

 

[TechJunkieee]

I was in bestbuy today and bought iPad 3G 64GB with pricematch to At&T. So if you want, you can buy same from bestbuy with pricematch. I feel this is better value compared to iPad 2 and especially when I'm buying it for my son with special-ed usage.

Did Best Buy give you any hassle with price matching At&t's great online price for 64gig + 3G ipad 1?

i am considering this deal.

 

[Usoandso]

I'm thinking of doing the same. I'm happy with an original iPad (I have a 32GB WIFI iPad) but I would like to have 3G. Plus an extra 32GB would be nice too. It would be awesome if Best Buy would price match the 64GB+3G iPad. Usually they don't price match online prices.

 

[bowlerman625]

Congrats!

My iPad 1 was so great with 3G that my iPad 2 has 3G too!!

Enjoy!!!!

 

[djransom]

I'm about to pull the trigger on the 16GB iPad 3G. I just sold my iPad 2 16GB WIFI for $600. I'm good with the iPad 1.