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Favorite iPad for its time?

Which were you most excited about for its time

  • iPad 1

    Votes: 11 8.9%

  • iPad 2

    Votes: 22 17.9%

  • iPad 3/4

    Votes: 14 11.4%

  • iPad Air

    Votes: 9 7.3%

  • iPad Air 2

    Votes: 22 17.9%

  • iPad Pro 9.7

    Votes: 13 10.6%

  • iPad Pro 12.9

    Votes: 17 13.8%

  • iPad mini 1

    Votes: 4 3.3%

  • iPad mini 2/3

    Votes: 6 4.9%

  • iPad mini 4

    Votes: 5 4.1%
  • Total voters
    123
Ive owned most ipads through the years.

My vote is Pro 9.7; like the Air2/Air before it, thin and light enough make it feel similar in size to the minis ive been using relative to the older full sized iPads which were great but just too heavy/bulky - but you get the extra screen real estate.

With the smart keyboard, it make its a truly portable tablet that can handle my work needs on business trips with MS Office, whereas I always had to debate bringing a full laptop before. The mini was not an option as a work ipad.

I also have the 12.9 IPP so now its a debate on which size to bring on business trips, with the 9.7 currently having the edge.
 
braddick said:
Although I voted for the iPad 2, upon reflection, I recall how cool it was to jump to an iPad 4. Silky smooth graphics and looks so good with the retina display. In fact, honestly- I think my iPad 4 screen looks better than my iPad Air.
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It took 4 tries for me to get it, but my iPad 4 had the best screen of any of my iPads. My 9.7 iPad Pro is a close second.
 
iPad Air 2 and the iPad pro 12.9- I love how I am able to use the Apple pencil to draw and sketch on the large screen-- this to me is the most important aspect because I love to draw / sketch.
 
I have had all of those devices with the exception of the 9.7 pro and the 4th gen mini. The first iPad was amazing, and I was super excited to get it, but I think I was more excited overall about the first Air (although it's probably nearly a tie with the original mini).

That being said, I think in actual use, I have loved my 12.9 pro the most.
 
I had the first iPad, iPad 2, iPad 3, and iPad Air 2, as well as the iPad mini 2 and iPad mini 4.

I normally would vote the first product I got, since everything was new, but the heavy and bulky design, lack of cameras, and puny amount of RAM on the original keeps me from voting for it.

The third gen went back to heavy and bulky even with the nicer screen, and it didn't really add any performance advantage over the iPad 2, so that one is out.

I was going to vote for the iPad 2, but then I realized I've had the iPad Air 2 for a year and a half now and still have no desire to upgrade. I'd love an iPad Pro 9.7", but even if I had to choose a new iPad now, I'd probably pick the iPad Air 2 again and save a little cash.

I definitely wasn't really excited for the iPad mini 2, and while the iPad mini 4 is my most used iPad now, I wouldn't pick it over my iPad Air 2.

Tl;dr I chose iPad Air 2.
 
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Voted early on, but didn't post...now I will.

Going by the letter of the OP's request - which model were you most excited about for its time - the answer is obvious......the iPad 2.

How could it be anything but.

First iPad that did everything well - FaceTime, email, web browsing, ebooks and news, music...the list could go on and on.

It opened up the world to so many of us of the endless possibilities. And it's still my only iPad.
 
Night Spring said:
No, it had the same form factor as the iPad 2. It was just very slightly thicker and heavier, but the difference was so slight you could hardly tell, even when you compared them side by side.
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I could easily tell. At that size for how long I typically hold an iPad at a time, 1/10 of a pound makes a huge difference.

bufffilm said:
Voted early on, but didn't post...now I will.

Going by the letter of the OP's request - which model were you most excited about for its time - the answer is obvious......the iPad 2.

How could it be anything but.

First iPad that did everything well - FaceTime, email, web browsing, ebooks and news, music...the list could go on and on.

It opened up the world to so many of us of the endless possibilities. And it's still my only iPad.
Click to expand...
That's exactly why I was originally going to vote iPad 2, but I never felt like the iPad 2 was going to last me a long time like the iPad Air 2 did and still does. I knew I was going to upgrade from my iPad 2 as soon as the iPad got a retina display, but there's not much that can get me to upgrade from my iPad Air 2 anytime soon.
 
3 was notably heavier than 2 imo.

3 was a fine iPad for me. Clearly slower than it ought to have been, but I have very good memories of it. Fantastic glass screen and ime stable running all the OS's I ran on it upto the Air 1.

In sharp contrast is the Air 1, the worst I've owned. Crashy and unstable thanks to 64bit/1gb RAM combo (never should have happened, penny pinching Apple at it's worst), plasticky feeling screen, bleh. Stopped using it after a couple of months, sold it and waited for its successor. Absolutely painful experience.

Air 2, thankfully, was wonderful, and I'd still be happy be with it were it not for the fact I upgraded to the iPP for the better speakers. I listen to LOTS of podcasts on it, the price was worth it and I'm actually a big fan of the Smart keyboard for light usage.
 
Channan said:
At that size for how long I typically hold an iPad at a time, 1/10 of a pound makes a huge difference.
Click to expand...

It occurs to me that I don't exactly hold my iPad, I always have it resting on my legs, or supported by a Smart Cover. How do you hold your iPad, that 1/10 of a pound makes a difference?
 
Night Spring said:
It occurs to me that I don't exactly hold my iPad, I always have it resting on my legs, or supported by a Smart Cover. How do you hold your iPad, that 1/10 of a pound makes a difference?
Click to expand...
In my hand? Lol IDK

I don't use cases either because it adds extra weight and bulk.
 
I was pretty excited when I got the iPad 2 but the 12.9 IPP was the best unblocking ever. It was so huge. And the Pencil and ASK really pushed it over the top. Great device.
 
The original was by far the most exciting, as tablets were a pretty new concept, and the iPad was certainly the first one to make them more mainstream. I remember being in awe at its design and how thin it was.

For use, my favourite iPad was probably the iPad 2. It lasted so long, and is still used for casual web browsing today.
 
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cambookpro said:
The original was by far the most exciting, as tablets were a pretty new concept, and the iPad was certainly the first one to make them more mainstream. I remember being in awe at its design and how thin it was.

For use, my favourite iPad was probably the iPad 2. It lasted so long, and is still used for casual web browsing today.
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Yes, exactly. The first one was a bland new product category, and it was so exciting.

My favorite is currently the 12.9 Pro. The big screen makes it feel like a different device. All other smaller iPads felt like an iteration of the original. The big Pro isn't quite a new product category, but feels like a substantial new sub category.
 
iPad mini 2. Was hugely disappointed that Apple didn't put retina screen for the first mini, and grabbed the mini 2 the minute it's launched. Previously, I had every version of the big iPad (1, 2, 3, and 4). After having the retina mini, I sold my iPad 4 and haven't looked back. I still use the same mini 2 today. If Apple put a phone in it, I would probably ditch my iPhone as well.
 
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My favorite would have to be the iPad 4. I got it when they released the 128GB version so around 10 months after I bought the iPad 3. The combination of retina display, A6X processor, iOS 6, 128GB storage and extremely long battery life (around 16+ hours comics/ebook reading) made it a perfect fit for my usage.

Honestly, despite the very fast A9X and 2GB RAM on the iPad Pro, the iPad 4 with A6X and iOS 6 is still the smoothest and snappiest experience I've had on an iOS device (didn't really use Maps on the iPad so was unaffected by that particular fiasco). It's just too bad about the Heartbleed bug.
 
I owned an iPad 4 since its release, and while it was my first iPad ever, that I still use these days and have enjoyed practically everyday since the beginning of 2013, all these years I only heard but never owned another one.

Then about one year ago, at least, I decided to finally upgrade and make advantage of another iPad. I am glad I decided to skip the air 2 due to some reports of screen problems if you press hard the back, because the Pro 9.7 that I bought recently not only has a better screen but other improvements over the air 2, such as the ability to use the Pencil, that was a godsend for someone that has a whiteboard for years and loves the idea of taking notes.

When a bigger iPad (pro 12.9) was released, it was very frustrating for me, since I was hoping for a smaller iPad.

Of course I resisted the idea of replacing the 4 until now due to Apple products being very expensive. And besides, I don't buy things to quickly discard them, not to mention they are very hard to sell.

Oh, and now with the pro I can finally use the iPad without a screen protector.
 
Perene said:
I don't buy things to quickly discard them, not to mention they are very hard to sell.
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Hard to sell? I have sold several iPad's on ebay with no issues and a good price.
[doublepost=1469072505][/doublepost]My wife was the iPad lover, i was a laptop/phone person. Then i really got into tech...

I started with the iPad Mini 1. Then i had a mix of tablets. Then an iPad 2... Which i upgraded soon after to an iPad Air... Mix of devices then a couple of Air 1's between more devices. Then i settled well on an iPad Mini 2. Mix of devices then re bough the mini 2... Up to now.

I've accepted i'll always have an iPad and what better (for me) than the iPad Pro 12.9? Voted.

I have had all the devices no joke Mac to Surface. Nexus to iPad and all inbetween. My ideal setup is,

PC for gaming and a powerhouse. Lenovo flex 10 for touch screen and more portability but function beyond apps and browsing. Obviously a mobile in the form of a Samsung S7 non edge.

Plus various others for other uses like work series viewing Nexus & Kindle paperwhite 2 for reading.

Crowning everyday capable device? iPad. I love that for many this is enough as an only internet device.
 
iSheep5S said:
Hard to sell? I have sold several iPad's on ebay with no issues and a good price.
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It REALLY depends where you live. First of all, we all know Apple only has one factory in Asia and all iPADs that you can buy from ALL countries have the same price, and for third-world countries, pay MASSIVE import taxes. It seems that even if they wanted to do this, I seriously doubt it would do any good, the prices would still be very similar. And the reason Apple does not do this even in developed countries, I heard, is because all the highly skilled personnel are only available in the same location they manufacture these devices.

In 2013 I bought from a store this iPAD 4 (64 GB) for the equivalent of US$ 615. Today, in official stores, the IPP 9.7 (32 GB, wifi only) sells for US$ 1522. The 256 GB (wifi + cel) model is worth US$ 2546.

I bought the latter, but only in the local (and similar) eBay site, from people who travel to the U.S. or import without paying any taxes. AFAIK the IPP 9.7 32 GB wifi only sells for US$ 922 from these retailers and I bought this week the 128 GB wifi only for US$ 1138. It sounds VERY EXPENSIVE, but it was a true bargain, since 1 USD = BRL 3.25 in local currency.

It's funny, at least 90% of the people buy from this local eBay, I don't know anyone (and really doubt) that buys from official stores, including Apple's website. The iPADs sold by these retailers are new and sealed, and with one-year warranty. I haven't sold my iPAD 4 yet, and I am only asking for US$ 400. You can't even buy an iPAD Air (16 GB model) for less than US$ 522 or more.

Now I know what some of you might be thinking: are you crazy? Comparing the 4 with the Air? Well, I know the Air, Air 2 and Pro are better in many ways, but any device with 16 or 32 GB is pretty useless to me, unless you don't plan to store any videos in it. It can fill pretty quickly. Anyway, as much incredible as this might sound, no one is selling anywhere an iPAD 4 with 64 GB for a similar price in my country. Meaning that even an used Air/Air 2 is more expensive. Perhaps it can even cost that US$ 615 I paid in 2013.

And I always get complaints and still hasn't sold mine, that is in pristine condition.
 
Last edited:
Nothing against them, but I feel that the Pro models are only doing so well in this poll because the are the most current and powerful models.
 
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