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Has your iPad paid for itself yet?

iSingandiDance

iSingandiDance

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 24, 2010
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Overhearing my roomates converse about the one's new iMac has got me thinking - did I spend too much on the iPad 2.

Then I remembered, the beautiful screen size that makes viewing the browsers a cinch; the amount of money I would have spent on console video games; that cellphone plan I ditched; the countless videos and music I've downloaded; how surfing the web is much more intuitive than using a PC/Mac; Facetime sessions; Youtube uploads; oh, it's a sheet music reader as well; and a TV; and so much more.

I feel that it's paid for itself already. An investment well worth it.
 
easily mine has paid for itself several times over if for no other reason than omnigraffle. i do a lot of flow-charting and it's vital to my job. I can do massive workflows without a cumbersome laptop (even though I also have the 11" MBA).
 
No, it totally hasn't. But it has resulted in me spending a lot less time on my iMac. Using a mouse hurts my wrist so I guess that's good. You can't put a price on health :)
 
Other than using it for a job where you have income coming in due to it, I don't see how it can pay for itself.
 
I sort of agree with AbyssImpact. A bit confusing of a question, but I think I know what you mean.

I use my iPad to view piano sheet music, so I guess I'm saving ink and paper. But other than that, it hasn't paid for itself. You still have to buy apps, games, songs, etc. to continue to use this as a media consumption device.
 
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vega07 said:
OP, no disrespect, but I think you worded your question poorly.

I agree with AbyssImpact.
Click to expand...

I think that's exactly what he meant. If you enjoy using your iPad, I would say that it pays for itself already. If you bought an iPad, chances are $500 isn't going to make you any poorer, but the experience of apps on an iPad, even Safari or Youtube, is worth it.
 
Nope, not at all. But I know it wouldn't when I bought it. But it does make some tasks easier/more enjoyable.
 
Has my iPad paid for itself?

I assume "paid for itself" has several interpretations. I'll use these two:

- Paid for itself by saving you real money on something else you would have needed if not for the iPad.
- Paid for itself by being useful in your job and actually bringing in cash.

I'd say it paid for itself just on the consulting side of my business alone. It's been pretty indispensable, and much easier to pass around to clients than a laptop. I've used it for billing, proforma invoices, interactive brainstorming sessions, and to demo prototypes of mobile apps and websites. I also use it when doing contracts and legal work to review, sign, and return PDF's of contracts without needing to hunt down a printer or fax machine.

So, yeah, it's easily paid for itself.

I think as a media consumption device, if you're just saving $2-3 bucks on a book here and there, it might take longer to pay off. But if you use it in business, the returns and savings add up much faster.

I'm not even counting any money made writing apps -- I'll give credit for that income to my iMac.
 
My White iPad 2 has certainly paid for itself, I used to do slot of Internet shopping and since owning the ipad2 with the eBay app I've saved a fortune!

For example I just bagged a pair of curtains for 99p which I was about to buy from Lewis for well over a hundred pounds!
Brilliant! Can't wait for the three to come out!!

BTW just bought a hyper case from USA and it works brill with the smart cover :apple:
 
No, and it will never pay off itself. Because the iPad 3 is waiting to be released and purchased.

Beside that: I never expect that the iPad will pay off; its a pure fun to use and a hobby/life style for me.

I don't start counting how much paper I don't use because of kindle books I read or magazines I buy online instead of paper ... there will be some saving but I'm too lazy to calculate that.

Just enjoy your iPad
 
I needed a new computer to complement the one I already had. We needed a 2nd computer so the kids could be on one while we were on the other. The iPad is cheaper than most, as well as far more portable, so in that sense we did save some money.
 
Mine certainly has. In addition to letting me be more mobile and not tied to an outlet because my laptop battery isn't very good anymore, it's helped a lot.

I bought a lot of ebooks on there for personal reading.
I just bought my fall semester books that I needed (they were roughly $300 USED and after amazon shipping). It let me not carry tons of heavy books too, instead just one iPad. I also can't forget books anymore, big plus on long days.
I have a few "lite" versions of games that are fun to play in down time instead of having to buy a $50 360 game.
 
iSingandiDance said:
Overhearing my roomates converse about the one's new iMac has got me thinking - did I spend too much on the iPad 2.

Then I remembered, the beautiful screen size that makes viewing the browsers a cinch; the amount of money I would have spent on console video games; that cellphone plan I ditched; the countless videos and music I've downloaded; how surfing the web is much more intuitive than using a PC/Mac; Facetime sessions; Youtube uploads; oh, it's a sheet music reader as well; and a TV; and so much more.

I feel that it's paid for itself already. An investment well worth it.
Click to expand...

No not for me, and I'm sorry but I can't agree with many of your points.

1: The screen size is not beautiful, it's too small and cramped. When did a monitor screen under 10" in size ever be considered large enough?

2: Console games are much more expensive, but then they are generally much much more advanced games, compared to the majority of "time waster" games on the iPad.

3: Surfing the web is a much worse experience, as we all know you can's view anything with Flash, or other tech on the site. Cutting and pasting between web sites is a terribly slow process, and again, the screen size is a pain. Oh and it's a lot slower at loading web pages also.

Having to load separate apps and switch between them also makes things takes longer.

Don't get me wrong, I love my iPad and would not want to be without it, but I'm under no impression how limited and cumbersome it is using it, compared to using a PC or Mac to do the same tasks.
 
Time is money, so yes, my iPad 2 is well on its way to paying for itself in that respect because it does save me time at work, at home, and on the road - and in many cases, hard cash (GasBuddy is one example).

In hardware terms, it saved me a chuck of change because my analog scanner was pretty much useless with the conversion to digital. Rather than paying $400+ for a new scanner, I paid $4.99 for 5-0 Radio HD. Great app, with national coverage.

It was serendipitous to have the scanner on at my office yesterday, when I heard a law enforcement call involving one of our clients. Suffice it to say that the fees involved as a result of that incident would purchase a couple of iPads.
 
My ipad2has paid for itself

I have it since a week and already save some money on books, they'r cheaper on ebook, and will consider not carryng 3 books 1.5kg each a lot of money saved, anyone who has seen medicine books knows what im talking about. And the cability of zooming in books its also a plus.

So, hasn,t paid yet, but eventually it will
 
Mlrollin91 said:
Textbooks for me. They are 1/3 of the price. So in two semesters it will completely pay for itself.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't it suck that you couldn't highlight the text or annotate it? Real text books are better for learning but if it works for you, great.
 
In this seven weeks of driving around the west, it has been pretty useful for checking motels against the bedbugregistry.com, for avoiding the dumpy ones, as a portable yellow pages, and to keep the e-mail from bursting at the seams. We have mostly preferred to travel sans computer, and use paper maps or the position of the sun, but once in a while, in a confusing town, the gps does come in handy.

So in the end, in terms of comfort, it has, but for our tastes, it is comme sim comme ça.
 
I've had one textbook on it that saved me 100 dollars. Other than that, I wouldn't say its paid for itself, but has come in handy for my job a few times. I've made iMovie on the go at events with the photos I've just taken. People are blown away by the quick turn around. It isn't much and can be done on a laptop just as easily, but it is still nice to just carry the iPad for these sorts of quick jobs...
 
Good reader and pdfs

I would say it is on its way to paying for itself while in grad school.

I am having to read 200 pages of stuff per outside of the text book. With a printing cost of 5 cents per page (even double sided) It would cost me $10 per week to do readings per class with 9 weeks of classes.

($10 *9)=90*2 classes= $180. That's just summer classes, not including reading for fun, readings in the last part of the Spring semester, and Fall semester.

So yeah, by next year it can pay for itself with just the savings of stuff I would have had to use money for. Even if it doesn't pay for itself it will make a significant dent, not to mention the amount of paper I have not had to print out leaves a smaller waste footprint.

Having good reader with a synced drop box makes organization of stuff incredibly easy.
 
I received my iPad as a gift, so the question does not apply, but if I suddenly lost it/had it stolen, I can say that I would most likely buy another one ASAP. Nothing can come even close to it as a travel computer. Yesterday I left home at 8 AM, used it for at least 2 hours as a satnav with Sygic and music playing all the time, another hour of Google Maps while I was walking, a little browsing in the waiting times, some video in streaming, and when I was home at 2 AM I still had 5% battery left. I can't drain the battery in a day of usage no matter what, and the screen is as gorgeous as ever for browsing and watching video. No smartphone or other device can be so versatile without letting me down when I need it.
 
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