iPad 1 Refurb, or iPad 2?

A

ASmith1106

macrumors newbie
I'm thinking of getting an iPad with one of my next paychecks to use as my portable device around college and to generally read... etc. I'm an Ed Major, so having an iPad has definite benefits in my future classroom, too.

I'm torn between getting the 1st gen refurb from apple, or a new iPad 2. I'm not sure how much of a difference the cameras and faster cpu would make for light processing in Pages and such. And I would still have my laptop plugged in my room for longer-term papers, skype, and so on.

Any advice for my dilemma?
 
ASmith1106 said:
I'm thinking of getting an iPad with one of my next paychecks to use as my portable device around college and to generally read... etc. I'm an Ed Major, so having an iPad has definite benefits in my future classroom, too.

I'm torn between getting the 1st gen refurb from apple, or a new iPad 2. I'm not sure how much of a difference the cameras and faster cpu would make for light processing in Pages and such. And I would still have my laptop plugged in my room for longer-term papers, skype, and so on.

Any advice for my dilemma?
Click to expand...

At this point I would go with something like this or this. Then when iPad 3 or iPad HD comes out you can buy that.

Just my 2 cents
 
ASmith1106 said:
I'm thinking of getting an iPad with one of my next paychecks to use as my portable device around college and to generally read... etc. I'm an Ed Major, so having an iPad has definite benefits in my future classroom, too.

I'm torn between getting the 1st gen refurb from apple, or a new iPad 2. I'm not sure how much of a difference the cameras and faster cpu would make for light processing in Pages and such. And I would still have my laptop plugged in my room for longer-term papers, skype, and so on.

Any advice for my dilemma?
Click to expand...

Just remember that iOS (and the corresponding updated apps) is/are only becoming more and more complex and the iPad2 has the hardware (dual core processor, advanced graphics chip) to be able to keep up for the foreseeable future...:)
If you are only looking to have the original iPad until, say iPad3 comes out then you should be fine with it...
 
I upgraded from an iPad to iPad 2 and love it. I personally never use the camera or FaceTime or any of those add ons from the first gen but just the feel of it and speed is noticeable. If you are only doing light work like you said and feel you will want to upgrade when the next gen comes out then go refurb. If you don't feel like you will want the next gen then spend the extra and get the 2. Just my thoughts on that
 
Last week I grabbed a brand new 32 gig 1st gen with 3g support and a free Apple case from Sam's club for $399. That's a brand new machine, twice the storage, 3g support and a case for only $50 more than the 16 gig wifi refurb on Apples website.

Couldn't turn it down at that price. I don't use the 3g access but it's one more thing for a bit more resale value down the road if I ever try to sell it. That was a $700 device 6 months ago.

Most people that I talk to say that the difference between 1st and 2nd gen isn't that great. It's smaller and lighter for sure, but most say the cameras are terrible and they can't really tell much of a difference (right now) in the speed.

That Sam's club deal is a nice compromise between refurb 1st gen and barebones 2nd gen.
 
The iPad 2 is so much faster than the original that I'd recommend that you spring for the new one. You'll be much happier a year or two down the road. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to use my iPad 2 productively for three years or so.
 
viedit said:
Last week I grabbed a brand new 32 gig 1st gen with 3g support and a free Apple case from Sam's club for $399. That's a brand new machine, twice the storage, 3g support and a case for only $50 more than the 16 gig wifi refurb on Apples website.

Couldn't turn it down at that price. I don't use the 3g access but it's one more thing for a bit more resale value down the road if I ever try to sell it. That was a $700 device 6 months ago.

Most people that I talk to say that the difference between 1st and 2nd gen isn't that great. It's smaller and lighter for sure, but most say the cameras are terrible and they can't really tell much of a difference (right now) in the speed.

That Sam's club deal is a nice compromise between refurb 1st gen and barebones 2nd gen.
Click to expand...
That is a SMOKIN' deal you got there viedit! I'm sure you will enjoy that iPad for as long as you own it...
One thing I really don't get (I've posted this on another thread so excuse this if you've read it before) is the complaint about the cameras as they are perfectly fine for what they were meant for which is basically mobile FaceTime (or Skype for iPad if it ever gets approved). Do I REALLY need an HD camera for mobile video chatting? I would never what to hold that 10" device and use it as a point and shoot camera so I don't really understand that gripe either (I always have my point-and-shoot-like smaller form-factor iPhone4 to use with it's decent camera if I so need a decent quality still photo). IMO the cameras are fine on the iPad2 and I like having them for those times I desire a FaceTime chat...
 
It depends on your budget obviously. But if you can afford it, I would suggest getting an iPad 2 because more and more apps are coming out (utilities, productivity, etc...) and many will no longer be made for the first generation of iPad. So if you are thinking of long-term usage I would go for an iPad 2. (Plus the iPad 2 is faster and has a camera ;))

Hope this helped !
 
SA22C said:
The iPad 2 is so much faster than the original that I'd recommend that you spring for the new one. You'll be much happier a year or two down the road. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to use my iPad 2 productively for three years or so.
Click to expand...

Def. agree, I own both right now, a 16Gb iPad 1 and 2. The iPad 2 runs so much smoother doing everything. I mean the iPad 1 is by no means slow, but it does stutter and some points when you multi-task, suck as typing fast while listening to music. However with the iPad 2, you will notice nothing of the sort. I mean this is probably due to the difference in RAM, but I am noting that is it a big difference once you have used it.
 
LanEvo said:
Def. agree, I own both right now, a 16Gb iPad 1 and 2. The iPad 2 runs so much smoother doing everything. I mean the iPad 1 is by no means slow, but it does stutter and some points when you multi-task, suck as typing fast while listening to music. However with the iPad 2, you will notice nothing of the sort. I mean this is probably due to the difference in RAM, but I am noting that is it a big difference once you have used it.
Click to expand...

The Dual-Core A5 processor may have a bit to do with that as well...:)
 
Hey, I'm using the ipad 1 (refurb too), mostly for email & reading pdfs, which I'm guessing you will end up doing. I stopped carrying my laptop everywhere, for which my shoulder is very thankful ;)

FYI: some of the older pdfs (scanned images) are slow to display (up to 10s per page for high resolution scans!). I could always save these at a lower resolution and I have very few of them so I'm still very happy with it :)

cheers!
PS I'm not sure whether other pdf readers (apps) would be faster than the default viewer. Has anyone compared them?


ASmith1106 said:
I'm thinking of getting an iPad with one of my next paychecks to use as my portable device around college and to generally read... etc. I'm an Ed Major, so having an iPad has definite benefits in my future classroom, too.

I'm torn between getting the 1st gen refurb from apple, or a new iPad 2. I'm not sure how much of a difference the cameras and faster cpu would make for light processing in Pages and such. And I would still have my laptop plugged in my room for longer-term papers, skype, and so on.

Any advice for my dilemma?
Click to expand...
 
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