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If you are using AMEX points - really do the math first. It is almost always a MUCH better deal to trade the points for store gift cards and then use the store gift card to purchase something than to buy it directly from their 'points store'. See how many points that iPad 1 will cost you, then see how many points it would take to get Best Buy gift certificates for the amount of the equivalent iPad 2. I would bet you could get the iPad 2 from Best Buy using gift cards for less. Granted you will need to wait a few weeks for the supply issues to sort out before you can just walk in and buy one, but you've lived this long with out one another month or two wont matter.

Edit: Not 100% sure AMEX does Best Buy, but see if they have gift cards to a store that will eventually carry the iPad 2.

After some research I've found that Amex doesn't work with Best Buy and I can purchase an Apple store gift card for the same points ratio of 160:$1. On my Citi Thank You network, they DO work with Best Buy and a $100 gift card is 10,000 points making the ratio 100:$1. Way better, but the shipping time is supposedly 1-3 weeks. Awful. With the dwindling resources and lack of shipping options on their website, I think that'd be quite a risk. So I'm back to square one, thought I can still buy a gift card and purchase the refurb for $100 less in that case.
 
I was in the same dilemma though i did have a 16gb wifi ipad i sold to get the ipad 2 and then they quickly sold out and the places you can find one like ebay the prices are so jacked up it's unreal and now there are problems with backlight bleeding,i went and looked at the ipad 2 at Apple although they look nice they feel and look alot more cheaply made than ipad 1,in fact most of the display models were covered in scratches and dents which shows they don't hold up well under heavy use,so i found me on ebay a brand new not used ipad 32gb wifi 3g for $420 you can't beat that price,and now AT&T has slashed the ipad 1 3g models to $429 for 16gb,$529 for both the 32gb AND the 64gb 3g models,but if i were you i'd try on ebay,i still can't believe i got a new 32gb 3g wifi and i love it and for me it's perfect and it just feels so much more nicer and well made than the 2,i will probably upgrade when ipad 3 comes out but for now the ipad 1 is a beautiful well made device and the prices can't be beat!
 
How does the warranty or apple care situation work when buying an iPad on eBay? If Joe schmo sells his iPad with two years left of AppleCare, is that still honored if he sells the ipad to someone else?
 
Get a refurb iPad1. You'll be more than pleased, and the price is 150 less than the 2.

after reading a lot around here, including a post that tigres started with his opinion on ipad 1 value, I went with an iPad 1 refurb (16gig wifi to be exact). For my purposes, its the best value: web browsing, the occasional game of angry birds, etc. $383 shipped, a darn good deal.

I've spent entirely too much time playing with the iPad 1 at best buy :p so I know what it is capable of, and know it is perfect for my needs. Whether or not it fits your needs is up to you.

I literally just ordered it about 10 minutes ago. Looking forward to playing with it, hopefully next weekend. :)
 
Even though it is 1 year old technology, I am on the hunt for an iPad 1 for my brother. He only wants it to read. Me, the wife, and the son have a iPad 2 each. If its not going to be heavily tasked with games etc. The iPad 1 is an great toy for 399. or (350) refurbishment from Apple.
 
after reading a lot around here, including a post that tigres started with his opinion on ipad 1 value, I went with an iPad 1 refurb (16gig wifi to be exact). For my purposes, its the best value: web browsing, the occasional game of angry birds, etc. $383 shipped, a darn good deal.

I've spent entirely too much time playing with the iPad 1 at best buy :p so I know what it is capable of, and know it is perfect for my needs. Whether or not it fits your needs is up to you.

I literally just ordered it about 10 minutes ago. Looking forward to playing with it, hopefully next weekend. :)

I ordered an Apple store gift card not too long ago using my Amex points so hopefully it comes soon enough before refurbs are all bought up in the meantime and I can't order one online! Oh, the agony of waiting.
 
£100 discount in uk

See here in the uk we have £100 of the price which is quite a lot more than $100, ok the iPad is more expensive to start with but still the £100 off made it a good deal and even better with my mums staff discount at John Lewis this made a brand new 16gb wifi £289.00 down from £429.00. In my opinion and for me this was a better deal than getting the new iPad 2 as I don't need any of the new features and mainly wanted to use it for web, music, photos etc to give my 2006 mbp a break. So if you are just a casual user like me I say go for iPad 1 then upgrade to iPad 3 or 4.
 
AT&T is now selling the 64GB 3G iPad 1 for $529. If you can get gift cards or points towards that, I would think that's a steal and a half.
 
Talk about ironic - I checked the Apple store website every other day while my gift card was en route to make sure the 16GB WiFi model was in stock, and now that I finally received it in the mail, it's sold out online. How did I know this was going to happen?

Any idea on how often they refresh refurb product inventory?
 
I was waiting till the 25th to get an ipad2. I'm in Greece. That's why the 25th. A store something like best buy will receive about 200 hundred of them. But today I found an ad in the paper for a 64gb ipad1 for 250 euros. I went and saw it and it was in mint condition not even a scratch on it so I bought it. I'll wait for ipad3 to buy again. It's all about price. By the way the 16 gb ipad2 starts at 529 euros and goes up 100 euros for each model and 130 euros for 3G. So if you find a good deal take it. This is my first iPad and I'm lovin it.
 
Evisa,

I will sell you my iPad gen1 with leather case for $250. Has box in mint condition, charger, cable, and instruction pamphlets. I can take pics of everything if you're interested.

It's a 16GB wifi model.
 
Are the new features/upgrades worth the difference?

I saved almost $300 by going with the 64GB iPad 3G. I don't use FaceTime, have my BlackBerry Bold 9780's 5MP Camera and do I really need (the Dual Core A5) Angry Birds to load much quicker? For $300 I can wait. LOL
 
Evisa,

I will sell you my iPad gen1 with leather case for $250. Has box in mint condition, charger, cable, and instruction pamphlets. I can take pics of everything if you're interested.

It's a 16GB wifi model.


Check your inbox
 
Ok, I'm not going to rehash this debate all over again - just give you a reasonable opinion.

$300 is a lot of money and depending on how you plan to use it the iPad 1 might be a great deal if you can save that much.

However, most people won't save more than $100-150 between the two and when you factor in resale value your overall expense is not very different in most cases. It may be more if you compare a used iPad 1 to a new iPad 2, but that is different.

Just ignore those who are trying to justify their purchase by saying the iPad 2 is cheap and of poor quality. That is ridiculous. Millions of people obviously agree and no reviewer has said anything like that.

The iPad 1 is great and the iPad 2 is even better - in every way. Only you can decide if a 15-30% difference in price (not overall cost, just price up front) is worth it.

To me it was well worth it. I spent about $175 more for my 64GB iPad 2 and it will be with about $100 more than the iPad 1 would have been a year from now. So I will spend a net difference of $75 more to get one much thinner, faster, with cameras, gyroscope, 9x graphics and a smart cover I really like.

That was worth the $75. Others obviously disagree and I'm sure they will be glad to tell us why.
 
Ok, I'm not going to rehash this debate all over again - just give you a reasonable opinion.

$300 is a lot of money and depending on how you plan to use it the iPad 1 might be a great deal if you can save that much.

However, most people won't save more than $100-150 between the two and when you factor in resale value your overall expense is not very different in most cases. It may be more if you compare a used iPad 1 to a new iPad 2, but that is different.

Just ignore those who are trying to justify their purchase by saying the iPad 2 is cheap and of poor quality. That is ridiculous. Millions of people obviously agree and no reviewer has said anything like that.

The iPad 1 is great and the iPad 2 is even better - in every way. Only you can decide if a 15-30% difference in price (not overall cost, just price up front) is worth it.

To me it was well worth it. I spent about $175 more for my 64GB iPad 2 and it will be with about $100 more than the iPad 1 would have been a year from now. So I will spend a net difference of $75 more to get one much thinner, faster, with cameras, gyroscope, 9x graphics and a smart cover I really like.

That was worth the $75. Others obviously disagree and I'm sure they will be glad to tell us why.

This plan makes total sense if you know you are going to resell.

But I would imagine any new iPad would just end up making the old one a hand me down for someone else the family. My daughter's old iPod touch became her brother's iPod touch. My iPhone 4 will likely replace my wife's 3GS.

If I'm spending money this year and next, I might as well get the lower cost (and more available version now that will meet 90% of our family's needs just fine) and spend the same amount I would have spent this year on iPad 3.
 
I was involved in the thread with Le'tigres. Haha close name. Anyway, I bought iPad 1 64GB 3G from AT&T store locally and I told them I'll help get rid of their stock if they sold me the iPad price matched to online "web only" sales. So I go it for $529 plus 2GB data plan for $25 x2 months (1st month is free)! What a deal. I also have mywi on my iphone 4 but don't always use it. It's more convenient to use the 3G on the iPad anyway and I thought about how I spend more than $25/month going to bars and buying expensive booze. Now I'm in grad school and work, I'm replacing the hardcore club scene with a more mellow "settled down" scene where I only go once in a while and use tha theoretical money on the data plan that's useful for going around and at work. Sometimes, the wifi at Starbucks is so congested and slow, I can just run my 3G and save precious time when I'm doing something online.

I placed a order for max'ed out iPad 2 3G AT&T, but canceled due to this deal and though about how I should wait till the next one comes out since iPad 1 fits all my needs and speed isn't too much of an issue even when I compared it to iPad 2. I'd say go with whatever you want. For my needs, iPad 1 does the job I have no complaints except for 4.3 iOS is seemingly slow in opening up certain applications such as pages, amongst other uses.
 
Talk about ironic - I checked the Apple store website every other day while my gift card was en route to make sure the 16GB WiFi model was in stock, and now that I finally received it in the mail, it's sold out online. How did I know this was going to happen?

Any idea on how often they refresh refurb product inventory?

OMG! This was me about two weeks ago. I had been eyeing the 16gb wifi refurb for a few days (right after they made the ipad 2 announcement) and BAM, they were sold out. I kept checking for about 4-5 days and they finally put some back for sale. I ordered it as soon as I saw it back up and just got it yesterday. GL!
 
Evisa,

I will sell you my iPad gen1 with leather case for $250. Has box in mint condition, charger, cable, and instruction pamphlets. I can take pics of everything if you're interested.

It's a 16GB wifi model.


Great Deal! Couldn't pass it up just bought it from Mabus51. Can't wait to get it!! Thanks Joshua
 
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