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iPad 1st gen worth it?

ZMacintosh

ZMacintosh

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Nov 13, 2008
1,508
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I was curious if its worth it to put $250 on an Apple Refurbished iPad 1st Gen 16GB Wi-Fi model or better to put that towards a new current generation iPad?

I plan on putting iWork applications on there, some videos and games as an entertainment device portal.

but wasnt sure if it was worth the price or just put an additional 249 for the 16gb iPad 2
 
I use my 1st gen iPad every day - it's an excellent and highly versatile product. I'd suggest that if you have serious media usage intentions, you think more about a 32Gb original than a 16Gb iPad 2 - the additional memory is more likely to be useful for video storage than the extra performance of the newer model.
 
it would, in my opinion, depend on your intended usage
having the latest and greatest isn't always the best, look at all the issues the 2nd gen is having with light bleed and other manufacturing defects
spend the least amount right now and if you enjoy it and it works for you save up for the third gen where hopefully all the bugs will be worked out.
 
The iPad2 will last longer IMO, dual core is very powerful, think of what dual cores did to desktop PCs, gives it a lot of flexibility for future apps

The iPad1 will still last though, for it's intended use, I got an iPad 2 since here in the UK the refurb iPad1 16gb wifi is only £100 cheaper than the same iPad 2 model.

Either way, iPad is amazing, you won't be disappointed with either I guarantee it
 
My iPad 1st generation does everything I throw at it, IMO you should be fine. Get the cheapest one to hold you over and then get iPad 3 when it comes out :D
 
ZMacintosh said:
I was curious if its worth it to put $250 on an Apple Refurbished iPad 1st Gen 16GB Wi-Fi model or better to put that towards a new current generation iPad?

I plan on putting iWork applications on there, some videos and games as an entertainment device portal.

but wasnt sure if it was worth the price or just put an additional 249 for the 16gb iPad 2
Click to expand...

Go for the $250 first gen iPad. iPad 3 is rumoured to have a retina display, similar to resolution the jump from iPhone 3GS to iPhone 4. Use the money you save now to upgrade to iPad 3 when it comes out next year.
 
iWork won't tax a 1st gen iPad, and videos aren't likely to be too much of a threat if they're encoded at the iPad's native res (not sure of the effect of feeding it something higher res).

Games however are somewhere where you might appreciate the performance of an iPad 2, depending on what you're playing. At present I suppose devs target iPad and iPad 2 so not much of an issue but in the future support will fade and be dropped eventually; it depends on how long you want to keep the device.

Also consider the features specific to iPad 2 such as mirroring to another display; would you likely use them?

I have a 1st gen mainly for reading programming ebooks and the very occasional bit of surfing (though I tend to reach for my MBP instead; old habits die hard) and don't regret purchasing it at all (I bought it after they announced iPad 2 and knocked £100 off the 1st gen). I simply don't need the iPad 2's performance or Facetime. I accept that chances of getting iOS 6 are a bit slim, for example, but for my uses it looks like iOS 5 will round the featureset off nicely.
 
ZMacintosh said:
I was curious if its worth it to put $250 on an Apple Refurbished iPad 1st Gen 16GB Wi-Fi model or better to put that towards a new current generation iPad?

I plan on putting iWork applications on there, some videos and games as an entertainment device portal.

but wasnt sure if it was worth the price or just put an additional 249 for the 16gb iPad 2
Click to expand...

Go for the iPad 1, sell it and upgrade when the iPad 3 comes out it's worth it to you. If not, you've saved yourself a few hundred bucks.
 
Dimmick said:
Go for the iPad 1, sell it and upgrade when the iPad 3 comes out it's worth it to you. If not, you've saved yourself a few hundred bucks.
Click to expand...

I upgraded to an iPad 2, but I have yet to really see a huge difference to be honest. Sure, it's thinner and lighter, but the only thing I really notice are the edges and that they make it slightly easier to hold for longer periods of time. For me I really didn't notice the weight difference. But I didn't think the 1st gen was heavy. I don't game a lot, but I did notice that the graphics are slightly clearer and subtly smoother frame rates, but it doesn't affect my real-world usage at all. I didn't think the 1st gen was a slouch either. To be completely honest, I wouldn't have upgraded if my wife didn't want my 1st gen 32gig. Had she not asked, I would have stayed where I am. I'm looking for mainly a display update at some point, presumably with the iPad 3. For me, that will be the ideal upgrade. I have light bleed, which I didn't have on my first gen

I'd go for the 1st gen and sell before the announcement of the iPad 3. You should at least be able to get $300, if it is kept in good condition, maybe more.
 
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ZMacintosh said:
I was curious if its worth it to put $250 on an Apple Refurbished iPad 1st Gen 16GB Wi-Fi model or better to put that towards a new current generation iPad?

I plan on putting iWork applications on there, some videos and games as an entertainment device portal.

but wasnt sure if it was worth the price or just put an additional 249 for the 16gb iPad 2
Click to expand...

Remember that the iPad 2 can't be jailbroken.
 
ZMacintosh said:
I was curious if its worth it to put $250 on an Apple Refurbished iPad 1st Gen 16GB Wi-Fi model or better to put that towards a new current generation iPad?

I plan on putting iWork applications on there, some videos and games as an entertainment device portal.

but wasnt sure if it was worth the price or just put an additional 249 for the 16gb iPad 2
Click to expand...


Where do you find a refurbished ipad 16GB for $250? CL?
 
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Yes

Great device
 
I picked up a 32GB 3G + WIFI for $450 shipped via eBay a month or so ago so IMO it's definitely still worth it.
 
I own the basic iPad 1. And am about to buy the big 64gb 3G iPad 1 as it can be got for £250 less than iPad 2.

Also, I know it seems silly but, I wouldn't love my iPad anywhere near as much as I do without the apple case (ipad1). It makes it so so much nicer to hold and use. That is also a big factor in my reason for buying another ipad1 instead of the 2.
( yes I know there are knock offs of the original case made for ipad2, but by all accounts the quality is awful)

Having said all this, I might just hold on until ios5 is released to be sure it works nice and smooth on ipad1.
 
ipad1 is great. i bought it after ipad2 came out. i love the apple case. it is so simple, yet so well made. i mainly use it as an ereader for work pdfs, but web surfing, emails, and other stuff works fine as well.

it is slower than the ipad2. but, not a whole lot. i have my eyes on an ipad3 with (hopefully) retina display. the ipad2 is great, but not enough to justify the price difference.
 
Yes, the originally iPad is certainly still worth it. The iPad 2 may be more attractive, but you're still getting a great product. I still absolutely love my original iPad.
 
Depends on what you are doing with it. But I do know that the app store needs to start pointing out those apps that are accelerated for the iPad 2, as iPad 1 owners don't have the hardware to run some of these apps without crashing their iPad. Then they end up giving the app a poor rating when it runs fine on the iPad 2.

If you choose not to upgrade to the latest iPad, then don't complain or give bad ratings to apps that require higher specs than what the legacy machine can run.
 
Don't worry about dual core. Go for iPad1 which has superior build quality and much better screen than ipad2. Just look at the long thread of screen complaints that ipad2 has - it was enough to turn me off.
 
There are very few, if any apps, that don't work on the iPad 1. I would think with the iPad 3, maybe even 4, we will start to see the need to upgrade.

They supported my original iPhone until iOS 4.0, which was what, 3 years?
 
matt90036 said:
Don't worry about dual core. Go for iPad1 which has superior build quality and much better screen than ipad2. Just look at the long thread of screen complaints that ipad2 has - it was enough to turn me off.
Click to expand...

I had 8 iPad 1's before I found one with a screen that was 'acceptable'. I'm sorry, you were talking about superior what?
 
Matthew9559 said:
There are very few, if any apps, that don't work on the iPad 1. I would think with the iPad 3, maybe even 4, we will start to see the need to upgrade.

They supported my original iPhone until iOS 4.0, which was what, 3 years?
Click to expand...

I'm assuming that when you say 'working' you are referring to simply only starting the program. Include crashing and you haven't seen the reviews of some of the ipad 2 oriented games. iPad 1 owners are crying that these new programs are crashing, as they aren't optimized for the older hardware.

The philosophy is silly anyway. If you buy an iPad 1 now, and save $150 or so, you are going to lose it on the back end when you look to sell it when upgrading to an iPad 3 or 4 versus an iPad 2, as it will be very obsolete from a hardware perspective by that time. Pay now or pay later.
 
The iPad 1G's still have a few years of life in them. They may not get iOS 6 (based on past iDevices only getting 3 major updates) or have cameras. But they can be jailbroken and be found at a cheaper price then the 2G. You can even put FaceTime on an iPad 1G.
 
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