iPad 2 or iPad 4?

[lpskater]

Hello All,

I have received wonderful advice from you Mac wizards out there previously, so I will ask another question. I have a decision to make between an Ipad 2 or Ipad 4.

I received an Ipad 2 as a gift, and had ordered an Ipad 4 previously. I love the Ipad 2 so far, as it has 64 GB so has more storage space. The Ipad 4 has not arrived yet, but I hear a lot of buzz about the higher definition screen and faster processor. The one I have coming is a 16 GB.

For my purposes, I don't need anything fancy. I would like to be able to stream videos (Netflix, Hulu) fairly quickly, and access email, Firefox, and blog from the Ipad. Which one would be better for me?

I will give the other to a family member, and she needs an Ipad to operate our small business (very small, think mom-and-pop). She wants to use a point of sale system, and a quickbooks type app for taxes. Other than that, I think she only cares about email. Which one would you recommend for her?

I've been comparing the two manually, but would like to hear some wise words from folks who have tried both, and what their preference is for what purpose.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[nightlong]

I have both, as in my sig. iPad 2 is still a great machine but the retina screen of ipad4 is so much better, for text especially. How important is that to you?

I wouldn't have 16GB, way too small with apps enhanced for retina, they are much bigger than before. Also, consider that support for iPad2 will probably cease before support for ipad4. And, if you want to use it for GPS you will need the cellular version.

So, as always, depends on your particular needs and what you intend to do with iPad.

 

[lpskater]

I have both, as in my sig. iPad 2 is still a great machine but the retina screen of ipad4 is so much better, for text especially. How important is that to you?

I wouldn't have 16GB, way too small with apps enhanced for retina, they are much bigger than before. Also, consider that support for iPad2 will probably cease before support for ipad4. And, if you want to use it for GPS you will need the cellular version.

So, as always, depends on your particular needs and what you intend to do with iPad.

I do want to read books with my iPad, and I might be using the camera a lot. I don't expect to use a lot of apps--maybe Facebook and twitter, and a few others. So my big question now is if the 16gb would be appropriate for my purposes or if I should just return it (I'm reluctant to do this since I got a good deal).

Thanks so much for your help and advice!!

 

[nightlong]

If you won't have a lot of apps and won't be storing a lot else, if you'll be doing more streaming than storing, 16GB could be fine.

I use my iPads for so many things ... So many great apps and need storage space also for photos, music i make, books, reference materials. Apart from the apps I use for work, there are so many other useful things. Until you get an iPad and see how much you can do with it and how cheap many apps are ... Well, you might end up regretting 16gb.

But, there is Dropbox and other cloud storage. You'll fit a lot of apps on 16gb with room to spare if you store stuff you create on it elsewhere.

I don't completely trust cloud storage and like to have important things on the machine and not relying on Internet connection.

Again, depends what matters to you versus budget.

 

[lpskater]

If you won't have a lot of apps and won't be storing a lot else, if you'll be doing more streaming than storing, 16GB could be fine.

I use my iPads for so many things ... So many great apps and need storage space also for photos, music i make, books, reference materials. Apart from the apps I use for work, there are so many other useful things. Until you get an iPad and see how much you can do with it and how cheap many apps are ... Well, you might end up regretting 16gb.

But, there is Dropbox and other cloud storage. You'll fit a lot of apps on 16gb with room to spare if you store stuff you create on it elsewhere.

I don't completely trust cloud storage and like to have important things on the machine and not relying on Internet connection.

Again, depends what matters to you versus budget.

Thanks so much for your advice!! I think I'm going to just use the 16GB for some things and the 64 GB for others (my family member and I are going to share them). I'm a bit wary about the Cloud also--don't like the idea of all my important documents floating in cyberspace somewhere--but I'll figure it out.