iPad 3

[solarguy17]

My brother is wanting to sell me his old iPad 3. He hardly used it so the battery is still good but it's an iPad 3 and I remember some complaining about its performance in iOS 7.
Anyone know how well this works on 8.4 and so far how it runs on 9?

My planned use is at work to stop taking my 12lbs laptop to meeting and use the iPad to take notes and show presentations on a projector.
Probably no gaming or media usage.

He is asking for $125, which seems to be an extremely good price.

 

[960design]

iPad3 struggles a little with iOS8. Seems to be slightly better in 9, although most 99% of my testing is with an iPad Air2 for iOS9. $125 is a fair price. Your presentations will lag slightly due to the slower WiFi when compared to the newest Apple tech, but should still fair quite well.

Keep in mind that iOS9 might be the last update it will take. So you have about a year to save up for a new iPad.

Final note: Taking notes on an iPad is not really that fun. It is more of a consumption / presentation device and not so much a content creation device. Don't let that be too discouraging, I take notes daily with my iPad. When I know there will be lots of notes / code to write I prefer my MPBr or MBA ( for traveling ).

 

[solarguy17]

iPad3 struggles a little with iOS8. Seems to be slightly better in 9, although most 99% of my testing is with an iPad Air2 for iOS9. $125 is a fair price. Your presentations will lag slightly due to the slower WiFi when compared to the newest Apple tech, but should still fair quite well.

Keep in mind that iOS9 might be the last update it will take. So you have about a year to save up for a new iPad.

Final note: Taking notes on an iPad is not really that fun. It is more of a consumption / presentation device and not so much a content creation device. Don't let that be too discouraging, I take notes daily with my iPad. When I know there will be lots of notes / code to write I prefer my MPBr or MBA ( for traveling ).

The display speed shouldn't be an issue since we only use vga cables not wifi.
He also has a Bluetooth keyboard that should help with the note taking.

Thanks!

 

[960design]

The display speed shouldn't be an issue since we only use vga cables not wifi.
He also has a Bluetooth keyboard that should help with the note taking.

Thanks!

Try to drop the cables and purchase something like AirServer. Load that up on your demo computer ( the one the projectors / monitors are hooked up to, then just AirPlay to AirServer. AirServer will 'mirror' your iPad display on the demo computer, allowing you to send that to be displayed on the monitors. That way you will not be 'tethered' through VGA cables.

Sounds like you got it figured out.

PS. Just for historical sake: I find bluetooth keyboards laggy and annoying. I use direct plug in keyboards for demos. I something like these: http://www.amazon.com/Kensington-Keyboard-Lightning-Connector-K72447WW/dp/B00M1C82VY Except mine are white. Stay away from McAlly iKey30, they are really bad/cheap. Just plug them in and off you go. Zero typing lag, no battery to worry about.

 

[stevemiller]

Apple ruined the 3 with software updates. I'm typing on it now, and no lie it accepts about 1 character per second. I can actually out type it and watch the letters slowly appear over 20-30 seconds. I would say it's not worth buying at any price. It literally soured me to iPads.

 

[Rusty33]

Apple ruined the 3 with software updates. I'm typing on it now, and no lie it accepts about 1 character per second. I can actually out type it and watch the letters slowly appear over 20-30 seconds. I would say it's not worth buying at any price. It literally soured me to iPads.

Wow - really? And a factory reset/clean install doesn't speed things up at all?

 

[960design]

Apple ruined the 3 with software updates. I'm typing on it now, and no lie it accepts about 1 character per second. I can actually out type it and watch the letters slowly appear over 20-30 seconds. I would say it's not worth buying at any price. It literally soured me to iPads.

Something is indeed wrong with yours. My test iPad3 running iOS8.4 runs well. There is a very slight delay in typing in pages / notes when compared to my iPad Air2. iPad3 running iOS9 same very slight delay, but apps load faster ( immediately ), so I'm guessing iOS9 is still baking and maybe the slight typing lag will disappear all together.

I would certainly try a hard reset and if that fails, factory restore. Something is hanging up in yours.

 

[cynics]

The iPad 3 was the worst Apple device I ever bought. It was replaced with the iPad 4 like 6 months after its release. Game graphics had to be watered down just so the games would play on it. Experienced tons of lag all over the place. Even Apple apps were slow, try scrolling around in 3D flyover......

It was a lackluster experience since day one and Apple should have compensated iPad 3 owners in someway after releasing the iPad 4 (discount off the iPad 4 or something).

 

[Traverse]

Wow - really? And a factory reset/clean install doesn't speed things up at all?

No, mines often the same way. It comes and goes, but the first time you bring up the keyboard it can lag just like the OP said.

I would NOT buy the iPad 3 unless you just want it to read e-books and play basic games. The #1 thing I do on my iPad is browse the web and the combination of iOS 8's crappy JavaScript and the slow A5X make for a bad time.

It takes several seconds to load pages on Macrumors (one time it took 10 seconds). It freezes when scrolling, crashed, and you have to wait a good 3 minutes to delete anything from reading list. And this is after 3 full restores.

iOS 8 killed it, maybe iOS 9 will redeem it, but you can't even sketch in the notes app under iOS 9!

I remember iOS 7 made is sluggish, but when I picked it up after the iOS 8 update I actually said out loud "what happened?" When you enter the password, the apps don't even fly in smoothly 90% of the time.

 

[kevink2]

Wow - really? And a factory reset/clean install doesn't speed things up at all?

I had the same problem and had to do a clean install when upgrading to 8. But it had been a continous backup/upgrade cycle for OSes from the original iPad.

My only issues with mine now is the following:
the old connection. Means I need to keep 2 charging cables around, 1 for phone.
Sometimes I can't easily get back to the home screen. I don't know if it is software, or the button wearing out.

I'll probably upgrade to the Air 3 when it comes out. This can be a hand me down, or I'll find some other use for it.

 

[Rusty33]

No, mines often the same way. It comes and goes, but the first time you bring up the keyboard it can lag just like the OP said.

I would NOT buy the iPad 3 unless you just want it to read Ebola and play basic games. The #1 thing I do on my iPad is browse the web and the combination of iOS 8's crappy JavaScript and the slow A5X make for a bad time.

It takes several seconds to load pages on Macrumors (one time it took 10 seconds). It freezes when scrolling, crashed, and you have to wait a good 3 minutes to delete anything from reading list. And this is after 3 full restores.

iOS 8 killed it, maybe iOS 9 will redeem it, but you can't even sketch in the notes app under iOS 9!

I remember iOS 7 made is sluggish, but when I picked it up after the iOS 8 update I actually said out loud "what happened?" When you enter the password, the apps don't even fly in smoothly 90% of the time.

That is absolutely brutal (and appalling!) thanks for sharing!

 

[Traverse]

That is absolutely brutal (and appalling!) thanks for sharing!

I just read the "ebola" typo. I typed that in a hurry on my iPad (irony) and didn't proof it.

Also, the iOS 8.4 Music app is utter crap. Scrolling in albums view is so laggy (<10 FPS) that it actually gives me a headache. And there is no translucency, only transparency. What does that mean? There's no blur. You just see the content behind your menu bars which is why I disable it.

 

[ackmondual]

My brother is wanting to sell me his old iPad 3. He hardly used it so the battery is still good but it's an iPad 3 and I remember some complaining about its performance in iOS 7.
Anyone know how well this works on 8.4 and so far how it runs on 9?

My planned use is at work to stop taking my 12lbs laptop to meeting and use the iPad to take notes and show presentations on a projector.
Probably no gaming or media usage.

He is asking for $125, which seems to be an extremely good price.

Given this....

iPad3 struggles a little with iOS8. Seems to be slightly better in 9, although most 99% of my testing is with an iPad Air2 for iOS9. $125 is a fair price. Your presentations will lag slightly due to the slower WiFi when compared to the newest Apple tech, but should still fair quite well.
.....

I'd agree it seems to be a fair deal. If you're in touch with your brother and on good terms, it's less likely he's selling you something that's defective in any way, and should be able to confront him about it should any concerns arise. I loosely pay attention to used Ipad prices, and the Ipad2 (used) has been selling for $150.

You didn't mention if this Ipad3 had cellular, or if it was a higher tier capacity beyond 16 GB, but even assuming that, it doesn't change anything. If it goes up from there, it only gets better.