iPad IPad Air vs Other IPad Questions

[pauly800]

Thinking about getting an ipad air. First off, i see theres few generations of ipad and theres only ipad air and ipad air 2. I know back then when first ipad came out, i heard about it but never cared for it. I also see theres ipad 2, 3 then 4 etc and i have few questions.



1. Is Ipad Air probably the best one to get? I heard ipad air 2 is thinner but honestly i dont even care about something like that. I dont really care about having the newest version as im not someone that needs to get a new one every time a new thing is released.


2. I assume 32gb is the best to get? 16gb seems to be way too little. I just plan to web browse, youtube and play music mostly. I don't plan to play any games at all. I mean i might watch some movies but i dont have any of those netflix plans so i might just transfer 1-2 movies from my laptop to it. So if thats the case, is 32gb probably the best option still? I read you can't upgrade the gb and thus isn't 16gb always going to be really little? I will also skype and chat and google voice as well but mainly i want to use it for web browsing, youtube.


3. Is there a reason why the prices i see on amazon for the ipad 1, 2, 3 and 4 seem to be close to the same price as the ipad air? I would figure they should cost a lot less... but i dont see that. However if u check ebay, then its a lot less but those are used ones and i dont want a used ipad.
Is there a reason why a new ipad 3 or 4 cost around the same price or even more than an ipad air 2 when its the same GB?


4. Why do i see ppl making reviews on amazon for the ipad 4 and buying it new when the price cost more than an ipad air?


5. How much does an ipad air 32gb cost? I checked some sites and some are 400 plus whereas some are 400, some are 350. Whats the market price for it?


6. I see some ipads have those carrier capability such as verizon or ATT. I know an ipad is suppose to be used via wifi. But assuming one will never use those data plans, getting one of those is pointless than right? Another question is aren't those plans really expensive? I mean i took a look and the amount of data u pay for one of those carriers is a lot of money for data. What type of ppl are paying this much money to have data on their ipad? I mean paying that amount for data is a lot. Im curious but where are ppl using this data for their ipads? I mean paying 50 dollars for 5gb of data just for ipad when you already have data on your iphone seems kinda ridiculous dont you agree? Thus if u watching lot of youtube video or just web browsing sites while on data, it should eat lot of data so just curious on this. To me, it seems like getting a data plan for an ipad is a huge luxury and expense.


7. Would you ever go with a samsung galaxy tab? I had looked at it and its cheaper but i read its android and its best to avoid android. Thoughts on this? I did have an android phone a while back and i will never ever use that phone again. I personally never liked the android icons. With my iphone even though its an older version, it just looks really clean.

 

[nightlong]

Recommend iPad Air or Air2, minimum 32gb. If you want to put movies on it, 16gb will be useless.

Main benefit of the Air2 is 2GB RAM, rather than 1GB in the Air. You could get a refurb Air and save some money, but if you want it to last longer get the new model.

Wifi only if that is all you need, and if you don't need GPS which only cellular versions can do.

I can't comment on the American internet or Samsung questions.

What you need is down to what you will use it for ... Some people never do more with it than basic things ... Browsing, mail, messages etc. Others, like me, use iPads for many things, including work.

 

[s2mikey]

Recommend iPad Air or Air2, minimum 32gb. If you want to put movies on it, 16gb will be useless.

Main benefit of the Air2 is 2GB RAM, rather than 1GB in the Air. You could get a refurb Air and save some money, but if you want it to last longer get the new model.

Wifi only if that is all you need, and if you don't need GPS which only cellular versions can do.

I can't comment on the American internet or Samsung questions.

What you need is down to what you will use it for ... Some people never do more with it than basic things ... Browsing, mail, messages etc. Others, like me, use iPads for many things, including work.

I agree for the most part here. A 32GB Air is a great buy right now and should last a while. If he goes for an Air 2, he'd be getting the 64GB version which is even more storage so that's something to consider as well.

 

[nightlong]

Sorry .. Forgot there was no 32GB Air2

 

[ackmondual]

Thinking about getting an ipad air. First off, i see theres few generations of ipad and theres only ipad air and ipad air 2. I know back then when first ipad came out, i heard about it but never cared for it. I also see theres ipad 2, 3 then 4 etc and i have few questions.

1. Is Ipad Air probably the best one to get? I heard ipad air 2 is thinner but honestly i dont even care about something like that. I dont really care about having the newest version as im not someone that needs to get a new one every time a new thing is released.

Probably so. Ipad Air only weighs about a pound, so it's quite comfy for holding up and reading, browsing, and other stuff for a long while. If you're not too perturbed by the 1.5 pounder Ipad 4, then you could try those if it's worth any savings. Nice large screen is preferred vs. Ipad Mini and Iphone. Many nice deals during black Friday for Ipad Air, and since the barrage of Christmas buying never ends, even well after Christmas day, you're likely to get some good deals even now.

2. I assume 32gb is the best to get? 16gb seems to be way too little. I just plan to web browse, youtube and play music mostly. I don't plan to play any games at all. I mean i might watch some movies but i dont have any of those netflix plans so i might just transfer 1-2 movies from my laptop to it. So if thats the case, is 32gb probably the best option still? I read you can't upgrade the gb and thus isn't 16gb always going to be really little? I will also skype and chat and google voice as well but mainly i want to use it for web browsing, youtube.

If all you got are 1 to 2 movies at a time, max (hopefully NOT hi-def, as IIRC, those eat up 2 to 4.5 GB each), then you may be able to get away with 16 GB. Keep in mind that whatever capacity is listed, you get somewhat less than that for system and OS use. However, getting the extra breathing room of 32 GB would be preferred if you can spring for it. As you mentioned, you can only upgrade the memory by buying a new, 32GB Ipad. You can transfer your stuff over, but also need to deal with selling your previous Ipad, backing up stuff, setting things, up. It's not convenient.

3. Is there a reason why the prices i see on amazon for the ipad 1, 2, 3 and 4 seem to be close to the same price as the ipad air? I would figure they should cost a lot less... but i dont see that. However if u check ebay, then its a lot less but those are used ones and i dont want a used ipad.

Ipads and some iOS devices hold their value better due to their perception of being more premium items (which is true in some cases, so some of it is warranted). AFAIK, they don't make as many of them vs. other electronics of the same type, so there may be some scarcity there to drive up prices.

Is there a reason why a new ipad 3 or 4 cost around the same price or even more than an ipad air 2 when its the same GB?

Scarcity? Ipad 3 only had a 6 month run before the Ipad4 came out (they've usually been 12 months or more). AFAIK, a savvy shopper should be able to get an Ipad3/4 for cheaper, all things equal, although with this sort of shopping, there are always variables in play.

4. Why do i see ppl making reviews on amazon for the ipad 4 and buying it new when the price cost more than an ipad air?

Dunno. Is "used vs. new" a factor? Otherwise, a decade ago, I've seen people go to McDonalds and order a 6-piece chicken McNuggets for $2.29. They had a promo where you could get 4 for $1, and 8pc which would STILL be cheaper! I asked one person, he said he only wanted 6! Then throw away 2 and it's still cheaper!

5. How much does an ipad air 32gb cost? I checked some sites and some are 400 plus whereas some are 400, some are 350. Whats the market price for it?

IIRC, black Friday... it was $500, but before a $140 Walmart or $100 Target gift card. If you can get a new one for $350 (or even a trusted used one), that sounds like a good price to me! Ipad Mini1 this year and last has been as cheap as $200 after rebates/gift cards

6. I see some ipads have those carrier capability such as verizon or ATT. I know an ipad is suppose to be used via wifi. But assuming one will never use those data plans, getting one of those is pointless than right?

If you're on wifi and can rely on that (e.g., you can wait till you get home or a friend's house to access wifi), then you don't need to worry about paying an extra $130 for an Ipad with that capability (3G/4G), and an extra $20 to $35/mo for the data plan

Another question is aren't those plans really expensive?

IIRC, $20 to $35/mo for "piddly" (500MB/mo) to 2GB a month?

I mean i took a look and the amount of data u pay for one of those carriers is a lot of money for data. What type of ppl are paying this much money to have data on their ipad? I mean paying that amount for data is a lot. Im curious but where are ppl using this data for their ipads? I mean paying 50 dollars for 5gb of data just for ipad when you already have data on your iphone seems kinda ridiculous dont you agree? Thus if u watching lot of youtube video or just web browsing sites while on data, it should eat lot of data so just curious on this. To me, it seems like getting a data plan for an ipad is a huge luxury and expense.

Some folks are just willing pay for it..... business use, GPS, internet and maps on the go. They may not be able to access wifi as regularly otherwise. Another nice thing with having celluar access is if you get the right apps and set it up, you can find your Ipad remotely if you lose it. A friend lost his Ipad but was able to use the app's service to find it in a store.

$50!? Actually, I have seen TV ads for data plans that run about that much, for 4+ GB of data, perhaps amongst a family plan. I only use a few hundred MB a month despite using my GPS device a lot. When I didn't have my computer for internet, I still used up to 680MB a month. Of course, I did almost not video though. I met one person who says he does plenty of video, DL-ing, streaming, and easily goes through 2 GB a month!

However, note that many of these goods and services are relative.... some may scoff at us for needing an Iphone 5/6, Ipad, etc. when cheaper alternatives would've been just fine.

Another person I know sold his Iphone and got an Ipad for better iOS use, and bought a "dumbphone" to make calls and text. In addition to quadrupling the life of his phone , he's also off the Iphone data plan. If he wanted to, the $$ saved could be applied for his Ipad if he wanted to (assuming he has a 3G/4G model).

Me... I downgraded from premium internet to standard internet, and cut out cable TV. The money saved there more than makes up for the extra $20 a month I spend for my phone's data plan.

Also note, I've been told by 2 of the carriers that it isn't actually a data plan! You're not required to sign a 1 or 2 year contract or something like that. You can decide month-to-month whether or not you want it. (e.g., skip Jan. and Feb.).

7. Would you ever go with a samsung galaxy tab? I had looked at it and its cheaper but i read its android and its best to avoid android. Thoughts on this? I did have an android phone a while back and i will never ever use that phone again. I personally never liked the android icons. With my iphone even though its an older version, it just looks really clean.

It's a preference too, as old a Nintendo vs. Sega, OSX vs. Linux vs. Windows, etc.


I have my IpT5 for many of the games I'm still playing and have purchased, but yet to start. However, I really do like how well my Samsung Galaxy s4 does camera, GPS, email, text input, large screen, and other stuff that I'm not giving it up. This is nice in a way since I can play games until the IpT5 battery runs out, but my phone is what I use to get around, so I'll still be fine on long trips away from the charger. Doesn't put all of your eggs in one basket

I like how you can set up icons on a home screen that's really a list of shortcuts and widgets, as opposed to iOS where everything on the icon grid has to be filled in, starting from the top down, left right. Speaking of which, I use my weather widget and pedometer widgets a lot. Back when I got it back in Nov. 2013, there was no Iphone6/p, so a 4" screen wouldn't have cut it (especially since many have asked to make it wider, not just taller). Some games are free or cheaper on Android. I wanted to get a 32 GB gs4, but they only had 16 GB. Well, paying $20 for a 64 GB microSD has been holding over quite nicely. It's true that some apps don't run well or at all of an expansion card, but I use it for multi-media and documents... stuff that's fine to reside on an expansion card.

iOS is nice in where when I updated devices and versions of ios... almost all of my apps, data, and media got transferred over seamlessly. iOS does have a larger selection of apps.

If you have no need for iOS AppStore ecosystem of aps, or better connectivity with your other Apple products, then you could stand to save good $$ by getting a cheaper Android tablet, and avoiding the so called "Apple tax". If you tried Android and still don't like it, then fair enough. But don't knock it till u tried it.