iPad

[RossBlake]

Hi

Is the differences between the original iPad and the iPad 2 worth the extra money?

Thanks

 

[r0k]

Hi

Is the differences between the original iPad and the iPad 2 worth the extra money?

Thanks

I have the original iPad and it works fine as an ebook reader, etc. If you need facetime or any other camera-based capabilities, you will need an iPad2 or iPad3. There are isolated "staches" of older iPads at places like MicroCenter. They are offered at a very good price compared to the latest model. Another thing to consider is the Retina display. I bought my wife an iPad2 because I heard the battery life on the latest model wasn't quite as good due to the Retina display. Oh, and it was less expensive. Another thing to consider is paying for the 3G/4G version even if you never activate it. It's worth it to get the GPS so you have a real nav system with you all the time. The cellular data doesn't have to be on for the GPS to work.

In an interesting side note, I bought an HP Elitebook Win XP/Win 7 tablet a few months before I bought my iPad1. This past spring, there was a buyback program for the Elitebook. Mine was worth $50. I paid over 2 thousand but it was now worth fifty bucks. Meanwhile, my 16 gig wifi iPad 1 was worth over $300 and I had paid $500 for it. So my non-Apple gear lost close to 90 percent of its value and my Apple gear lost about 40 percent of its value. The only caution I have for you is if you buy an iPad 1, it's already almost 3 years old so it's not going to hold value quite as well as an iPad 2 or iPad 3.

The only regret I have is I didn't get enough internal memory and I would have preferred 3G so I would have gotten GPS. Also, shelling out 15 bucks for a chunk of data when I find myself stuck in a wifi-poor environment for a few days or longer is an option I can't even think about with a wifi-only device.

 

[RedCroissant]

Hi

Is the differences between the original iPad and the iPad 2 worth the extra money?

Thanks

It is absolutely worth it. You get front and back cameras, more RAM, a better processor, lighter and thinner, choice between two colors, choice between carriers, and it's an overall better performing machine.

The other benefit is that Apple is still selling new and refurbished versions of the iPad2; which should get you even more savings.