Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Is the first ipad still worth buying?

C

Che Castro

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 21, 2009
6,036
802
I see them going for $200 or less used

My nephews birthday is coming up,when the 4th generation iPod touch came out i got him one of those

Now my question is ,the first ipad that came out in 2010 is that going to be a step back for him as far as speed & the apps that only support a faster processor

He will be playing games & watching videos ,surfing the net ,no work stuff

To the people who have the first ipad is it slow running ios 5
 
I would say NO. They are getting no more support and those that run iOS 5 sometimes lag after the update. Buy a refurbed iPad 2 for $319 or wait for next years iPad.
 
Pretty slow but usable

It's pretty slow and a lot of apps crash pretty frequently. After iOS 5.1 it got a little bit smoother and I imagine buying it new with iOS pre-installed might be a little faster but with iOS coming later in the fall, the first iPad will not support it at all. So it will no longer be upgradable. It can still run basic tasks pretty easily though. Hope that helped!
 
I used a friends the other day (3G 32GB) and it was fine. Did everything great. As others have mentioned it is dated. Possibly negotiate a lower price with the seller.
 
I used a 1st gen up until march of this year. Never had any apps crash. I knew there were some that didn't support the iPad, and safari crashed very rarely butmidmsay it's still usable and one of the best options for the $200 range.
 
No your better off getting him something like a galaxy tab 2 or wait a week or two and pick up the nexus tablet. The tab 2 has 1 gb of ram vs the 256mb in the ipad 1 which is why its pretty useless now as its starved of memory.
 
Batavian said:
Sucks that Apple is not supporting the iPad 1 anymore with iOS updates.
Click to expand...

yes, but you also have to consider that it had ios 3 (before it was even called ios), 4 and 5. it had a good run.

to answer the op, i'd just like to second everyone else's suggestion by spending a little bit more to get a used/refurb ipad 2.
 
blackhand1001 said:
No your better off getting him something like a galaxy tab 2 or wait a week or two and pick up the nexus tablet. The tab 2 has 1 gb of ram vs the 256mb in the ipad 1 which is why its pretty useless now as its starved of memory.
Click to expand...

The thing is he likes apple & doesnt want anything else
 
Just got me a refurb white ipad 2 after selling off the first gen. Display is still fantastic and I have absolutely no regrets picking it over the new ipad.
 
Che Castro said:
The thing is he likes apple & doesnt want anything else
Click to expand...

So, Let him try something different. He may really like the tab 2. The ipad 1 is just simply not worth buying. Apple made a bad mistake by only giving it 256mb of ram. It simply was too little.

Its not like hes not gonna be happy when he opens up a 200 dollar gift even if its not apple.
 
Go with the 2 at the very least. The iPad 1 was a great device, it I emphasise the WAS...The 2 would be your best choice here. No point in buying him a device that will soon be renderd crippled when IOS 6 hits the platform.
 
I think he might like a PowerPC Mac. They're still very functional now. It would probably be cheaper than even the iPad 1, and he would still be able to do gaming, especially using emulators which would give about 1,000+ to choose from. Probably a 12'' iBook G4, depending on his needs. You might want to install MacTubes for him, (Free) it would make video browsing a lot easier. If he does his gaming within a browser, it probably wouldn't be worth it though. I remember you said he has the 4th generation iPod Touch, which would mean he can run Angry Birds, etc. as well.
 
Che Castro said:
I see them going for $200 or less used

My nephews birthday is coming up,when the 4th generation iPod touch came out i got him one of those

Now my question is ,the first ipad that came out in 2010 is that going to be a step back for him as far as speed & the apps that only support a faster processor

He will be playing games & watching videos ,surfing the net ,no work stuff

To the people who have the first ipad is it slow running ios 5
Click to expand...

I'm seeing a fair number of iPad 2's going for really low prices on Craig's list, I'd keep my eyes open to try to get one of them over the 1st iPad.
 
I say its not worth it.

I have the first generation iPad and its showing its age I recommend you wait or buy the new iPad. Hope that helps :)
 
blackhand1001 said:
So, Let him try something different. He may really like the tab 2. The ipad 1 is just simply not worth buying. Apple made a bad mistake by only giving it 256mb of ram. It simply was too little.

Its not like hes not gonna be happy when he opens up a 200 dollar gift even if its not apple.
Click to expand...

He is already invested in Apples Ecosystem and undoubtedly has purchased many apps. Why dump all of this to go to Android?

Just get an iPad 2 or just give him the cash
 
One of my friends has a 1st gen iPad, and it seems to still be pretty good, with the ability to run reasonably demanding games such as GTA3 and X-Plane HD. Only thing is it takes quite a while to load up games and such, but if you have a bit of patience it should be fine :)
 
As my new iPad is on it's way (waiting for the delivery man now) i'll be selling my gen1 so for the sake of my sale i'll say yes.

That said it depends entirely on what you want to use it for. It would still function great as a learning device or for somebody who just wants to browse the net, read emails etc.

For gaming it still functions pretty well but with iOS6 support missing i can see future game releases opting to outright not support it.
 
I own two ipad 1's in addition to an ipad 3.

The ipad 1 is still a fine device. My family uses the 1's everyday without any trouble. They never freeze and my daughter is constantly playing games on one of them. My other ipad 1 is mounted in the car and functions perfectly for music, weather apps, navigation and movies on the road.
 
I dont remember what ios 6 brings to the iPad

I know Siri will be in the new ipad ,but what other features will he be missing
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back