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iPad Is the iPad 4 a good tablet for a first time tablet user?

S

saintforlife

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 25, 2011
1,046
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I've slowly gotten my mom used to the iPhone to a point where she is comfortable with it. I want to get her an iPad 4 as her first tablet. She is not a power user by any stretch of the imagination and will probably only use 5-10 apps a most for video chatting, Facebook etc. So is the iPad 4 for sufficient for her use case where she can use it for a few years? Are the internals sufficiently future proof? I am thinking the iPad 4 and not the Air for two reasons: (1) $100 cheaper, (2) Larger bezels to hold the iPad which probably makes it easier to operate for a first time tablet user.

Thoughts?
 
The iPad 4 would make an excellent choice but you may want to consider the rMini. Both tablets are the same price and your Mom may like the smaller size and lighter weight of the rMini.
 
saintforlife said:
(2) Larger bezels to hold the iPad which probably makes it easier to operate for a first time tablet user.
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Have had the iPads 1-3 and now have the Air. The difference in bezel size between the Air and previous iPads isn't significant enough to affect tablet operation. That said, the 4 would be an excellent choice, and should last several years for a light user like your Mom. Also, as the other poster said, you might want to look into the mini, especially if your Mom might enjoy taking an iPad with her out of the house. However, the mini's bezels *are* small enough that personally, I find it more difficult to hold. But each person is different. Would be best if you could have your Mom try them first before committing to a purchase.
 
my mom said that she would like the larger iPad and ended up loving the mini, i thought that i liked the larger iPad until i got the mini. get the mini.
 
I want to get the larger iPad 4 for her and not the mini because she wears glasses and I know she prefers large text. Also pictures and videos look bigger/better on the 9.7" screen than the 7.9" screen.

I'd would have never bought her the iPad 2 at the $399 price point. But the iPad 4 with its retina screen, lightning connector, and same front and rear cameras as the Air, makes it a very attractive option at the same price.
 
There could be no better choice in my opinion! Go with the 4th, you won't regret it!
 
The 4 would be an excellent option. It's more then powerful enough. I've been toying with the idea of picking one up for me.
 
Our iPad 4 runs fantastic, even on pretty processor intense games and whatnot - it’s basically A6 v. A7 and size/weight. The former won’t make much different since the A6 is still _very_ fast (CPU and GPU), and outside of things like post-proseccing time for video, 98% of her usage won’t make a difference.

Though I have been thinking about trying an rMini since my 6 year old uses the iPad the most and she seems to like the smaller form factor (I still feel like tablet use is best on the larger iPad, but I realize that’s subjective).

Heck, if I wind up doing something in the near future, I’ll probably sell our iPad 4 (32GB, WiFi, near-mint, all original cables, box, iCarbon, screen protectors, blue smart cover, pink NGP rear case).
 
saintforlife said:
I want to get the larger iPad 4 for her and not the mini because she wears glasses and I know she prefers large text. Also pictures and videos look bigger/better on the 9.7" screen than the 7.9" screen.

I'd would have never bought her the iPad 2 at the $399 price point. But the iPad 4 with its retina screen, lightning connector, and same front and rear cameras as the Air, makes it a very attractive option at the same price.
Click to expand...

Go for iPad 4 and you might want to check for refurb one at Apple store online. :apple:
 
Badrottie said:
Go for iPad 4 and you might want to check for refurb one at Apple store online. :apple:
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Yep.

@saintforlife
You might also want to consider getting one with built-in cellular. I got my mom and suggested my aunt get wifi-only iPads and set them up so they can bluetooth tether to their phones. Big mistake. I've missed a few lunches trying to talk them through resetting the bluetooth connection and those sessions never really helped. I'd usually have to reset it myself. I wouldn't suggest they use unsecured wifi hotspots either since they do a lot of online banking and shopping on their iPads.
 
In my opinion, yes. An iPad 4 would be an excellent choice for a first time iPad owner.

With that said, you may want to consider getting a 16GB iPad Air instead. I am routinely seeing sales on those right now. I would not expect to see sales on the iPad 4 16GB model until next quarter.
 
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Breaking Good said:
In my opinion, yes. An iPad 4 would be an excellent choice for a first time iPad owner.

With that said, you may want to consider getting a 16GB iPad Air instead. I am routinely seeing sales on those right now. I would not expect to see sales on the iPad 4 16GB model until next quarter.
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Yepper on the 16GB Air instead. I think it has been on sale at Best Buy for the last month or so. Buy an open box which is only basically a return from a customer and you save more and get closer to the price of the 4. You can inspect it if you like before buying and you get 14 days to return it as well.

I'd go that route instead of getting the 4 at this point.
 
cynics said:
The 4 would be an excellent option. It's more then powerful enough. I've been toying with the idea of picking one up for me.
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I snagged one for the wifey after she kept using my Air. It's a an excellent device and still feels very current. A no brainer purchase, IMO.
 
Go for it! It's built like a tank, it's hardware still holds it's own against the latest tablets out there, it still gets updates with majority of the features in each update and it can be had for a great price, I'm sure you can get a great deal for a iPad 4 32GB right now. :)
 
Tsepz said:
Go for it! It's built like a tank, it's hardware still holds it's own against the latest tablets out there, it still gets updates with majority of the features in each update and it can be had for a great price, I'm sure you can get a great deal for a iPad 4 32GB right now. :)
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Apple refurb store. I'm picking up a 16gb 4th gen for $339 - and certified Apple refurbs are always in great shape.

Looking forward to it!
 
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