New to iPads, Not sure what to purchase

[JaHawk2009]

Hey everyone, I have decided (after years of debate) that I am going to purchase an iPad before the month is out. My question is, which iPad should I get and which accessories to go with it. My budget is somewhere around the 350-400GBP mark, looking to use the iPad for internet, gaming, typing and general use at college to avoid hulking my laptop around with me.

Thought I'd come and get some expert opinions here.

Thanks in advance!

 

[MacDawg]

If you think you will usually have WiFi available, or you can tether it, you can save by getting the WiFi only version

If you don't think the retina display is vital, you can save by getting the iPad2

Personally, I would probably recommend the new iPad, WiFi only with as much storage as you can afford

 

[Rodster]

Hey everyone, I have decided (after years of debate) that I am going to purchase an iPad before the month is out. My question is, which iPad should I get and which accessories to go with it. My budget is somewhere around the 350-400GBP mark, looking to use the iPad for internet, gaming, typing and general use at college to avoid hulking my laptop around with me.

Thought I'd come and get some expert opinions here.

Thanks in advance!

My advice would be to get a 16GB refurbed iPad 2 $319 from Apple and you get a 1 year warranty and they look brand new because it gets a lot of parts replaced. They go quick so you have to check often.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/ipad/ipad2_wi_fi

As far as cases go. I bought the Poetic iPad 2/3 case from Amazon.com and I paid $13 with free shipping.

 

[Lukkee24]

If I was you I'd go for an iPad 2. I have one and use it for internet browsing/youtube/gaming and it works fine for me. Although, my 16GB capacity was full after a few months so you may want to buy a 32GB iPad 2; it would have to be a refurbished one but I've seen many people on this forum say that Apples refurbished products are just as good as new ones. You'll then have some of your budget left to buy a case/stand .

 

[JaHawk2009]

If I was you I'd go for an iPad 2. I have one and use it for internet browsing/youtube/gaming and it works fine for me. Although, my 16GB capacity was full after a few months so you may want to buy a 32GB iPad 2; it would have to be a refurbished one but I've seen many people on this forum say that Apples refurbished products are just as good as new ones. You'll then have some of your budget left to buy a case/stand .

I was looking at a refurbished 64GB iPad 2 for the same price as a 16GB iPad 3. Would you say the Retina display is a good trade-off for the expanded memory?

 

[Rodster]

I was looking at a refurbished 64GB iPad 2 for the same price as a 16GB iPad 3. Would you say the Retina display is a good trade-off for the expanded memory?

It depends on what you want to do with the Retina display.

If you do a lot of reading i.e. e-reader then the Retina display shines. I have both and there are some areas where the Retina display makes the upgrade worth it and there are instances which are usually 60% of the time where it's a wash.

I'd personally suggest the iPad 2 32GB model. It's the happy medium, currently they are in stock and it should hold you over quite nicely until the 5th Gen iPad.

 

[JaHawk2009]

It depends on what you want to do with the Retina display.

If you do a lot of reading i.e. e-reader then the Retina display shines. I have both and there are some areas where the Retina display makes the upgrade worth it and there are instances which are usually 60% of the time where it's a wash.

I'd personally suggest the iPad 2 32GB model. It's the happy medium, currently they are in stock and it should hold you over quite nicely until the 5th Gen iPad.

So, if I were to go for the 32GB iPad 2, you don't think I would regret it in the long run? Sorry to ask questions like this, I just don't want to make the wrong decision...

 

[Rodster]

So, if I were to go for the 32GB iPad 2, you don't think I would regret it in the long run? Sorry to ask questions like this, I just don't want to make the wrong decision...

Again it depends. If you like the latest and greatest then yes you may regret not having the Retina iPad 3. If that's not important to you the iPad 2 is the best choice. Because my eyesight is not the best and there are times where the iPad 2 screen is better for me because the font is usually bigger.

For those with great eyesight the Retina display is really incredible. But here's the catch. If you go with an iPad 3, my suggestion is to go with the 32GB $599 because the higher resolution apps take up more space. So a 16GB iPad 3 is going to limit you if you like to download music, movies and games.

 

[Actual Size]

So, if I were to go for the 32GB iPad 2, you don't think I would regret it in the long run? Sorry to ask questions like this, I just don't want to make the wrong decision...

I personally think you'd regret it in the long run. Your first iPad is always a fun experience but after a few 6 months or so you'll look at an iPad 3 and think, "I should have just gotten that."

My $.02

 

[Frenchjay]

I personally think you'd regret it in the long run. Your first iPad is always a fun experience but after a few 6 months or so you'll look at an iPad 3 and think, "I should have just gotten that."

My $.02

This is most definitely correct. This is my first iPad and when I went to the Apple store to purchase it I was still undecided on which one to buy because of money issues. I took one look at the retina display opposed to the iPad 2 and instantly parted with my money. There is not much point apart from the financial aspect to get an iPad 2 over a 3. Get the three and you have got the amazing display and it's a but more future proof!

 

[skywalkerr69]

New iPad with wifi, if you have an iphone get the mobile hot spot and you will have wifi everywhere =D

 

[fmjordan23]

iPad choices

I have purchased 3 of the new iPads in the past 3 months. One for my daughter, one for my wife and finally one for me. Why go backwards in technology to save $50-$100 dollars? It makes no sense as you will find that the newer version runs faster and has much better display/viewing capabilities.

It is a one time investment on a product that you will keep for let's say 2 years. Your actual cost boils down to $8.50 per month or less than $.30 a day over that period of time. Your frustration will be worth far more than that over not having the newer version as a college student.

I have the 16gb wifi version as I use my iPhone 4s as the hotspot when wifi is not available. It works just fine as I have been using it with my MacBook Pro for almost 2 years with no issues and have never gone over the 4gb threshold that Verizon places on my phone pkg.

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Again it depends. If you like the latest and greatest then yes you may regret not having the Retina iPad 3. If that's not important to you the iPad 2 is the best choice. Because my eyesight is not the best and there are times where the iPad 2 screen is better for me because the font is usually bigger.

For those with great eyesight the Retina display is really incredible. But here's the catch. If you go with an iPad 3, my suggestion is to go with the 32GB $599 because the higher resolution apps take up more space. So a 16GB iPad 3 is going to limit you if you like to download music, movies and games.

You can use iCloud for any files such as music or pics......I have the 64gb iPhone 4s with 4,800 songs and I can access them with my 16gb iPad whenever I wish to play them there.

 

[Enlightenment1]

IMO, I would go with a refurbished iPad 2 if space is what you want, however, if you want a better screen, camera and the added dictation feature, I would go with the iPad 3.

Let us know your choice

 

[Night Spring]

Because my eyesight is not the best and there are times where the iPad 2 screen is better for me because the font is usually bigger.

What do you mean, "font is bigger"? They should be the same size on both 3 and 2. It's not like on a computer, where higher resolution makes things smaller. iPad 3 pixel doubles non-retina content, meaning it uses four pixels to display one pixel. So size of the on-screen image remains the same.

 

[Rodster]

What do you mean, "font is bigger"? They should be the same size on both 3 and 2. It's not like on a computer, where higher resolution makes things smaller. iPad 3 pixel doubles non-retina content, meaning it uses four pixels to display one pixel. So size of the on-screen image remains the same.

Sorry, meant to say on the bolder side and what some consider jaggies I don't really see them. It just blends in with the text.

 

[juanm]

Fr my first iPad, I chose the wifi-only 64Gb new iPad. I'm glad I did. I don't miss 3G too much, but I'd have missed the storage.

 

[ougum]

Wirelessly posted (iPod Touch)

It depends on what you want to do with the Retina display.

If you do a lot of reading i.e. e-reader then the Retina display shines. I have both and there are some areas where the Retina display makes the upgrade worth it and there are instances which are usually 60% of the time where it's a wash.

I'd personally suggest the iPad 2 32GB model. It's the happy medium, currently they are in stock and it should hold you over quite nicely until the 5th Gen iPad.

So, if I were to go for the 32GB iPad 2, you don't think I would regret it in the long run? Sorry to ask questions like this, I just don't want to make the wrong decision...

As long as you never look at "The New" iPad's screen, you won't regret buying the 2. The 2 is still a great machine.

 

[Night Spring]

Sorry, meant to say on the bolder side and what some consider jaggies I don't really see them. It just blends in with the text.

Yeah, I thought I didn't see the jagginess either. Until I opened a Pages document on my iPad 3. Then I realized that I could read a document in 12 point font with ease, while on the iPad 2, I needed to increase the font size to at least 14, and sometimes 16 point in order to read comfortably.

 

[JaHawk2009]

Fr my first iPad, I chose the wifi-only 64Gb new iPad. I'm glad I did. I don't miss 3G too much, but I'd have missed the storage.

As much as I'd love to buy a 64GB new iPad, that's way out of my budget. I'm really stuck in the 300-400 GBP mark, so I'd be stuck with a 16GB New iPad.

If I were to buy the 16GB iPad and store approx. 5GB of Audio/Video, would I have enough space left for Apps?

 

[Lukkee24]

I was looking at a refurbished 64GB iPad 2 for the same price as a 16GB iPad 3. Would you say the Retina display is a good trade-off for the expanded memory?

In my opinion, yes. However, the retina display isn't the only difference, and the new iPad is also faster etc.

If I were to buy the 16GB iPad and store approx. 5GB of Audio/Video, would I have enough space left for Apps?

My 16GB iPad 2 only gives me 13GB available and I'm assuming a 16GB new iPad would give you a similar amount of space. Using 5GB for audio/video would leave you with 8GB. However, I think about 9-10GB of mine was apps but that's because I rarely delete apps. It depends what apps you're planning to get and how often you'll be using your iPad for apps - do you think you'll be having a lot of them stored?

Some apps use up 1GB each whereas others may only be 50MB, so it depends what kind of apps you'll be using as well. For example, garage band is 1.2GB and monopoly is 936MB, but evi is 9.6MB and cut the rope experiments is 83.7MB.

So basically, it depends what you're planning to do with the other 8GB of space, and how often you'll be using your iPad for apps .

 

[JaHawk2009]

Some apps use up 1GB each whereas others may only be 50MB, so it depends what kind of apps you'll be using as well. For example, garage band is 1.2GB and monopoly is 936MB, but evi is 9.6MB and cut the rope experiments is 83.7MB.

So basically, it depends what you're planning to do with the other 8GB of space, and how often you'll be using your iPad for apps .

That's really useful, thanks. I'd mostly be using the iPad for internet browsing whilst I'm around the house, as well as watching movies and listening to podcasts in the evenings on the built-in apps. Then, in terms of installing apps, I'd be using it for higher-end games, like Batman Arkham City & Mass Effect as well as iBooks, Garageband, iMovie & Comixology

 

[hypertc13]

I have bought 2 iPads. The first generation 64gb wifi only. and the new iPad with wifi+4g lte. I would definitely say if money is an issue get the wifi only version. 4g data costs too much for what you get considering how quick you can burn through all your data. The thing you don't want to do is get a 16 gb or 32 and a couple months down the road be upset because you already filled it up.

Last fall I bought a 13" macbook air. I only got the 128 gb ssd in it and I regret it because I always have to clear stuff off of it to make room. Coming from my macbook pro which i had a 600 gb hd in has been kind of tough because I always have to put stuff on an external drive when I use to be able to store it all on board.

 

[juanm]

As much as I'd love to buy a 64GB new iPad, that's way out of my budget. I'm really stuck in the 300-400 GBP mark, so I'd be stuck with a 16GB New iPad.

If I were to buy the 16GB iPad and store approx. 5GB of Audio/Video, would I have enough space left for Apps?

Yes, absolutely!
16 is fine, for that.

 

[JaHawk2009]

Yes, absolutely!
16 is fine, for that.

Fantastic, thanks!

 

[-Knight-]

I had the iPad 1 since day 1 and barely used it cause I hated going from an iPhone4 screen to the iPad 1 screen as it doesn't have the retina display. It bugged the hell out of me. I shipped out the iPad 1 this morning to the lucky buyer and I'm now playing on my iPad 3 that I just got about an hour ago. My wife has had her's for about a month now and I said that I have to get it myself. The screen is amazing and I got the 32GB as I'm sure there will be some apps that will take up some good space and with iOS6 coming out I wanted to be safe. If $ is an issue then get the 16GB but compare the iPad 2 to the new one so you can make up your mind about the retina display. You might regret it later on. Good luck with your purchase.