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iPad Old iPad, Upgrade now?

iPoopeh

iPoopeh

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 7, 2010
242
5
Hello! This isn't really for me, but for my mom.

She received an iPad (1st Gen) in 2010. Now, when she uses it, it crashes with everything, very slow/sluggish. Typing on it is really a struggle because, well it lags with that too. I want to give her an iPad for her birthday [July 20th]. But she wants 'the latest and greatest', which wouldn't come until September/October, at least, this is what I'm guessing.

I don't really want her to wait until Christmas for a new iPad. She uses it everyday as her main 'computer' and even I can't stand to use the thing for 10 minutes. You think the iPad Retina is good enough? Or is the next update really something special for us to just wait?
 
Have you tried restoring your Mom's iPad? It would be good if she could set it up as new and start over, but if she has data in apps, that might not be possible. But at the least, try backing up the iPad, restoring, then restore the data from backup. Sometimes that fixes the crashes.

And the retina iPad (4th gen) is a very solid machine, but if your Mom wants the latest and greatest then she should wait for the iPad 5, as it is rumored to be a major revision, likely getting a mini-like outer shell, be a lot lighter, etc.
 
I did restore her iPad, but that was so many months ago. So I'll snag it from her and do that when I get home.

I haven't been keeping up with any rumors about the refresh iPads. Do you know if its going to be noticeably faster than the Retina? She doesn't do any RAM intense things, but she likes to keep A LOT of Apps open, even though I tell her not to do so. =/
 
i just got a refurbed 32 gig ipad 4 its like brand new and it was 499 from apple.
now there 16 gig refurb is like 419 dollars. they droped the prices friday.
i was going to sell it when the ipad5 came out but for what i need it for its awesome and its fast i dont need the ipad 5
 
iPoopeh said:
She doesn't do any RAM intense things, but she likes to keep A LOT of Apps open, even though I tell her not to do so. =/
Click to expand...

Keeping a lot of apps open IS a RAM intensive thing :/

I would get her the iPad 4. It will still be the latest and greatest when you give it to her, and even if you wait for the iPad 5 you can't expect any technology to remain the latest and greatest thing for very long. It's all obsolete practically as soon as it comes out.
 
filmbuff said:
Keeping a lot of apps open IS a RAM intensive thing :/
Click to expand...

True. But iOS automatcaly closes apps when it needs RAM, so she's not actually keeping the apps open. Just because an app is showing in the multitasking tray, doesn't mean it's running.
 
Night Spring said:
True. But iOS automatcaly closes apps when it needs RAM, so she's not actually keeping the apps open. Just because an app is showing in the multitasking tray, doesn't mean it's running.
Click to expand...

Well not entirely. Apple claims that's what happens, but people on this site have known forever that they still use some resources. Especially on an iPad 1 there is a significant performance improvement by closing them.
 
I'd suggest restoring from a backup, or if she doesn't have any necessary app data, doing a DFU restore, as that may remedy the lag issues.

If it doesn't, and the lag is unbearable, then you can just buy a iPad 4, as it's a stellar device as is, just won't have the lighter and thinner form and increased specs, but if she's made it until now with an iPad 1, that probably won't make much of a difference.
 
filmbuff said:
Keeping a lot of apps open IS a RAM intensive thing :/

I would get her the iPad 4. It will still be the latest and greatest when you give it to her, and even if you wait for the iPad 5 you can't expect any technology to remain the latest and greatest thing for very long. It's all obsolete practically as soon as it comes out.
Click to expand...

I thought that if she has multiple apps open, then it doesn't mean that they are all running at once. But maybe I'm wrong!

I'm not really too concerned about getting her the newest iPad to be honest. I had this plan of getting her a new one for her birthday, so I may just stick to that unless she is just DYING for the newest one. =/

----

And also I'm backing up all her stuff on my iMac/iTunes so I can start restoring her iPad. I hope this shall stop the lag at least until her birthday. C:
Thanks for the help so far guys! I really appreciate it.
 
darngooddesign said:
That automatic closing of apps creates lags especially on the iPad 1.
Click to expand...

You mean like when you switch apps and have to wait a long time because the app has closed and has to load from scratch? Sure, that's true enough. Not sure iif it will bug me, though. I mean, it will bug me now because I've gotten used to faster app switching on more recent iPads, but would it bother the OP's mom if she's only ever used the iPad 1?
 
When the iPad 1 came out it was a very smooth, snappy experience. I'm sure she's noticed if it has slowed down to a grind.
 
filmbuff said:
When the iPad 1 came out it was a very smooth, snappy experience. I'm sure she's noticed if it has slowed down to a grind.
Click to expand...

Well obviously, she's saying her iPad has slowed down, I'm just debating what caused it. I don't think app switching would cause that kind of noticeable lag, though of course I could be wrong.
 
Well I put the iPad into DFU Mode and restored the whole thing. I really hope this shall stop the lag/crashes she's been having. I'm so use to my iPod Touch doing tasks so quickly, that I find her iPad irritating. I don't understand how she uses it everyday! ^ ^'

She had over 200 apps on her iPad, I deleted about 50 of them, you think that could of been one of the reasons for the lag? When she only had the stock apps on there it was pretty snappy, once I snyc'd the apps back on, It started it's sluggish ways again...

I'm thinking about waiting until the updated iPads. If the new ones come out in September/October, which is just 2-3 months after her birthday, I know she won't be as satisfied. [As a girl, I know she won't be happy unless it's the newest thing out there. :B]
 
iPoopeh said:
Well I put the iPad into DFU Mode and restored the whole thing. I really hope this shall stop the lag/crashes she's been having. I'm so use to my iPod Touch doing tasks so quickly, that I find her iPad irritating. I don't understand how she uses it everyday! ^ ^'

She had over 200 apps on her iPad, I deleted about 50 of them, you think that could of been one of the reasons for the lag? When she only had the stock apps on there it was pretty snappy, once I snyc'd the apps back on, It started it's sluggish ways again...

I'm thinking about waiting until the updated iPads. If the new ones come out in September/October, which is just 2-3 months after her birthday, I know she won't be as satisfied. [As a girl, I know she won't be happy unless it's the newest thing out there. :B]
Click to expand...

Apps simply have gotten more resource intensive from 3 years ago they are designed to run on dual core chips while the 1st generation iPad is ony one core, meaning all of the apps AND the os have to manage with 1 chip.

If you can wait until september the iPad 4 will be a bargain (apple will likely make it the $399 model) and then of course the iPad 5 will be a lot smaller and lighter with more improvements. If your budget is below $500 dollars, get her an iPad 4th gen refurbished for 419 now, but if you can afford $499 wait for the new iPad likely coming out in September.
 
Oh yeah budget isn't a factor. I'm planning on getting her the 32GB iPad [$599]. The base model is too restricting for her. She has way too many apps for 16GB, and I don't think she knows how to really limit herself to at least 50 VERY important apps. :p
 
iPoopeh said:
Oh yeah budget isn't a factor. I'm planning on getting her the 32GB iPad [$599]. The base model is too restricting for her. She has way too many apps for 16GB, and I don't think she knows how to really limit herself to at least 50 VERY important apps. :p
Click to expand...

Cost not a consideration? The first gen iPad wasn't all that good. How about a vastly superior, second user iPad 2 now? Followed by the latest/greatest when Apple gets round to releasing?

And no, I don't know how anyone could need any more than 50 apps. I do know lots of people who have far more than 50 apps. I don't understand them :).
 
Internaut said:
Cost not a consideration? The first gen iPad wasn't all that good. How about a vastly superior, second user iPad 2 now? Followed by the latest/greatest when Apple gets round to releasing?

And no, I don't know how anyone could need any more than 50 apps. I do know lots of people who have far more than 50 apps. I don't understand them :).
Click to expand...

Haha! Even though cost isn't a problem, I am only a part time worker and up coming full time student. However I shall have more than enough money for the latest iPad.

I have 100 Apps on my iPod touch. But that's because I use it to play games when I'm on vacation or on a long car ride! But she doesn't have any reason to have 100 of the 150 apps she has installed.
 
Night Spring said:
True. But iOS automatcaly closes apps when it needs RAM, so she's not actually keeping the apps open. Just because an app is showing in the multitasking tray, doesn't mean it's running.
Click to expand...

iOS is quite good at that, but sometimes it's better to manually close all applications in the multitasking tray (and even reboot the iPad once in a while).
 
I just recently adopted a 1st generation 64GB iPad and I can't complain about performance. I am running iOS 5.1.1 and it is pretty fast and responsive. I will get the occasional crash out of the App Store, or once in a while an app will freeze and close out; but I even get that happening on my iPhone.

I did a complete restore and started anew with mine when I got it. Like I said, I have no complaints, (even though it was free and I shouldn't) but performance wise it has been great. This is a "hold me over" iPad until I plan on getting one of the new iPad "5" when they are released.
 
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