iPad mini Purchase Query?

[active8]

Hi,

My Wife and I are looking to purchase our first iPad, sold our 1yr old Nexus 7 due to lack of use and just an annoyance of not having a tablet to use iOS apps on.

We want to keep things as cheap as possible so have thought about getting a 1st Gen iPad Mini due to the great deals and low cost of this older model.

The only concern is will it run iOS8/9 +

The rMini does look nice and I imagine we could stretch the cost but its not something we'd be looking to do for a while.

Other option was to find a refurb iPad 4 as these seem to sell between cost of mini 1 and mini 2.

Any input on this would be great.

Thanks

 

[Night Spring]

1st gen mini has the same CPU as the iPad 2. Apple will probably release iOS 8 for it, but it probably won't run so well. iOS 9 -- forget about it.

If your priority is to maximize useful life while saving money, I'd say iPad 4 is probably your best bet. But it is larger and heavier than the minis. So is that a concern?

 

[DaCurmudgen]

1st gen mini has the same CPU as the iPad 2. Apple will probably release iOS 8 for it, but it probably won't run so well. iOS 9 -- forget about it.

If your priority is to maximize useful life while saving money, I'd say iPad 4 is probably your best bet. But it is larger and heavier than the minis. So is that a concern?

I agree that an iPad 4 refurb is probably the lowest you can go. You can also grab 32GB iPad Air or rMini, which will probably get you thru iOS8 and iOS9.