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Which Ipad to buy: 1, 2 or, ,um, 3?

A

avincent52

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 6, 2007
104
0
My first gen Ipad is having a serious screen problem--the glass is fine, but major portions of the screen are darkened or have random lines.

Here are my replacement options:

Ipad 1, 32 Gig, 3G + Wifi: $250 I'm assuming that if I bring it to the Apple store they'll give me the option of replacing it for $249.

Ipad 2, 16 Gig, Wifi: $349: Option 2 is an Ipad 2 at the new lower price ($399) minus the $50 education gift card.

New Ipad with retina display: $449 15 Gig, Wifi: the final option is the latest gen Ipad for $499, minus $50 for the gift card.

Which of these makes the most sense? (I don't use the 3g, and i while I do like to pack it with video, I could live with 16 gigs of storage.)

If I pay $249 for a "new" first gen Ipad, could I sell it easily for more than the $249 right now and put that money toward one of the newer models?

TIA
 
I would not buy the first one at this point. I use mine in the kitchen and that is suitable, but basically it is not going to run as smooth as you'd want. Why invest in something that seems to be walking out the door at this point?
 
The one is certainly out now, but prices for the 2 secondhand are insanely high. If I was in the market for an iPad now, I'd buy the 3...I have a 64GB wifi 3, and it's great....The 2 is still a powerful tablet though, it's just the price that doesn't make any sense to me.

Remember that the ipad1 will not run IOS 6 when it's released in the fall...Another thing to consider before you buy.
 
Why don't you just wait for the ipad 4. Thats what im doing, but i do have an ipad 2.
 
jessica. said:
I would not buy the first one at this point. I use mine in the kitchen and that is suitable, but basically it is not going to run as smooth as you'd want. Why invest in something that seems to be walking out the door at this point?
Click to expand...

thats what i said about my ex
 
If I where you I would wait the next gen iPad, but if you want to buy something as replacement you better buy a first option. :)
 
depends what you're after yet you may want to wait to find out which option is best once apple release the rumored ipad mini later this year. At its expected price point it might be just what you're looking for.
 
jessica. said:
I would not buy the first one at this point. I use mine in the kitchen and that is suitable, but basically it is not going to run as smooth as you'd want. Why invest in something that seems to be walking out the door at this point?
Click to expand...

I agree, I wouldn't buy the one. The latest IOS versions have made its perfomance very poor. The four is too far out and without any significant improvements that we know of. The two... yeah, a so-so upgrade from the one. So that leaves the three with the beautiful retina screen that stands out as the obvious choice, in my opinion.
 
avincent52 said:
My first gen Ipad is having a serious screen problem--the glass is fine, but major portions of the screen are darkened or have random lines.

Here are my replacement options:

Ipad 1, 32 Gig, 3G + Wifi: $250 I'm assuming that if I bring it to the Apple store they'll give me the option of replacing it for $249.

Ipad 2, 16 Gig, Wifi: $349: Option 2 is an Ipad 2 at the new lower price ($399) minus the $50 education gift card.

New Ipad with retina display: $449 15 Gig, Wifi: the final option is the latest gen Ipad for $499, minus $50 for the gift card.

Which of these makes the most sense? (I don't use the 3g, and i while I do like to pack it with video, I could live with 16 gigs of storage.)

If I pay $249 for a "new" first gen Ipad, could I sell it easily for more than the $249 right now and put that money toward one of the newer models?

TIA
Click to expand...

You can get an Ipad 2 for $319 on the refurb store. Just another option.
 
Thanks for the input.
Waiting for the Ipad 4 isn't really an option. Our Ipad was in heavy use between my daughter and my wife (and me....)

Two questions:
a) does the $50 gift card offer apply to refurb Ipads?
b) Is there a resale market for an Ipad one--i.e. would I be able to get $300-$350 for an unopened refurb original Ipad, 32 gigs with 3G?
IIRC,the Apple store was selling a refurb 16gig 3g Ipad 1 for $349.
 
iLikeTurtles! said:
It came out in march and ur already wanting a new one? Pfft
Click to expand...

Just to make it clear.
My Ipad is an early first gen, so it's more than two years old. And it's broken.
I'm just trying to get some advice on my repair/replacement options.
 
lol @ waiting for the nextgen iPad when we are in all likelihood closer to the release date of the 3rd iPad than the 4th iPad.

Get the 2 or 3. I'd probably get the 3 even if I had to save for an extra couple weeks just to prevent buyer's remorse, even if the tablet itself wasn't any more functional.

There's also the very real possibility that at some point an OS upgrade will come out (7? 8?) that will be compatible with the 3rd gen, but not the 2nd gen... so that is definitely something to consider.

Also, I'm not in an area with LTE coverage at the moment, but I suspect that is coming soon and I believe the 3rd gen iPads are LTE, but the gens are not. That is also something to consider (if you aren't getting a wifi only one).
 
I paid £150 for my friends iPad when he bought The New iPad for £499 and apart from him having a camera and FaceTime, plus the slightly better retina screen, I can't tell a difference.

I am really happy with my original iPad 1 and I wouldn't want to spend the extra cash upgrading to the 2 or 3 because I have no use for a camera, FaceTime or the retina display to make them worth paying more than I need to.

The iPad 1 runs iOS 5 nice and smoothly and although it won't be able to upgrade to iOS 6, I'm not too fussed about that in the slightest as I think iOS 6 is kind of underwhelming to be honest.

It kind of depends what you want the iPad for. If you just want to browse the internet, check your e-mails and listen to music etc then the iPad 1 is absolutely great. It's also fine for playing most games, although some do benefit from the extra RAM on the iPad 2 and 3.

I'd only get an iPad 2 or 3 if you really want FaceTime and the added camera. The 3 also has the 'future proof' option, but there's something I really like about the iPad 1 for me. It just seems to be the right option for what I need.
 
x&y said:
I paid £150 for my friends iPad when he bought The New iPad for £499 and apart from him having a camera and FaceTime, plus the slightly better retina screen, I can't tell a difference.

I am really happy with my original iPad 1 and I wouldn't want to spend the extra cash upgrading to the 2 or 3 because I have no use for a camera, FaceTime or the retina display to make them worth paying more than I need to.

The iPad 1 runs iOS 5 nice and smoothly and although it won't be able to upgrade to iOS 6, I'm not too fussed about that in the slightest as I think iOS 6 is kind of underwhelming to be honest.

It kind of depends what you want the iPad for. If you just want to browse the internet, check your e-mails and listen to music etc then the iPad 1 is absolutely great. It's also fine for playing most games, although some do benefit from the extra RAM on the iPad 2 and 3.

I'd only get an iPad 2 or 3 if you really want FaceTime and the added camera. The 3 also has the 'future proof' option, but there's something I really like about the iPad 1 for me. It just seems to be the right option for what I need.
Click to expand...

Difference between the first generation iPad and the third generation iPad is huge.

768 MB difference in RAM
Apple A5X - install lots of tweaks and you will see the difference
Bluetooth 4.0 - battery efficient
4G LTE support
Gyroscope support
Thinner and lighter
iOS 6 support
Retina display - it may look as if it is an over hyped display, but trust me, it's not
Smart Cover/Smart Case support
FaceTime camera
AirPlay mirroring

The best upgrade is... yes, you've guessed it right. It's the retina display. It may look as if it is an over hyped display, but trust me, it's not. At first, it's hard to tell the difference. But after using the new iPad for close to one month, I can tell that the iPad 2's screen is blurry.
 
Last edited:
kokhean said:
Difference between the first generation iPad and the third generation iPad is huge.

768 MB difference in RAM
Apple A5X - install lots of tweaks and you will see the difference
Bluetooth 4.0 - battery efficient
4G LTE support
Gyroscope support
Thinner and lighter
iOS 6 support
Retina display - it may look as if it is an over hyped display, but trust me, it's not
Smart Cover/Smart Case support
FaceTime camera
AirPlay mirroring

The best upgrade is... yes, you've guessed it right. It's the retina display. It may look as if it is an over hyped display, but trust me, it's not. At first, it's hard to tell the difference. But after using the new iPad for close to one month, I can tell that the iPad 2's screen is blurry.
Click to expand...

It's also more than double the price, given that my current Ipad is 32 gig, 3g and the cheapest Ipad3 would be 16gig WiFi.
 
Fontane said:
I haven't seen any non-3g Ipad 2 models on the refurb store for over a week. When did you buy one?
Click to expand...

About a month ago. They sell out quick so keep checking the site for new inventory since anything that is not in inventory will not show up on the site at all.

This site lets you know all the refurb options, what's in stock and how long something has been out of stock. I think you can sign up for an email alert when something you want is in stock
http://www.refurb.me/us/
 
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