which one to get??

[rpearlberg]

I can get a 1st Gen iPad 64GB with wifi for $399, or a iPad 2 16GB for $499??

Is the processor that much better in the iPad 2?

 

[deeddawg]

Kinda depends.

Do you need more than 16GB storage? More than 32GB?
Do you run apps that are cpu dependent and would benefit from the greater speed?

Answer those and your choice will be pretty clear.

 

[Panch0]

I'd go with the iPad 2 with 16GB, but that's because I have no desire to load media on my iPad (I have an iPhone for that). I have 11GB free on my 16GB iPad 2. If you want to keep a large music (or especially video) collection on the iPad, 16GB can fill up pretty quickly. Lots of cloud services will let you stream media though (amazon, mobileMe, DropBox, ZumoDrive, etc), so you have options beyond the local storage anyway.

The iPad 2 is more capable, but I haven't used any apps that that aren't compatible with both versions of iPad. The most notable one I can think of is iMovie. Maybe if you have some ideas of apps you would like to use, you can check the app store to see if any are iPad 2 only.

Do the cameras on the iPad 2 have any meaning for you? FaceTime seems like it should be a killer app (which would be iPad2 only), but I've yet to use it.

It all depends on what you want to do with the iPad, and how you balance $100 against Storage Space and against Added Features.

 

[str8bucs]

Check your AT&T stores I got a Original iPad 64GB WiFi +3G for $524..... I think it was a killer deal

 

[iLuvMyMacToo]

I went from a 64GB iPad to a 32GB iPad 2 simply because I didn't want to pay the extra cost and I don't keep any media on my iPad (I use my iPhone for that too).

With cloud based storage these days you really don't need a huge amount of space on your iPad. It's suppose to be a portable and convenient device and the way I look at it if I'm going to store heaps on it like media and files I may as well buy a Macbook Air or similar.

 

[ditzy]

I haven't used the iPad 2, but I personally have never noticed that the original iPad feels slow. It's my opinion that if the cameras aren't important to you, you should get the iPad 1.

 

[Shasta McNasty]

You also have to think about resale value if you know you are going to want to get the 3. For this reason, i got the 16gb ipad 2.

 

[bgro]

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I have an iPad 1 and played with a friends ipad2 yesterday and didn't notice a huge difference. Was their a difference...yes..but a really slim one IMO. It all boils down to what you will use the iPad for. I wanted to store all my music and pics on it as well as use the logmein program for remote desktop access. The 64gb iPad 1 was perfect for these needs so I chose that ($400 on craigslist) over the 2. Completely happy with my purchase with 0 buyers remorse.

 

[SPEEDwithJJ]

I would get the iPad 2 for one reason only. That is it will have a longer iOS support for it. Of course, if you don't value any of those iOS updates, than it doesn't matter if you go for an iPad 1 or 2.

Good luck.