My better half’s netbook has died so I’m thinking of getting her an iPad to replace it. I’m a big fan of Apple kit (this is being typed on my 5 year old MacBook Pro that is still going strong) so am not really interested in other tablets.

So my dilemma – they’re all expensive, but how much to spend? I was originally thinking of a refurbished first generation model, then thought, well I might as well pay another £50 or so and get a refurbed 2nd gen. Now I’m thinking what about this new one?!

The apple store has a refurbed 1st gen for £239, refurbed 2nd gen for £289, or brand new for £399.

16GB wifi is plenty, no need for 3 or 4G. I’m leaning towards the refurbed 2nd gen but what if I finally get round to editing the 2 years worth of video footage of the kids, maybe I could do a better job on a spanking new one?!

Anyone got experience of the different generations, does the brand new one really do that much different to 1st/2nd gen?

Ta!

I doubt your video footage would be significantly enhanced by the 3 over the 2. I’m very tempted by a 2….!

I doubt your video footage would be significantly enhanced by the 3 over the 2

better processor, it’ll take less time.

Actually a significantly quicker time? Or just apple saying it will be quicker? Surely the end output is more down to the creativity of the user rather than having a slightly different processor? I really can’t imagine video editing is *that* much quicker.

Hmm, so an iPad (refurbed or no) from the apple store has a 1 year warranty, but from John Lewis (only new available) it gets a two year guarantee.

Anyone needed to use the warranty on an iPad? If so how soon? Not much mechanical to go wrong in these so I’m wondering if it would be worth buying new from JL for an additional 1 year – it’s quite possible the kids could destroy it, does JL warranty cover that?

Even if it’s a few seconds faster it’s not worth the extra £70 odd quid (IMO). I love technology but when it’s your own £££ I’d rather go for something a little older and get a bit more value.

Its the screen stoopid!
The screen on the iPad 3 (sorry new iPad) is fantastic. Well worth the modest premium in cost versus the iPad 2.

I went from an iPad 1 straight to a 3 and the speed difference and the screen make it a very worthwhile expense.

None IME. Really not at all impressed with the stupid thing – and haven’t worked out what to use it for apart from playing games.

aracer – isn’t that what happens when you buy something on a whim? 🙂 I know what it’s going to be used for, it’s just a question of how much money I want to spend to fulfill that requirement.

Want to sell yours?

I doubt your video footage would be significantly enhanced by the 3 over the 2

The greater-than-HD screen might help if the OPs footage is HD.

If money is tight I’d consider the 2 (or perhaps just a decent netbook?).

But as a new owner of a 3 I have to say it is a lovely thing and the screen is beautiful.

Money is tight enough that I need to justify the spend, and any additional should I go for a 3. Video footage is HD, is the screen that much better?

Decent netbook – I’m not sure that exists 🙂 This is going to replace a Samsung N150 which was adequate once I got rid of Windows and installed Fedora. Unfortunately the crappy plastic switch snapped and my soldering skills aren’t as good as I thought they were (bought a new switch for £5 from ebay).

I just looked closer at specs – no USB etc ports, so if she wanted to plug a keyboard in (unlikely) we’d need to get a bluetooth one, and a camera we’d need adaptors?!

is the screen that much better?

Yes.

It is 2048×1536 pixels, versus 1024×768 of the 1 & 2 models.
So double the resolution.

(For comparison, FullHD is 1920×1080)

It also has a larger colour space, so offers richer colours, but that may be less noticeable for home video.

I just looked closer at specs – no USB etc ports, so if she wanted to plug a keyboard in (unlikely) we’d need to get a bluetooth one, and a camera we’d need adaptors?!

Yep.

Bluetooth keyboard if you need one.

Apple Camera Connection kit accepts SD cards or USB and is £25.

You’d presumably also want editing software like iMovie. You may want to have a play with that in an Apple shop to see if it up to the job – it is not as full featured as desktop PC/Mac editing suites.

I have a iPad 3 and used a iPad 2 for work and would just get a 2 if it were my own money not that much diffidence really.

Only reason to get a 2 over a 3 is if you really can’t stretch to a 3, the screen improvement alone makes it a no-brainer otherwise.

Saw a 3 at the weekend….. still very happy with our 2.

better processor, it’ll take less time

Better processor driving a more processor-intensive screen though.

Brand new second gen can be had for £308 inc VAT now if you look around.

I went from an iPad 1 straight to a 3 and the speed difference and the screen make it a very worthwhile expense.

Not really a good comparison as the 2 is faster/slimmer/lighter than the 1 – so you were bound to notice the difference.
The 2 is lighter and thinner than the 3 and unless you’re going to watch a lot of HD stuff on it I’m not very convinced.

Brand new second gen can be had for £308 inc VAT now if you look around.

I bought mine a few weeks ago from Ebuyer’s Ebay site for £299 all in.
I’m very happy with it too.

I had the money for a new ipad, but with it being slighter thicker, heavier and running hotter, didn’t think it was worth it FOR ME.

Better processor driving a more processor-intensive screen though.

Mainly handled by the improved quad-core graphics chip, rather than the improved CPU.

The 2 is lighter and thinner than the 3

Mmm.. thinner by 0.8mm? And lighter by 49 grams.

unless you’re going to watch a lot of HD stuff on it I’m not very convinced.

Text is vastly improved by the increased resolution, as are photos.

Here’s a close up of text on an iPad 2:

Here’s the same on the iPad 3:

(from the Guardian iPad 3 review)

That might seem picky, but that crisp readability is very noticeable when flicking through The Guardian or even Singletrack.

I quite deliberately held off buying a tablet because I couldn’t see how the whole electronic newspaper/magazine thing could work until they got close to print resolution – and now they do.

Hmm, I’m in the same boat. We don’t need an iPad (or any tablet) but I’d really like one. Am trying to justify it though.

It is 2048×1536 pixels, versus 1024×768 of the 1 & 2 models.
So double the resolution.

If those are the correct resolutions then the 3 is in fact quadruple the others.

I’ve had an iP4 for nearly 2 years and the screen is incredible. That’s one reason alone I’d like the 3 over the 2 – I know how good the screen is.

Rumours of the 4 coming out by Xmas are probably BS but maybe another reason to hang fire for now.

Tis a tough call.

The other question of course is to 3G or not to 3G.

Noticed someone recently using their iPhone to connect their non 3G iPad. Is that possible without jailbreaking?

@spacemoneky – yes wireless personal hotspot, you can use your iPhone to connect your laptop to the internet. In fact many modern phones can do this.

I have an iPad1 64GB wireless only – fantastic and made my laptop redundant (I have a MacMini desktop still) – I don’t think the 3G/4G is worth paying the extra for the contract. I am in no rush to change mine, when it expires I’ll get an updated model but it’s 3yrs old (i think) and still going strong.

You can buy a simple connector to allow you to upload your photos (it takes the memory card) and also a USB connector (haven’t used that). Wireless Apple keyboard works really well with the iPad (i share mine with the desktop). iPad1 cannot do photo edits and has no camera for Skype but voice only works well. You can use the iPad to drive the TV – great for streaming BBC iPlayer or YouTube/Vimeo as well as movies.

Ours would be used primarily in the house so wifi only would be perfectly adequate. Any time we’re out and about I have a droid phone so can set up a wireless hotspot and use that. Pretty sure you can use the data connection on your iPhone too, but over bluetooth.

Unless you’re out and about a lot I don’t see the value in 3/4G, especially not if you have to maintain another contract.

I have to say that I’m now leaning towards the 3 🙂 As jambalaya alludes to (1st gen still going strong), Apple kit does last very well so given that and the (admittedly slight) tech benefits of the 3 over the 2 it might be worth the extra up front.

I can feel a trip to JL coming on for some down and dirty test drives.

If those are the correct resolutions then the 3 is in fact quadruple the others.

Yep. Double the resolution, quadruple the number of pixels.

Noticed someone recently using their iPhone to connect their non 3G iPad. Is that possible without jailbreaking?

Yep. Provided your phone contract allows it.
Just go to Settings->General->Network->Personal Hotspot to set it up.
Can pair to an iPad (or other device) via bluetooth, usb or wifi.

That was the main reason I went for a non-3G iPad.
I’m never likely to have my iPad but not my phone.

Cheers guys. That makes the non 3G the favourite. Now to decide on 2 vs 3.

Just remembered a friend gets JL discount so I might have to put the old charm hat on. Even better if their 2 yr warranty is sound.

Can’t be bothered to check the thread, but has anyone mentioned that the camera on the 3 is actually usable, whereas the resolution on the 2 camera is crap?
Not that anyone actually uses an iPad as a camera, but you might find yourself taking the occasional photo.

I borrowed the work I pad 2 and compared back to back with the gfs new I pad 3.She said she could notice the difference on screen seoltuion butI couldnt really tell.

GF has since bought a refurbed Ipad 2 for her kids and its pretty much as you`d expect,just like new.

I reckon I`ll be doing the same.

Just went down to JL, the two year warranty is sound. In a moment of madness I decided to just **** it and buy a 3, they’d run out! I saw it as a sign and left sharpish, no doubt I’ll now be umm’ing and aah’ing about it until a new model comes out, whence it shall begin again!

She said she could notice the difference on screen resolution but I couldnt really tell.

http://www.specsavers.co.uk/

Actually it is quite possible you were looking at an app that hadn’t yet been updated to the new resolution. The difference is really quite noticeable. Even my father-in-law commented on it and his sight isn’t great.

n a moment of madness I decided to just **** it and buy a 3, they’d run out!

I used the John Lewis Click and Collect thing to reserve mine. Order it online, available to collect in store next day.

If you have the budget, get a 3. If you want to save some cash, get a 2. You’d be happy with both IMO.

If you plan to put much video on it, a 32gb 2 will be more useful than a 16gb 3, if that’s a useful comparison?

(32gb 3 here, coming from a 32gb 1. Don’t use it to watch video much, but do have a pile of work files/photos on it)

I have a Mac Mini at home acting as a file server amongst other things, with 4TB of NAS storage so files/photos will go on there for the most part.

I realise it’s faster to store stuff locally on flash than on a SATA drive over the network, but access speed isn’t that much of a criticality (I can stream HD video over the wireless network).

Yeah there’s no way you can’t tell the screen difference if you’re using a retina-enabled app, the quality is way better (although admittedly if you were new to the whole tablet thing and picked up an iPad 2 you’d probably be impressed by the screen).

I was dead set on buying a wifi only new ipad, couldn’t find them in stockl anywhere though, a friend had decided to sell his 3G ipad 2 so I picked that up for a very good price, will probably hang on until the 4th gen comes out next year and upgrade then.

Judging by the price that 1st gen ipads are fetching on ebay, I should be able to sell my 2nd gen for roughly what I paid in a years time.

I’ve got the latest version, as it’s release coincided with my inheriting a bit of cash, and it’s just a brilliant bit of kit. I use it regularly to iMessage my g/f via her Pad, (she only has a work laptop, which has heavy dongle enforced security), and all the things I used to use my iPhone for are much easier.
It’s significantly faster than my iP4, the screen is astonishing, and I’ve found it much easier to control iTunes on my Mac Mini using Remote, with the tv/monitor off, when I’m just listening to music. My g/f has an AppleTV now, and uses the iPad with that for streaming stuff, and she has Netflix on both.
For viewing photos it’s fabulous, I get the photostream from my phone, and I have the Apple Camera Kit for use with my cameras, although this has just come out:

M.I.C. Gadget Introduces First All-in-one Card Reader For iPad
http://www.thephoblographer.com/2012/04/18/m-i-c-gadget-introduces-first-all-in-one-card-reader-for-ipad/

M.I.C. Gadget All-in-one Card Reader specifications
Reads SD, microSD and CF cards
Offers a USB port as well as a power input port
Improved speed rating compared to previous CF-only card reader
Supports high-speed cards up to 600x (CF) / Class 10 (SD)
Supports all iPad generations and iOS up to version 5.1 (iOS 5.0.1 or higher recommended)

The iPads uses are only limited by the users imagination, if you can’t imagine what to use one for, well, that speaks volumes to me.

I had the same dilemma.

My daughter has a new iPad and yes it’s nice but I could not justify the extra just for a better screen so bought a refurbed iPad 2 from the Apple store and very pleased I am too!

Friends had both the 2 and 3 on holiday last week. The 3 was nice but if I was a bit tight on cash the 2 would be just fine and work more than well enough. The 1 is possibly a bit slow now although I’m stil very happy with mine

it’s just a brilliant bit of kit… my iP4… my Mac Mini… My g/f has an AppleTV

fanboi?

The iPads uses are only limited by the users imagination

Oh, so the only reason I can’t develop software on it, download my Garmin using it, download photos from my camera using it, look at my maps on it, watch clips from the BBC website on it etc. is my lack of imagination?

Given your clearly superior imagination to mine, explain to me why I should be using the iPad which is switched off in the corner instead of the ultraportable I have sitting on my lap.