As above. I’m looking at getting a 4th Gen iPad (or 3rd Gen in the unlikely event that they’re discounted) – either way I want the larger Retina display, so the mini/2nd Gen is out. Not sure if I want the 3G version and also don’t know what size I’ll need – the price soon escalates!

I don’t want to store much music on it (<1gig), however I do want to be able to load it up with loads of apps and some games (both in hd versions where poss), kindle, BBC iPlayer/4od etc. (plus downloaded programmes), Viewranger + maps, digital magazines as well as several DVDs worth of films etc.

Is 16gb enough for that?

Nope,

HD versions of some of the bigger games are in some cases approaching (or over) 1gb

Films will run you around 400mb each (depending on format and how you convert them), more if you want HD quality

Digital Magazines can also easily run to 500mb as well (depending on what other media they have installed)

I’m going with 16gb but only as I sync my devices every night and move stuff on\off as necessary

I’d say 16GB will be a squeeze, especially if you plan on putting a few films on it at HD quality.

It’s doable, but you’ll probably appreciate the extra breathing room if you can afford the 32GB.

I know it’s double the amount (and a different device), but the boy has easily filled his 8gb iPod Touch. And that’s without any sophisticated apps, tv progs, films and only a small amount of music etc… So I’d recommend going above 16gb.

If I remember correctly, there is about 4GB taken for the system. That would leave you with 12GB of actual storage, not a lot if you want to watch films. There is an external hard drive made by Seagate that can stream to the iPad/iPhone.

I asked the same question when I bought mine and chose the 32GB, glad I did.

Why is the storage on tablets so small? It can’t be a technology thing, they fit 160gb into an iPod… I don’t get it.

Flash is expensive, HDs are cheap but bulky.

HDs aren’t that bulky (they fit in an iPod), but fair enough.

However, a 128gb SD card can be had for about £100 retail, 64gb for basically peanuts, so why do they still only have 16gb in tablets? I have more on my phone…

why do they still only have 16gb in tablets?

So they can charge an extra £70 for 32gb…
Annoying as the 16gb microSD in my phone cost about 8 quid.

Thanks for the responses, looks like 32gb is the way to go.

I think the flash memory used in tablets is higher spec than that found in an 8 quid SD card.
(i.e. faster read/write times, longer lifetime, lower power etc)

Probably doesn’t account for much of the startling difference mind you – most of which is undoubtedly about product tiers and profit – but I don’t think it is quite a straight apples-to-apples* comparison.

.

*(or androids-to-androids obviously 😉 )