Advice on I Pad 2 please

[C2 RIBS]

I have been looking at upgrades to laptop and I Pad 2 was demonstrated on board a cruiser some months ago and I was impressed.

Can those who have used the I pad give me some advice, should I consider with wi-fi or with wi-fi and 3g. What are the advantages/disadvantages of each and what GB level16 32 or 64. I would use for surfing internet, e mails and video/photo management

I see Tesco direct offer prices at wi- fi 16GB5 £399.0032GB5 £479.0064GB5 £559.00
and wi-fi + 3g 16GB5 £499.00 32GB5 £579.00 64GB5 £659.00.

Cheers for ideas and thoughts

[Kernow Buoy]

If you've got an Iphone 4 you may well not need the 3G, depending on who your with it's free to tether the phone to the ipad to provide 3g. Bought an Ipad 2 for swmbo recently in an Apple store, impressed with the experience

[C2 RIBS]

Originally Posted by Kernow

If you've got an Iphone 4 you may well not need the 3G, depending on who your with it's free to tether the phone to the ipad to provide 3g. Bought an Ipad 2 for swmbo recently in an Apple store, impressed with the experience

Cheers I use I phone 3, as I dont like paying so much for a smaller sim for a very similar facility( price charges from circa £15 to £45 a month to upgrade to i PHONE 4). Where I live I dont get 3 g so would lock onto wi fi,

[Courageous]

Yes my chancellor also has an IPAD albeit a "1". I guess the 2 is much better so its a thumbs up for me but I'd imagine photo's and video will soon eat the space so usual rule applies - go for the highest numbers you can justify/afford. We don't 3G here in spain as the prices are high so we wifi.

[Boats&Outboards]

Im hooked to Apple. I've got both the iPad 1 an 2, 2 iPhone 4's and just sold the older 3 so would say I'm well placed to offer my experiences.

The pads are great but limited. The Adobe Flash is a pain which restricts some sites. Not a lot of difference between the 1 or 2, just a camera (which you won't use) and a bit quicker, lighter. The FaceTime (similar to skype) is good on the iPad 2 but only if you know others with compatible devices.

Memory is not an issue. I've the basic 16gb and a 64gb which is way over spec. You don't need that much and it makes no difference to performance or speeds. I have 2000 pics, 300 tunes and 45 apps on the 16gb with 7 GB left.


I'd say go for the 3G as it's great on the move. Wifi hotspots are ok but limited. I use mine more at home on 3G then I do wifi due to where my hub is, the pads don't have a huge wifi range!

I pay £15 per month via the company called THREE and am yet to find a location where the signal drops out.

Things to consider

Video quality poor when using 3G. Wifi can watch HD videos on YouTube etc.

What you want to use it for. Forget BBC videos etc. surfing is great.

You can get them "JAIL BROKEN" which opens them up to new levels and de-restricts all Apple settings. Free iTunes, watch what you want etc but it invalidates your warranty!!!!

My advice is go for it

Peter ~ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

[martini]

You'll probably want to buy the 3G version as non 3G's don't have gps

[Courageous]

Peter you mention pics, tunes and apps all of which take up little space compared to Video. That's why I would advise going for the greater memory IMHO.

[Boats&Outboards]

Agreed but the iPad compresses videos and files which have been recorded on other compatible devices to allow integration onto the unit. Add to that the fact the only real video it likes to store is ones being taken by an Apple device and the memory should suffice for most general usage.

As with most gadgets I normally go for the top spec (then regret it later) simply because for the extra £100 odd it's better value. My 64gb has over 3500 pictures, 30 movies, tv clips, loads of music, over 100 apps and it's still got 24gb left to waste. If I ever got close I'd simply "clean" through and delete what is not used back onto iTunes or the desktop for a later date.

Buyers choice but rumours are the iPad3 is due out very soon.... Thats why I've just sold the original iPad whilst the value is still in it

Peter ~ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

[Courageous]

IPAD 3? Aaaaaaargh! Will it never end? Sounds like apple have the video compression thing pinned down then Peter I'm still up for the max available though.

[Max...]

I'd check the Macrumours forums too - a useful place for tech info (plenty of opinionated cr@p too as usual!).

iPad - MacRumors Forums

Something new is always around the corner but don't hold your breath for the updated iPad - no iPad 3 is rumoured until late spring/summer even in the US so we're probably talking at least a year to the UK.

I don't have an iPad but use an iPod Touch 4th gen and consider it the best little gadget ever made, no 3g but I really only use it in the house/office for everything a laptop can do but more intuitively and quickly (including Ribnet access). I've got 75 music albums, 3500 photos, numerous Appps, podcasts and a few films/videos on there and I've used half of the 32GB.

Not sure of the OP's exact spec requirements re' video but if you mean storing and editing video film then go 64gb, if not then 32gb should be ample.

Apple do all this stuff like no-on else and round a big family gathering this weekend the advice from the younger ones to the olders was forget laptops and get an iPad.

If you plan to just use it in the house/office then Wi-fi is tops - much faster (data access) and easier and cheaper then 3G, that's why I use a Touch and not an iPhone. A wi-fi Apple unit is a one off cost - a contract 3g unit will add at least another £200 to £400 a year to it in running costs. I would always check Amazon for anything like this as their service and no-quibble returns/problem sorting is second to none (many people have found that Apple stores are not quite so accomodating when things go wrong).

[Boats&Outboards]

I've found Apple to be very fair with the iPhone. They have replaced 2 without any questions being asked including one which had been dropped into the sea at th slipway. Evidently salt-water did not affect the tablets they have built into them :hide

Peter ~ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

[Leapy]

I've found Apple Care support and support from in-store to be 1st class. Every (minor) question I've had has been handled really well

[MAW]

Tethering for wi fi only iPads.... tethering to iPhone 4 allows use of the GPS data. I am not sure if that works with iPhone 3 as I haven't tried it. I have a wi fi 16Gb, it has Imray charts, and works perfectly, tethered.

[Black]

I run an 3G, 16GB iPad 2 for work, and a 32gb iphone 4.

The ipad has a PAYG data card from THREE mobile, I spend most of my time working in central London and went for this, as it is reputed to have the best access in London. That said, on holiday in Cornwall this year, it had better reception than the other ipads in our group on vodafone. I'm really pleased with the performance, as Peter says if you want to stream the BBC, forget it, but for all other things its great.

I go for the £10 a month for a gb of data, so far, and I've had it 3 months, I haven't used above the data limit in each month.

In terms of data storage, I have all my work files synced via dropbox, which is limited to 1gb in the dropbox settings, I've also got Pages, Number, and keynote which are fantastic for meetings. I don't think I'll get anywhere near the 16gb limit of the ipad.

just my thoughts - but go for it, you'll wonder how you existed without after a while

[Dirk Diggler]

I use a 3G Samsung Tablet, superb 7" screen, and has the benefit of being a superb phone as well. I have a PAYG sim from Giff-Gaff, which I believe uses the O2 network.

[longjohn]

Apple fan here through and through. My advice is go for the cheapest i.e. 16gb wifi only. Rational being that even 64 gb is not big enough as a laptop replacement and 16 is big enough for all the apps you need and the rotation of music/video/photos you might need to carry around. Music is much more convenient on an iPhone or iPod anyway.
My 16gb has 1200 photos, 3 full length movies, some other video and a small selection of music + 143 apps and still nearly 2gb spare space.
If you need 3G tether your phone to it and if you need a realistic amount of space for all your stuff get one of these:
Seagate Satellite
GoFlex Satellite Wireless | Seagate

[C2 RIBS]

Originally Posted by longjohn

Apple fan here through and through. My advice is go for the cheapest i.e. 16gb wifi only. Rational being that even 64 gb is not big enough as a laptop replacement and 16 is big enough for all the apps you need and the rotation of music/video/photos you might need to carry around. Music is much more convenient on an iPhone or iPod anyway.
My 16gb has 1200 photos, 3 full length movies, some other video and a small selection of music + 143 apps and still nearly 2gb spare space.
If you need 3G tether your phone to it and if you need a realistic amount of space for all your stuff get one of these:
Seagate Satellite
GoFlex Satellite Wireless | Seagate

Cheers for everyones thoughts and updates, regarding your 16gb what length HD film have you stored. I anticipate Vids from boats being store or downloaded to make you tube sections then copied to external drive unit for storage. I can see the Apple system seems strong for video formatting

[Max...]

Forgot to say earlier when mentioning that an iPad is a great replacement for a laptop that you do still in fact *need* a laptop/desktop with an iPad just as you do with an iPod to set up itunes/rip CD's/store and sync everything...

This should/may all change in the next gen and even to some extent with the 'cloud' (IOS5) coming soon when hopefully the newer iPads/Touch's etc finally become completely independant.

http://www.apple.com/icloud/

[Boats&Outboards]

I don't use an of the movie editing software as I think the camera quality is poor at best. I still use a HD camera and edit them on the desktop via power director which is very good.

We looked at the others such as samsung but they are nowhere near an iPad

Looking forward to my next upgrade.

Peter ~ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

[gotchiguy]

Having had three iPhones in the family, and myself now having moved over to Android I warn you that Apple no longer has the world in its hands.

The biggest benefit with Android is the choice of hardware, with Apple you are limited to one device whereas there are nearly a hundred running Android, and several tablets now, giving a much greater choice.

Apple has been playing catchup to Android since it was released, obviously 20% of iPhone users have been forced to jailbreak their devices in order to try and match the functionality of Android, however in pure hardware terms, even the iPhone 4S announced this evening cannot get anywhere near the standard of the high end Android devices.