Which iPad should I buy?

[Chillie]

I'm heading to the Apple Store in Melbourne next week to buy an iPad 2 and accessories. I'm trying to decide which one to get.

This is what I have chosen so far:

iPad 2:
Colour: Black
Type: Wi-Fi + 3G
Size: 16GB or 32GB (that's where I need help). The 64GB costs too much $$$.

Accessories:

Screen Protector
iPad Smart Cover - Polyurethane (Colour not known yet)

Are there any other Must Have accessories I really need?

I will be buying a $30.00 Starter 3G Sim kit from Telstra when I get back to Horsham.

Please note: If I spend too much $$$ on the iPad, I may not be able to afford a iPhone.

[Octane]

Depends on how much music/movies/podcasts you wish to store on the device.

I have a 32 GB iPhone 3Gs and it has served me well.

If you have loads of stuff you want to put on it, and, think that you will be purchasing/downloading lots of applications, bigger is better.

H

[iceman]

The 32GB is always better if you can afford it. Each movie could be between 1-4 gig, so they can take up space pretty quickly on 16gb.
I also have about 9gb of music, so it fills it up quickly.

You don't *need* any other accessories, but if you want to project to your computer monitor, then get the RGB monitor cable adapter.

I also got a better wrap around case that protects the back, and still has a front cover that sleeps/wakes up the iPad when you lift it. If you do get an after market cover, make sure it has the sleep/wake iPad 2 function. Some don't cover the screen properly to turn the iPad 2 off.

[Dennis]

I have the 64 Gb model and currently only have about 20Gb free, so unless you are good at managing space or a bit of a minimalist, get the biggest you can afford. Otherwise it might constrain how you can use the device a few months down the track.

My accessorising approach was to only buy the accessories that I have an immediate functional need for. In the past, I have accessorised equipment at the time of purchase and later discovered that as my usage developed for the product, some accessories just did not get used.

I got the Orange Apple cover, as it was the only colour in stock and IMO it is a mandatory accessory.

You will really enjoy the iPad2!

Cheers

Dennis

[acropolite]

Once you have an iPad, the iphone is of lesser importance. I'd rather have the best Ipad and an ordinary phone than compromise on the iPad for the sake of having it's talking little brother. The functionality overlaps almost totally, the iPhone screen seems very limiting once you start use the Ipad.

[h0ughy]

for some strange sick reason i am contemplating a air 11" - would i be better with the ipad?

[Octane]

Get the MacBook Air!

H

[traveller]

Hi Henry,
is 3G a MUST HAVE for you? ie. do you travel a lot or will it be a replacement laptop for you at home? I have an original ipad 64gb, non-3g. Works great at work. If I am travelling, I can just get a pocket wifi modem or drop into the nearest free hotspot.
With the money saved on non-3g, you might get a bigger capacity ipad.
Bo

[Omaroo]

If I were to do it again I'd not buy the 3G iPad, but wifi only. I haven't charged my iPad Telstra sim for months, using my iPhone's Personal Hotspot feature instead. If I wish to go online, I fire up the phone and connect to its broadcast wifi network and surf away, wherever I am. I'm thinking of also getting an 11 inch MacBook Air and doing the same - i.e. use the phone to handle its comms. I always have the phone on me so it's perfect for this.

[Poita]

Get the 32GB one, only get 3G if you can't use your phone as a hotspot, or you want the GPS functions on the iPad.

If you want to connect to your monitor, spend $100 and get the AppleTV while you are at it, you can mirror your iPad screen to any monitor/tv whatever that the AppleTV is plugged into. We use that heaps for viewing photos etc. in the living room on the big screen, and it streams the video and audio to our hifi as well.
I'd rather have the iPad 32GB + Apple TV than the 3G iPad.

[Poita]

For travelling (planes, bus, train) and kicking around on the net, the iPad wins hands down.
If you are doing *any* content creation, or interfacing to other devices, get the macbook air, it is fast and powerful for its size, and you can drive your mount, process images etc. with it using windows or OSX :)

[dannat]

I don't really watch movies on my iPad so the 16 is plenty enough for me, even with navigation app at 1 gb I have over half the momery free.
I am sit ing the iphone as I don't use it now, iPad for everything...I also have a MacBook air I use for work, I would take the iPad over any device for the convenience, the USB ports on the air are convenient though

I live off the 3G, I would not recommend getting one without it, thou I live out of a major city, if you mostly stayed in syd/melb it may be a diff story (I got on a tram e other day that had free wifi courtesy ANZ, big thankyou)

[icytailmark]

can u plug an external hard drive into an IPAD? if so doesnt really matter what size IPAD u get

[Omaroo]

No... They aren't laptops, and this isn't something they generally need. Internal storage on iPads is really just considered to be a big buffer to temporarily store what you're watching or listening to. They communicate with your Mac or PC which is their real storage workhorse - or now iCloud via 3G or 802.11

[Dennis]

Sort of...

http://www.hypershop.com/HyperDrive-s/119.htm

Cheers

Dennis

[Omaroo]

Yes, "sort of" is right Dennis. Not exactly mainstream, which is what I suspect Mark was intimating - ie a standard USB drive of modest colts for large capacity.

These don't look too bad though. :)

Still, I haven't seen too many people upset about running out of room...

[Chillie]

Thank you all for your replies.

I will not be using my phone as a portable Wi-Fi hotspot because the data usage costs are horrendous if I go over my data limit. I will be getting the 3G version.

Below is a screen shot of the storage usage on my 8GB 2nd Gen iPod Touch. As you can see, it still has plenty of storage left.

I am leaning towards the 32GB model iPad 2. And the 16GB model iPhone 4S.

[Chillie]

Just a quick note to say I've got my 32GB iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G. I'm glad I got the 3G version because for some reason, I can't connect it to my Wi-Fi Internet Gateway.:mad2:

I went for the grey Smart Cover, and a screen protector. I can't get all the air bubbles out from under the screen protector. I don't have any protection for the back of the iPad but I bought a small case designed for the iPad.

I have upgraded to OS5. Apps, songs and videos transfered OK but my photo didn't transfer.

[kustard]

Do you block MAC addresses on your gateway? If so you'll have to add the iPad MAC address to your gateway.

[Chillie]

I block all MAC addresses on my gateway and only allow the MAC addresses for my equipment. I have added the iPad MAC address to my gateway but I may have got it wrong or put the password in wrong.

I'll have another go tomorrow after I catch up on some very needed sleep.

[Chillie]

I finally got the Wi-Fi working tonight and have downloaded a few Apps using Wi-Fi.