Trying to buy my wife an iPad and pencil. What’s the cheapest entry to this? It would be for super casual use. Does it make sense to wait until Black Friday/Christmas discounts? She does not want a mini iPad or iPad Pro.
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iPad Cheapest strategy for non-mini iPad + pencil
- Thread starter baummer
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What will the Pencil be used for?
I just use mine for note taking and I went with the $60 Logitech Crayon. Unlike the Apple Pencil 1 & 2, I can use the Crayon on an iPad released in 2018 or later.
The $329 iPad 9th gen is a very good entry level option. I'm getting one for my mom to replace her iPad Pro 9.7. She gets the upgraded front camera with Center Stage while keeping TouchID/Home button and headphone jack. It's on sale now for $299 at Amazon and some other places but it's entirely possible we get better deals on Black Friday.
Last year was pretty unusual but the years before that (2018, 2019), the basic 6th gen & 7th gen iPads went on sale for $229-249 Black Friday/Cyber Monday.
I just use mine for note taking and I went with the $60 Logitech Crayon. Unlike the Apple Pencil 1 & 2, I can use the Crayon on an iPad released in 2018 or later.
The $329 iPad 9th gen is a very good entry level option. I'm getting one for my mom to replace her iPad Pro 9.7. She gets the upgraded front camera with Center Stage while keeping TouchID/Home button and headphone jack. It's on sale now for $299 at Amazon and some other places but it's entirely possible we get better deals on Black Friday.
Last year was pretty unusual but the years before that (2018, 2019), the basic 6th gen & 7th gen iPads went on sale for $229-249 Black Friday/Cyber Monday.
Thank you! She will use the pencil for notes, sketches, etc. she does a lot of crafts and planning type things in her free time.
For art, I believe the official Apple Pencil 2 offers more features and for that, you'll need either Air 4 or maybe a certified refurb Pro.
I don't have a single artsy bone in my body though, so can't give you any insights there.
I would still recommend the 9th gen iPad with Apple Pencil 1. (it provides the pressure sensitivity and tilt that the Crayon doesn't have) The Pencil 1 is still a terrific option for artistic endeavors.
For artsy stuff, I’d go with the Apple pencil and get whatever iPad you can use it with. I have Apple Pencils 1 and 2 and the Logitech Crayon. I use the crayon when I’m marking papers and moving between two iPads to mark the paper on one and the rubric on the other. Before I got the crayon, I always seemed to have the wrong pencil for the iPad I was trying to write on. For simple writing like that in OneDrive, the crayon is fine. I don’t need pressure sensitivity. For anything art-related, having pressure sensitivity is very useful.
The Pencil 2, with magnetic charging, is much more convenient (both for keeping handy and for charging) than either the Pencil 1 or the Crayon.
Don’t overbuy, but don’t underbuy, either.