All iPads How to Buy a New Ipad..?

[johnhb]

Hi everyone. I'm completely new on here and coming from outside of the U.S. I need to upgrade my 7 year old iPad but a bit stymied about what to get. Size is important but until I buy/ use a new one, how would I know which size to go for? 10.2 inch versus 11 inch..very tricky to get that right! Likewise with the model and generation and size of the storage. When I bought my iPhone several years back- I made sure I bought extra memory over and above what I thought I'd need and that proved to be a wise decision. At least it gave me a bit of room when things (as I'm sure they will again) inevitably get crowded.

I intend using it to store Family History photos, videos and data, as well as library books and music but then I think it would make sense not to store all that on the device, rather to put it onto an external hard drive? Otherwise, with video and movies etc. I don't know if my 68 year old eyes and senses are that sophisticated that they would know what they're looking at anyway.. Likewise the size of the hard drive- and as with the ram, "as big as possible" I guess is my rule of thumb! Seems like that's just common sense as how would I even know how much is going to end up on it?

The best means of deciding these things is to take an iPad on "appro" to actually try the thing out, but of course that's not possible so it's critical to get it exactly right. Which takes me back to where I just was- I cannot predict the future in terms of what I need.

Any suggestions?

 

[1rottenapple]

iPad Pro 11 in with 512gb memory. Done. It’s the perfect size as a tablet. Great speakers. great sceen. Enough memory to host your family pics and video.

 

[Shirasaki]

Rule of thumb: iPad currently will NOT handle external drives properly. So far the only somewhat reliable way to use external drive with iPad is using an SSD (DO NOT USE HDD WITH IPAD) and format it using APFS (High Sierra and later supports it).

If you store most of the stuff externally and have access to a Mac (High Sierra and later with iTunes 12.7 and later), then storage size would not matter much.

As for the screen, iPad Pro 12.9” has currently the best screen available, but it also comes at a hefty premium, starting from $1100 USD and can go up to $1500 USD depending on region and taxes, for base model (128GB).

 

[ian87w]

The problem of storing everything on the iPad is, how would you back it up? What would you do when the iPad breaks, or needs to be replaced? Unless you have a computer with storage large enough for offline backup (and you remember to do it regularly), it’s some thing to think about.

For me personally, I have come to embrace cloud storage. That way, I at least have one backup. And then I would only worry about storage for the apps, and save me money as well vs buying the device with larger storage.

Just an idea.

 

[iPadified]

Hi everyone. I'm completely new on here and coming from outside of the U.S. I need to upgrade my 7 year old iPad but a bit stymied about what to get. Size is important but until I buy/ use a new one, how would I know which size to go for? 10.2 inch versus 11 inch..very tricky to get that right! Likewise with the model and generation and size of the storage. When I bought my iPhone several years back- I made sure I bought extra memory over and above what I thought I'd need and that proved to be a wise decision. At least it gave me a bit of room when things (as I'm sure they will again) inevitably get crowded.

I intend using it to store Family History photos, videos and data, as well as library books and music but then I think it would make sense not to store all that on the device, rather to put it onto an external hard drive? Otherwise, with video and movies etc. I don't know if my 68 year old eyes and senses are that sophisticated that they would know what they're looking at anyway.. Likewise the size of the hard drive- and as with the ram, "as big as possible" I guess is my rule of thumb! Seems like that's just common sense as how would I even know how much is going to end up on it?

The best means of deciding these things is to take an iPad on "appro" to actually try the thing out, but of course that's not possible so it's critical to get it exactly right. Which takes me back to where I just was- I cannot predict the future in terms of what I need.

Any suggestions?

How much are you prepared to pay? As others has been saying: storing everything on the iPad is risky. Consider syncing with a cloud service. 512 Gb is fine but it really depends on how large your library is today and how much you expect it to grow in the foreseeable future.

 

[Nhwhazup]

We store all our photos on Photomyne. Last year I scanned all our old photos so we would have them digitally. Between the scanned and already digital photos, I have over 10,000 in there. I paid around $100 for unlimited storage and back up for 5 years.

 

[ericwn]

Start with ordering the one with the most interesting screen size from a shop with a return policy and test it. Apple provides you with a two week return period in most countries for online orders.

 

[AutomaticApple]

iPad Pro 11 in with 512gb memory. Done. It’s the perfect size as a tablet. Great speakers. great sceen. Enough memory to host your family pics and video.

Is cloud storage not an option?

 

[1rottenapple]

of course but I’d rather keep mine locally. I’ll jeep the iPad for years anyway.

 

[darngooddesign]

Hi everyone. I'm completely new on here and coming from outside of the U.S. I need to upgrade my 7 year old iPad but a bit stymied about what to get. Size is important but until I buy/ use a new one, how would I know which size to go for? 10.2 inch versus 11 inch..very tricky to get that right! Likewise with the model and generation and size of the storage. When I bought my iPhone several years back- I made sure I bought extra memory over and above what I thought I'd need and that proved to be a wise decision. At least it gave me a bit of room when things (as I'm sure they will again) inevitably get crowded.

I intend using it to store Family History photos, videos and data, as well as library books and music but then I think it would make sense not to store all that on the device, rather to put it onto an external hard drive? Otherwise, with video and movies etc. I don't know if my 68 year old eyes and senses are that sophisticated that they would know what they're looking at anyway.. Likewise the size of the hard drive- and as with the ram, "as big as possible" I guess is my rule of thumb! Seems like that's just common sense as how would I even know how much is going to end up on it?

The best means of deciding these things is to take an iPad on "appro" to actually try the thing out, but of course that's not possible so it's critical to get it exactly right. Which takes me back to where I just was- I cannot predict the future in terms of what I need.

Any suggestions?

Size wise, it's the Mini, 11" or 13" iPads.

The 11" Air is the same basic size to hold as the 10.2 iPad but gives you a slightly larger screen; get the Air if that is appealing.

You already have phones and iPads to get an idea of which storage you want. But keeping movies on a thumb drive is a good way to decrease the amount of storage you need; however, if you like to keep family videos organized with your family photos then external storage is going to be more awkward so it depends on how frequently you watch those videos.

My recommendation is to get the 11" Air or 11" Pro (which gives you better screen, better speakers, but is more expensive) and try that for a week or two during the return period. If you like it, keep it, if not, decide what you didn't like about it.

Any slight differences you will easily acclimate to.

To sum up, while it is important to get it generally right, getting it absolutely precisely 100% right is a fools errand.

 

[rui no onna]

I intend using it to store Family History photos, videos and data, as well as library books and music but then I think it would make sense not to store all that on the device, rather to put it onto an external hard drive? Otherwise, with video and movies etc. I don't know if my 68 year old eyes and senses are that sophisticated that they would know what they're looking at anyway.. Likewise the size of the hard drive- and as with the ram, "as big as possible" I guess is my rule of thumb! Seems like that's just common sense as how would I even know how much is going to end up on it?

I have iCloud Photo Library with Download and Keep Originals setup on my parents' iOS devices.

The iCloud Photo Library serves as offsite backup while the iPhone and iPad serves as local copies. iCloud syncing being automatic is key otherwise they would never backup.

 

[sorgo †]

For your use case, @johnhb, I’d personally suggest the iPad Air 4 or for slightly more the Pro 11, but the 12.9” is lovely as well if you can swing the price/weight.