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iPad - Now or Wait?

jinyoungkim7

jinyoungkim7

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 14, 2010
119
8
Maryland, USA
Hey guys, I'm in a dilemma and was wondering if I can get some advice from you guys.

Well, I currently have a 2010 13' base MBP and a regular old Blackberry since I returned my iPhone 4 to go back to Verizon. (AT&T service was horrible, and yes, I know I have to change my signature) I sort of want a device that I can watch movies and surf the web in bed, traveling, bathroom :D, etc. Since I have a blackberry that isn't really an option with it so I'm pretty intent on buying myself an iPad. Should I wait it out for 2nd gen? I hear that its only going to have some small insignificant updates to it such as the camera but I will almost never use facetime or take pictures on an iPad.. I mostly just want to use it for web surfing, reading books, and watching movies. Is it a good idea to just buy one now or hold out till April/May 2011?

And as always, thank you guys so much for the numerous times I've been helped!:p
 
I would definitely wait. It will probably include the retina display, which for iPad is a must. The movies will look better, and browsing would look much better on a 2nd Gen. And then you never know what other new features Apple could throw in. Unless you absolutely have to have it now, I would wait.
 
blueangelsdude6 said:
I would definitely wait. There probably will be both the front camera for facetime, and the camera on the back for taking pictures and recording video. It will also probably include the retina display, which for iPad is a must. Unless you absolutely have to have it now, I would wait.
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I agree about the camera. I doubt the display will get an upgrade. The screen is fine as it is, IMO. As with all things, buy now if you need it now. Speculation is that supplies will get tight again once 4.2 comes out.
 
I would buy one.

As you said, you don't need the camera - so why wait for one?

The current iPad is plenty fast, very usable and the resolution is fine for movies. It makes a really good movie watching device.

Personally, I could use higher resolution for reading - it would be great to read the text on a full legal-page PDF, but the characters wind up being a bit small at the moment. Stuff like the Kindle reader is fine though - and I've read a couple of books comfortably.

For you - you don't care about the camera, the screen is fine for movies, why wait 6 months?
 
Let me just say that I feel the opposite of the original response. I was in the same dilemma as you were, only 2 weeks ago. I did a bunch of research and thinking, and decided to pick one up.

Now, 15 days later, and I feel like I can't LIVE without the iPad. I love it, and it goes everywhere with me! I would say go get one today, man. It'll be one of the best investments of your life.
 
jinyoungkim7 said:
How about the resolution for reading books on iBooks/Kindle and the speed of web-browing etc?
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Web browsing speed is absolutely fine. Safari on the iPad is pretty quick.

Resolution for the book readers is OK even at the minimum text size. Personally I think the fonts look easier to read in low contrast - that is, with 'sepia' background and the brightness turned down.

Resolution isn't high enough for a full-page legal sheet of text as I said - but that's with a much smaller font than the smallest on Kindle and iBooks.

I much prefer Kindle over iBooks incidentally. I find the cost of books cheaper, the selection is better and you can sync between more devices (including non apple ones). They even have a reader for your desktop machine - which is useful.
 
I was in same boat as you and bought one a week ago and I'm so glad I did. Use it much more than I thought. Waiting for a 2nd gen is a while off yet so you might as well pick it up now and enjoy it. I'm running OS4.2 GM and the folders/Multitasking make it soooo much better than it was on at 3.2.2.
 
I am having the same dilema at this moment. But I DO know myself and if I buy iPad now I would regret once iPad2 will come out. I like to be ahead of the game. I know current iPad will do just fine for my tasks but still the fact that iPad2 is out there will make me feel unconfortable.
Up to you; if you can face that fact then buy it now:D

PS. I have spend like £5000 so far this year for Apple hardware so I think I got to wait anyway:D
 
Saberon said:
I was in same boat as you and bought one a week ago and I'm so glad I did. Use it much more than I thought. Waiting for a 2nd gen is a while off yet so you might as well pick it up now and enjoy it. I'm running OS4.2 GM and the folders/Multitasking make it soooo much better than it was on at 3.2.2.
Click to expand...

Hey I was wondering if u noticed a change in the iPads battery life ever since downloading 4.2. I have an iPhone 4 and the battery life sucks and im thinking it has to do with the multitasking. So I'm just asking if you have noticed any change in your ipads.
 
I bought it a week ago and I don't regret that at all. New iPad will probably have more RAM, 2 cameras but I don't expect any other significant changes (definitely no Retina because it would be a huge graphics hog at that resolution on iPad) and it will probably be a bit lighter. And you can always sell the old one for a good price.

Anyway, why I bought the v1? I don't need Facetime. There have been many possibilities to video chat on Mac to this day (Skype, iChat, etc.) but I didn't use any of them. I don't see myself using it on iPad all of a sudden (and if someone needs "to facetime" I can always sit in front of my Mac).

It does what I need / want and I don't see it changing. I mean probably more RAM, it will be good for more apps in multitasking mode (I use only a few) and for memory hogs - i.e. games, which I play only casually - it means Unreal engine and Quake 3 graphics on iPad v1 is by far fine with me, I play only casual games like Fruit Ninja anyway :)

And the new specs on iPad v2 won't change the reading experience (only if it is significantly lighter but the current weight of iPad is fine for me), nor video playing (iPad display is excellent), nor other media consumption.

But it is up to you. I am a person who switches to new model/revision only if there is some crucial feature which I would see myself using, that's the reason why I am also still on iPhone 3G :)
 
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