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please help me decide on which ipad to buy!

L

livenlaugh

macrumors member
Original poster
May 11, 2010
33
0
*my caps lock isn't working*

i would be using my ipad 98% of the time in my house. i would want to use it maybe 3-4 hours a week in a place that doesn't have wi-fi (i could always use my iphone though). i need it to hold at least:

4 movies
say 15-20 or so books
tons of apps
maybe 100 songs

i figured i could go with 16gb wifi and then get the mywi i keep reading about. then when the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th generation come out i could give this ipad to my kids, dh, or sell it. i'm just not sure if it'll be enough.
 
If you intend to give it to your kids you may as well purchase the 16GB iPad, find out how you use it and then on release of the future generations you will be in a better position to know what you need.
 
i have an old 60gb ipod that has first season of lost and desperate housewives, family guy, spongebob, batman, dumb and dumber, and audiobooks like the whole harry potter series, and music of course and i used only half the capacity! i didn't enjoy watching anything very much on that screen since its pretty small but it came in handy when i went on a long trip.
 
If your list is well thought out, then the iPad for you is the $499 wifi 16gb model, or maybe the 3g model depending on whether those 3-4 hours are important to you (I'm a bit thrown by 98% at home vs 3-4 hours away, that indicates hundreds of hours of total use in the time period)
 
i kept trying to figure out yesterday if 16gb would be enough.

if i have say 4 movies (princess and the frog is 1.xxgb) at 2gb each that's = 8gb
books maybe= 1 gb
music not more than =1gb
apps (the elements is 2gb) so maybe 3gb?

and 16 gb is really like 14 gb?
 
Helpful hint regarding your broken Caps Lock key:

I haven't used the Caps Lock key ever. Ever. You can hold shift to do the same thing. This is actually easier, as using Caps Lock requires you to tap the key twice to active Caps and then turn it off for every character or word you want in upper case. Hold shift, type the character or word, let go of shift.

I would go for a larger capacity iPad, either 32GB or 64GB. More space is better than less obviously, and you will be able to sell it for more in future if you need to.
 
slpdLoad said:
You're looking at <10gb of content if you stick to your list.
Click to expand...

Yeap, 16GB would suffice. Just down to you if you need the 3G or not? Depending on your country you may be able to buy 3G data on a daily basis, so you are not committed to a whole month.
 
Size of books will vary based on illustrations. In terms of only the text - War and Peace is 1MB (literally).

The stuff you listed, I'd estimate at 8gb total.
 
wombat888 said:
If your list is well thought out, then the iPad for you is the $499 wifi 16gb model.
Click to expand...

It appears that way. However, it's much easier to use LESS capacity than you have, than it is to use MORE. LOL.

So I would bump it up to 32GB if you can afford it, just to be safe.
 
livenlaugh said:
4 movies
say 15-20 or so books
tons of apps
maybe 100 songs

i figured i could go with 16gb wifi and then get the mywi i keep reading about. then when the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th generation come out i could give this ipad to my kids, dh, or sell it. i'm just not sure if it'll be enough.
Click to expand...


That scenario is perfect for a 16GB. In fact you'll have a few GBs to spare.

Bump up to 32 or 64 GB if you can read more than 15-20 books at a time, watch more than 4 movies in a week, or listen to more than 100 songs in a listening session.
 
(I'm a bit thrown by 98% at home vs 3-4 hours away, that indicates hundreds of hours of total use in the time period)[/QUOTE]

yeah lol sorry about that

as for movies i don't even need them since we do have a dvd player in the truck. can i watch netflix movies without being online?
 
Chupa Chupa said:
That scenario is perfect for a 16GB. In fact you'll have a few GBs to spare.

Bump up to 32 or 64 GB if you can read more than 15-20 books at a time, watch more than 4 movies in a week, or listen to more than 100 songs in a listening session.
Click to expand...

I saw that the elements app is 2gb and I want to buy that. The apps I currently have take up 1.75gb oh I forgot photos! I'd probably add just 1 gb or less of pictures to the ipad.
 
32 GB. It's a hundred bucks more and gives you the option to keep a lot more stuff on it. Mine is at 2.8 GB left because I have a dozen movies on it (not because I need them, but because I can).
 
livenlaugh said:
*my caps lock isn't working*

i would be using my ipad 98% of the time in my house. i would want to use it maybe 3-4 hours a week in a place that doesn't have wi-fi (i could always use my iphone though). i need it to hold at least:

4 movies
say 15-20 or so books
tons of apps
maybe 100 songs

i figured i could go with 16gb wifi and then get the mywi i keep reading about. then when the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th generation come out i could give this ipad to my kids, dh, or sell it. i'm just not sure if it'll be enough.
Click to expand...

If that is all that you are going to store and nothng changes then the 16GB WiFi only is fine. I would tether your phone though just for those special occasion.
 
livenlaugh said:
i kept trying to figure out yesterday if 16gb would be enough.

if i have say 4 movies (princess and the frog is 1.xxgb) at 2gb each that's = 8gb
books maybe= 1 gb
music not more than =1gb
apps (the elements is 2gb) so maybe 3gb?

and 16 gb is really like 14 gb?
Click to expand...

Yes, 16 gb is really like 14 gb. If you plan to keep your iPad for over 2 years, get the largest and most expensive one. Don't forget movies for the iPad is bigger because of the HD screen. Spend the extra $200 and you'll won't have to upgrade because you ran out of space. On the other hand, I like having the newest and greatest, and tend to upgrade to the latest version as soon as it comes out. I can live with a 16 gb for now, and upgrade a year from now... who am I kidding, I pre-ordered the 64G 3G model already :)
 
16 gb wifi for your scenario.



Out of personal experience I dont think that you'll stick to your scenario once you actually have it

So your kids are going to be very happy, when you buy the 32 Gb 3G for yourself very soon ... ;)
 
the OS is about 3 gigs. All of the apps are larger then iPhone apps and the trend is showing that they are only going to get bigger. I have several apps that are a gig large and the iPad is still a very new product. I would get the 32gig because you cannot add storage and will be pretty disappointed once you realize how cramped 16 gigs is going to be with this product.
 
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