to buy or not to buy ipad now

[kntgsp]

thanks for all the posts - very useful!

what i think i've learnt from this

1) wait till after the event this week
2) buy now and sell later to upgrade if a newer version comes out
3) resale value will be 60-70% so that's a £175 loss (if i get the £499)

i do have another question but i think i better just search for the answer, so not to cause any more complaints.

thanks for all your help

I dunno. You can sell it on eBay before the updated models arrive (and we generally get wind of it a week or so before). I sold my one year old Macbook Air for 200 Euros less than what I paid for it, and with the 1 year Apple Care expired.

I don't know any other tech brand that holds its value as long as Apple.

 

[Habakuk]

I'm eager to get a ipad 32gb wifi only but i'm concerned…

Buy it as soon as possible if you love technical and stylish high-tech gadgets. Then you are something like a pioneer in this new developed computer era.

Unlike the original iPhone (1st generation) it works very well. Almost perfect. It's polished thoroughly. I am completely mad on that peace of glass, metal and silicium. You can surf in internet as fast as with your MacBook.

Check carefully if you really don't need GPS features. Nautics adore that on the large screen. It's outstanding. Wifi only doesn't have GPS.

 

[kntgsp]

I agree with all of this. No price drop with these insane levels of demand. They're just now catching up with demand. No reason to drop the price.

I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't release a new version next September alongside the annual iPod refreshes. Get the iPhone out in June, take a little time to assess the onslaught of competitor tablets in early-mid 2011, then unleash a new version in September that wipes everyone away. Having said that, I think the hardware updates will be incremental at best. I would guess more along the lines of a 3G --> 3GS upgrade and a front facing camera. I'm more interested to see how iOS evolves.

I think both of you underestimate just how popular a new iPad with front-facing camera would be, as it allows it to tie into that whole FaceTime ecosystem that Apple trumpets so much for the iPhone4. I could see maybe a RAM bump along with it, to help with iOS4 and the larger footprints that iPad apps have, but not much else. If they significantly bump the processing power you'll get a large disparity in application development that supports the new iPad and leaves the old one to rot.

 

[Habakuk]

I think both of you underestimate just how popular a new iPad with front-facing camera would be…

Maybe. But for me personally it's the most useless feature on iPhone 4. I have it for four weeks now and never used FadeTime. I am always upset and irritated when I hit accidentally the "change camera" button. And it's NOT because I am ugly.

Here in Europe some Nokias have a front facing camera since months and it's the less used feature according to tech analysts.

I'd prefer to have an even better backside camera (with CCD sensor instead of CMOS with rolling shutter effect) with an optical zoom maybe instead of a completely useless second camera. When you really need to show your head/hair/face/teeth live you can use a simple mirror. And don't forget to hire Naomi Campbell's mobile light designer crew…

One of the very few things for me to criticize on iPhone 4.

For all of those who want it: Wouldn't there be a possibility with a small webcam to clip on and connect via camera usb reader when it comes out?

 

[Fissure]

Buy it now, it's gonna be awhile before the 2nd Gen comes out, at least April 2011 and I wouldn't be surprised if it's not until 6 months after that, Oct 2011.

Me personally, I love this iPad but just like the iPhone space Android is-a-comin, Apple needs to take a hard look at what they'll do with IOS's next version because right now the only thing holding me back from making the switch is the smoothness of the interface, the refinement of the OS. Android will get there though, right now the OS is a bit clunky but much more functional than IOS. For those of you who were old enough to live through or remember the PC vs. MAC wars this is the same situation. Apple's gotta open things up more or face becoming irrelevant again but this time at the hands of Google instead of Microsoft.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

 

[clyde2801]

As with macs, if you need it now, buy it now. If not, then wait.

Thanks to omnifocus, write pad and numbers my ipad has gone from a media consumption toy to a necessary work tool. I'm using CL to swap my wifi plus cash for a 3g because I really need it.

I need it for work, not to play you tube...