I bought mine shortly after it was released as at that time it was the only 9.7 version to support the pencil and also the Apple Smart Keyboard . The screen is great and the device worked very well with the Apple Smart Keyboard. However I am not sure it is worth the price after seeing the new iPad 2018. The Apple keyboard died after and year and I am now using a regular Bluetooth keyboard
I hardly use the Apple Pencil except for signing documents