Possibly you’ll find the newer design of the iPP a better fit because of the smaller bezel.
There’s a huge difference between 11" & 12.9" in screen real estate.
If you’re doing a lot of markup and reading documents and reports I’d stick with the 12.9".
Too bad your screen is fudging. Maybe it needs a new protector.
I also use a 1st gen 12.9 and it still works great - it was a refurb.