iPad 2 - should I get one?

paultf · 17-04-2011 11:29am #1

Thinking of getting an iPad 2 but I am not sure. The 2 main reasons I might get one are:

* Irish Times epaper
* ebooks

Does anyone subscribe to the Irish Times epaper? What's the Irish Times App like on an Ipad? Is it easy to read the paper or do you have zoom in/out and scroll up/down alot?

I have heard Amazon Kindle is better for ebooks.

Is it really worth getting an Ipad just for this?

ironclaw · 17-04-2011 12:11pm

paultf wrote: »

Is it really worth getting an Ipad just for this?

Not really. Considering the €500+ you'd spend would buy the real paper for over a year.

If you are a real book reader you might not like the Kindle or the iPad. Personally I just don't engage with them like I do with a real book or paper.

whiterebel · 17-04-2011 12:55pm

paultf wrote: »

Thinking of getting an iPad 2 but I am not sure. The 2 main reasons I might get one are:

* Irish Times epaper
* ebooks

Does anyone subscribe to the Irish Times epaper? What's the Irish Times App like on an Ipad? Is it easy to read the paper or do you have zoom in/out and scroll up/down alot?

I have heard Amazon Kindle is better for ebooks.

Is it really worth getting an Ipad just for this?

There is a lot of scrolling and zooming, but it is great on the iPad. No way I'd spend that money on an iPad just for that though.

dingding · 17-04-2011 3:32pm

Unless you went for a first generation iPad. At 379. Even cheaper if you got a refurb one

Tipsy McSwagger · 17-04-2011 5:13pm

The kindle is deadly, get one.

3DataModem · 17-04-2011 5:15pm

Irish newspapers are fantastic on ipad. if you only want books and papers, get a second hand ipad 1 for a couple of hundred.

hallelujajordan · 18-04-2011 8:29am

Have a Kindle and an iPad running the Kindle App . . Can read for about 30 minutes on the iPad before my eyes get tired. Can read for hours on the Kindle...

Seriously, if eBooks are your thing, the Kindle is the way to go.

chabsey · 18-04-2011 9:48am

hallelujajordan wrote: »

Have a Kindle and an iPad running the Kindle App . . Can read for about 30 minutes on the iPad before my eyes get tired. Can read for hours on the Kindle...

Seriously, if eBooks are your thing, the Kindle is the way to go.

Well this really depends on personal preference. I used to read regular books but now only use the IPad to read, I've also got a Sony reader so have used e-paper as well.

The Ipad is great for reading, using the net, it's 'ok' for email (reading, not so good for composing emails of any length, the keyboard goes flaky when you type fast), great for a certain type of gaming.

The Kindle is not really any good at reading PDFs, I read a lot of them (magazines, techy books with graphs etc) and the Ipad is pretty good at displaying them, much better than the smaller, slower kindle screen can manage.

If you hook up dropbox on your main PC and on the Ipad and drop in PDFs or epubs that interest you it's great as you rarely have to sync it with Itunes and can open them directly on the ipad.

If you get the 3G version it's a nice (if large) GPS unit as well, great for viewing photos on if you're into photography at all.

The ipad's backlit screen can be harder to read in bed (light glaring into your eyes apparently keeps you awake) but you can lower the brightness.

The downside of the ipad is that it does so much that it's sometimes hard to concentrate on reading, you think you'll just open wikipedia for a second to check something and suddenly it's 2 hours later.

Fat_Fingers · 18-04-2011 10:07am

if you mainly think of reading (ebooks) ipad2 is not that great.
As mentioned here by hallelujajordan eyes get tired. I wear glasses so 20 min is max i can conformably read ebook on ipad. And you can forget reading outside, glare is really uncomfortable. If you are big reader Ipad is not the best choice.

For reading eBooks Kindle or Sony reader are far superior to Ipad. Downside is they don’t do anything else. That’s why i got Ipad2. And when comes to reading books i’m old school, nothing can beat proper paper book imo.

Eoin · 18-04-2011 11:01am

I have an iPad and a Sony PRS-505 eReader. I just can't use the iPad for eBooks. Despite the marketing, that's not what it's designed for, so it hasn't replaced my eReader at all.

squonk · 18-04-2011 3:19pm

Pick up an iPad 1 for 379 if you still can.

The iPad 1 is pretty bad in direct sunlight. It's not usable. My friend's iPad2 has a brighter screen so it might be a bit better but I wouldn't get too excited about it. Otherwise, for reading it's quite good and also handles PDF's very well as was said earlier.

If you travel a lot and like to use the Irish Times ePaper app then it's far better than a regular paper IMHO. The ePaper can be read as it is on the page, or you can bring up a dedicated readr screen that makes reading a single article a bit easier. A really cool feature is that, in that dedicated reading screen there is also the option to have the app read the article for you with synthesised speech. That's great if you're eyes are getting tired and you're still interested in reading your paper.

If you have a lot of eBooks then IMHO right now iTunes is very poor. They really need to put much more work into allowing you to decide what you want to sync and devise much faster ways of selecting books. There isn't even a 'select All' option right now. It's quite poor but if you have only a few books then you'll be fine. I like iBooks as a reader and battery life is quite good.

If what you want the iPad for is reading material then I'd say go for an iPad 1 as the extra money for 2 average cameras and a faster processor isn't worth it. In informal tests the speed difference of the iPad 2 over iPad 1 isn't all that noticable. I think if you can get a new, boxed iPad1 it's good value at 379.

donmaga1 · 18-04-2011 9:43pm

paultf wrote: »

* Irish Times epaper
* ebooks

QUOTE]

The papers are the same price as the print version.

There are apps for ebooks like the kindle.

I have an ipad over a year and enjoy it. It is easy to get books and apps on to it. There are loads of free books on the ipad. I am happy with my ipad and use it every day.

time42play · 19-04-2011 6:34am

chabsey wrote: »

The ipad's backlit screen can be harder to read in bed (light glaring into your eyes apparently keeps you awake) but you can lower the brightness.

I set it to white-on-black and lower the brightness and can read for hours in bed without waking my other half. So much of my reading is at night that anything without a backlight is just not a runner for me.

JayeL · 19-04-2011 7:52am

I have a Kindle 3 with 3G and read the Irish Times on it every day. It's text-only but I find I read more of the paper since I got it. And the best thing is it works out as less than 70c a day.

I don't think I want an iPad; I'm getting one for my parents because I reckon it's easier to use than a laptop. I have a netbook and you need one if you want to own an iPad anyway. The Kindle is less distracting than an iPad; there's a pretty crap browser that you wouldn't be inclined to use too often. And its definitely made me read more; an iPad would just make me procrastinate more!

BeeDI · 19-04-2011 11:18am

Can an iPad be used to log on to IP cameras.

Pyongyang · 19-04-2011 11:32am

3DataModem wrote: »

Irish newspapers are fantastic on ipad. if you only want books and papers, get a second hand ipad 1 for a couple of hundred.

That's exactly what I did. I got a refurb 16gb iPad v1 direct from Apple for €339 delivered and comes with a 1 year warranty.

So that's me covered with a great device, under warranty and in time for when the iPad 3 arrives. The iPad 2, for the purposes I want an iPad for, does not justify the increase in cost for me. I've a DSLR for photos, a Zi8 for video and a Smartphone for everything else, including tethering for my own WiFi hotspot, hence I don't need a 3G iPad.

Additionally I believe the tablet market is still very immature and by this time next year the market should be far better settled with a good selection of devices to choose from.

For me the real cost benefit of an iPad (I own a Kindle as well) is for digital magazines. For example, I get Retro Gamer delivered direct to my iPad for around €3 a month. The print version in Easons is around €6-€7 a month. Mine arrives on time, in pristine condition and saves me around €50-€60 a year on the shop-bought cost with a subscription via Pixel Mags.

Zinio and Pixel Mags offer reasonably good value for non-UK readers as print editions, either single issues or subscriptions cost an EU or ROW reader an absolute fortune. Maybe not so much for a UK reader. Prices should be much lower for digital editions I think, but for us EU and ROW folk, it's an absolute bargain.

Hope the above helps.

Pyongyang · 19-04-2011 11:37am

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

The kindle is deadly, get one.

Agreed. I prefer using my Kindle to my iPad for reading books. Magazines and newspapers though I prefer the iPad, the Kindle simply cannot compete. Finally for textbooks I prefer the iPad or a real printed edition.

The Kindle app is good though if you cannot carry both devices in your bag. Great for syncing across devices and better than carrying stacks of books around with you.

Best answer? Buy a Kindle and an iPad and carry both in your bag!

chabsey · 19-04-2011 11:48am

BeeDI wrote: »

Can an iPad be used to log on to IP cameras.

It can, I use it for that as well, there's a few apps available for direct connection rather than going through the web browser. Depends on your camera really, I've a Foscam.

paultf · 19-04-2011 11:58am

Thanks for all the replies and info. Plenty to think about.

TBH, the Irish Times epaper would be my main source of reading each day. So it would seem the iPad would be better suited for that.

I would read eBooks now and again. I suppose if I got an iPad that would suffice if I only read a few. (Even though the Kindle might be better for eBooks overall.)

Does anyone know where I can a new iPad first generation 16GB Wifi either new or refurbished? Tried Apple (Ireland) but no joy.

Pyongyang · 19-04-2011 11:58am

Forgot to mention the other benefit of the iPad is the Citrix app (might want to get your work to pay for that one though). Very useful for remote access without having to lug around a laptop or netbook. Tablet systems really are game changers in that respect.

StupidLikeAFox · 19-04-2011 11:59am

You could have a look at this bad boy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BSmCmHsFOo&feature=related

It runs windows, is a tablet AND a netbook and costs around €550 i think. The dock is about €150 extra. All in all its a anazzy little number

paultf · 21-04-2011 2:17pm

JayeL wrote: »

I have a Kindle 3 with 3G and read the Irish Times on it every day. It's text-only but I find I read more of the paper since I got it. And the best thing is it works out as less than 70c a day.

Jayel, how do you get the Irish Times on your Kindle? I have subscribed to the Irish Times epaper and currently I read it on my PC. I see you can download the epaper via USB to a Kindle - is that the only way or can you do it by Wifi?

BTW, on the Kindle website you can subscribe to the IT for $22/month and they will deliver it by Wifi. But my current subscription with the IT is cheaper.

Vasiok · 20-05-2011 2:45pm

has anyone tried kindle DX or Irex 1000S ?

coolperson05 · 21-05-2011 12:27am

Does anyone know where I'd get one? In Waterford/Dublin? There's a supply shortage online apparently!

curiouss · 25-05-2011 12:49pm

If you find out will you let me know? It's not just an online shortage, it seems to be world wide. Apple just can't keep up with the demand and then with the explosion last week in the production plant in China that makes the iPad they are almost impossible to get now. PC World told me that Apple don't tell them when they are being delivered and the last delivery contained a total of six ipads.

Blazer · 25-05-2011 12:53pm

it's ridiculous trying to get an ipad 2 at the moment.
I've a mate in Austin and he's been trying the Apple store there every day for the past 2 weeks to no avail.
You have to queue at 7.30 in the morning and be in the top 3 to be certain of getting one.
I'm looking at alternatives and the Xoom is about the only one maybe with the Asus transformer.
However the xoom is double the thickness while Honeycomb 3 is still fairly buggy and the app store is crap for tablet on android.
The Samsung galaxy tab 10.1 is getting poor reviews for it's screen, they require more pressure to actually push the icons which means it's off my radar.
So it's back to the ipad2 and who I can kill to get one

quad_red · 25-05-2011 2:31pm

I bought an iPad 2 a month ago. And sold it on adverts on Monday.

It was a nice toy. But it was a toy nonetheless. It didn't do anything my iphone couldn't and as much as it was heavier and bulkier (relatively) my macbook was a million times more productive.

Now, I don't have a commute where I could sit an watch/read/surf etc. so maybe it was wasted.

But when I got the novelty out of my system (it is so so pretty) I just preferred the money for an eventual macbook upgrade.

My two cents anyway.

beardo81 · 26-05-2011 8:48am

I was always afraid I'd just be buying a big iPhone, but it's so much more than that. 90% of my web browsing and kindle/magazine reading are now done on my iPad. Lack of flash can be a pain sometimes but from what I read even the latest android tablets aren't too hot yet with it. Plus it works so flawlessly, no slowdown or os crashes, really makes it a pleasure to use.

Now if I could only get the wife and child off it I'd have even more fun!

I say buy one, if you don't like it you'll lose little or no money reselling.

coolperson05 · 26-05-2011 11:31am

Grr to Apple! I sent my uncle who lives in Manhattan to 5 different Apple stores! And they said 5-6 weeks minimum! :eek: None in Dublin/Cork from what I can gather. My cousin is just gone to London so I have her checking!!
Why make a cool product but people can't buy it!! :mad: