purchase ipad 2 or not.

stodwyer

Hi all im looking at purchasing an ipad 2 this week. Second hand that is. Just wondering would it be worth holding off until the "Supposed" release of the ipad 5 in mid October or would it be a waste.

Also whats there to look out for when buying a second hand ipad 2 32gb 3g. Im bringing a sim card to check if its unlocked. Could i use the imei number of the devise and those online checkers?

Thanks.

Dades

Don't buy an iPad 2. The 5 is out in a month or two so I'd imagine the prices of all the older models will drop.

The iPad 3 at least has the retina display which is the most important past of the device.

Sad Professor

I would advise against the iPad 3 as well. There's a reason Apple discontinued it after 6 months but are still selling the iPad 2 two years later. The GPU can barely power the display. Performance-wise it's about the same as the iPad 2 anyway, if not worse.

The next iPad will be a redesign and is well worth waiting for. But if you have to go second-hand, get a Mini or an iPad 4.

Creamy Goodness

iPad 3 is the worst apple device I've ever bought. chomping at the bit to be able to replace it. iPad 2 was the best but it's too old at this stage to be considered. it will just barely run iOS 7, and 12 months down the line it will be obsolete when it won't run iOS 8 (i'm assuming here based on previous years).

Sad Professor

They can’t abandon the iPad 2 that quickly. They are still selling it.

If the Mini can run iOS 7 well, there’s no reason why the iPad 2 can’t as well. They have nearly the same internals.

Dades

Weird, I've never really had any issue with my iPad 3. I watch a lot of streamed TV on it and it absolutely does the job.

Normally I'd be looking for any excuse to upgrade, but I have nothing to work with.

Also, given the OP is looking at an iPad 2, I figured the 3 was probably within budget.

Colonel Panic

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/09/dont-let-me-down-apple-ios-7-on-the-ipad-2/

I held off updating my iPad 2 after reading this. Doesn't seem worth it. I think I'll sell mine soon and sit tight for the next iPad which will have at least the same SOC as the iPhone 5s if past experience is anything to go by.

Creamy Goodness

Sad Professor wrote: »

They can’t abandon the iPad 2 that quickly. They are still selling it.

If the Mini can run iOS 7 well, there’s reason why the iPad 2 can’t as well. They have nearly the same internals.

That's true I guess, still though I think apple will cut it. if you look at the iPhone lineup now, they've gotten rid of all non-retina devices my thoughts are they should have gotten rid of the 4S too to remove the 30pin.

Dades wrote: »

Weird, I've never really had any issue with my iPad 3. I watch a lot of streamed TV on it and it absolutely does the job.

Normally I'd be looking for any excuse to upgrade, but I have nothing to work with.

Also, given the OP is looking at an iPad 2, I figured the 3 was probably within budget.

It's really laggy for me - and I wouldn't use it for much more than what you use your own for - and that was before iOS 7 went on it. I still think iOS 7 is about a month behind in terms of optimisation on iPad.

stodwyer

Thanks all. All I am hoping to use the iPad for would be reading and safari. Also email and general messing about. Nothing crazy.

Also I'm getting the ipad2 32gb with 3G for 300€.

Xavi6

Don't do it OP, get something with retina at the very least.

stodwyer

Xavi6 wrote: »

Don't do it OP, get something with retina at the very least.

Would a mini non 3G be way better? Does the mini have retina?

Xavi6

stodwyer wrote: »

Would a mini non 3G be way better? Does the mini have retina?

I don't like the mini for the reason that it doesn't have retina. Better off waiting til version 2.0 if you're getting one of them, it'll have retina.

It really does make a massive difference imo.

Dades

stodwyer wrote: »

Thanks all. All I am hoping to use the iPad for would be reading and safari. Also email and general messing about. Nothing crazy.

If you want it for reading then really you have to hold out for at least a 3.

stodwyer wrote: »

Also I'm getting the ipad2 32gb with 3G for 300€.

You don't need 32GB for what you intend, and I'd be very surprised if you couldn't get a 16GB iPad 3 somewhere for around that money - if not now then in a month or two when people are selling their older models to upgrade.

FourFourRED

Sold my 3rd gen iPad for €300 today. Waiting for the retina iPad mini to be released now :-)

beauf

The iPad 2 is the same spec as the iPad mini. So its unlikely they'll drop the iPad 2 if they support the Mini.

That said they dropped the iPod Touch 4 (no IOS7) and its almost the same as the iPhone 4. So all bets are off.

dodzy

stodwyer wrote: »

Thanks all. All I am hoping to use the iPad for would be reading and safari. Also email and general messing about. Nothing crazy.

Also I'm getting the ipad2 32gb with 3G for 300€.

Have that model since 6mths after launch. Non 3G. Running a prehistoric 5.0.1 jailbroken. Absolutely love it. I don't get the massive difference some shout about re: retina display. I find the screen excellent, browsing, Netflix, photos, the lot. 32gb is wasted on me though.

€300 for a 32gb 3G is about its price. And the fact that it still sells is a good indicator on the units popularity in general, so support will be there for some time yet I hope.

stodwyer

Aodhagan wrote: »

Sold my 3rd gen iPad for €300 today. Waiting for the retina iPad mini to be released now :-)

You should have left me know!! Ha

whiterebel

dodzy wrote: »

Have that model since 6mths after launch. Non 3G. Running a prehistoric 5.0.1 jailbroken. Absolutely love it. I don't get the massive difference some shout about re: retina display. I find the screen excellent, browsing, Netflix, photos, the lot. 32gb is wasted on me though.

€300 for a 32gb 3G is about its price. And the fact that it still sells is a good indicator on the units popularity in general, so support will be there for some time yet I hope.

I'm the same, never saw a massive difference between iPad 2 and 3/4 with the retina screen. Brilliant screen on the iPad 2 anyway, certainly haven't been driver to upgrade yet.