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Original poster

ipad owners - are you still using yours?

82 replies

generalhaig · 03/03/2011 08:10

I managed to hold off getting an ipad v.1 although was v v tempted (lack of funds making the decision for me ...)

however, my birthday is coming up a few weeks after the British launch of ipad 2 and I still find myself drawn to one

so if you got one first time round are you still getting lots of use out of it? it's obviously too expensive to justify getting a toy which will only get used for the first few weeks/months

OP posts:
pastamouse · 03/03/2011 12:32

I love mine an unreasonable amount. Facebook, mumsnet, books, games, iplayer app etc etc much easier to hold/ slouch on sofa/lie in bed with. Don't see the point of the upgrade, maybe consider it in a couple of upgrades time?

Unfortunately my 15mo DS is also a big fan who is addicted to the teletubby app and has figured out how to unlock the iPad to access it. Can no longer have it in his sight unless he's allowed to play with it!

Niceguy2 · 03/03/2011 12:52

Lauri, i have the wifi only version and it almost always lives at home. I have travelled a couple of times with it and found wifi is fine. I hear the next IOS will include Mifi capabilities so I dont see the need for the 3G one given I have an iphone paid for by work.

Kids love it. My friend's twins who are 4 make a bee line for it whenever they come to play. It's so much easier for a small child to hold and use than a laptop.

Our 4 year old uses it, chooses his own games, swipes etc. We've never shown him. He just figured it out himself within seconds.

silver28 · 03/03/2011 12:54

Please could someone explain to me what type of iPad I should buy for DH's birthday? I have an 16gb iPhone 3GS. We have wifi at home. DH would use it mainly at home but would want the ability to use away from home too - does that mean we should go for a 3G version? I assume 16gb would be sufficient capacity but is it forth paying for more (not sure what uses up the memory much)?

Also, I have my phone on a contract - do you need to pay a monthly contract for iPad too?

And if there's anything else I should consider before buying id be grateful if someone could let mr know!

Thanks in advance.

geordieminx · 03/03/2011 13:08

If you get wifi only you will still be able to use it away from home, but to use Internet based apps you will need a wifi hotspot, but most hotels, macdonalds etc have these.

If you get the 3G one then you will need to get a sim and pay a monthly fee, altho I believe there isn't a contract as such... Think it's about £10 a month, presume this unlimited use but tbh I have never looked into it. If you have a n iPhone then there is no real need to have 3G iPad, I use the iphone to browse when are out and about, and the iPad at home, or in the car to entertain ds.

silver28 · 03/03/2011 13:19

Thanks Geordie. I Use my iPhone alot when out and about and often use 3G as not in places with wifi hotspots. But, as you say, we have my phone to use away from home and the iPad would hectare mainly at home. I presume the wifi only ones are cheaper, plus no need to pay any monthly fee.

Can anyone recommend whether to get 16 or 32 gb? He'll mainly use it for going on eBay, other websites, watching tv shows (iplayer etc), storing photos, playing games. I'm not sure what uses up memory!

FreeButtonBee · 03/03/2011 13:35

Downloading films and tv series takes up a lot of memory, which is fabulous for when you are travelling or on holiday - we have the 32GB one and it feels about right.

FourFingeredKitkat · 03/03/2011 14:15

Is anybody's kids using the ipad for homework? Our eldest DD is at the stage where shared access to the family PC is becoming restrictive, so are thinking of a laptop, or possibly an ipad. We'd need full MS office though (they use Publisher extensively at school).

TIA

geordieminx · 03/03/2011 14:20

If you needing something to use as a tool to work I'm not sure iPad would be the right thing. I would hate to work on mine

mamsnet · 03/03/2011 14:25

Stuck with only my iPad at the mo after an accident with my beloved mac and tbh, it's only ok.. Very frustrating for any period of time, no Office, limitations on videos etc.. It's a toy.. If you want a toy, fine. But its not a computer.

RustyBear · 03/03/2011 14:32

FourfingeredKitKat - I would think a laptop would be better for serious school work - but even so, getting Publisher at home isn't cheap, as it's not on the Home and Student edition of Office, and though you can use the free Open Office for Word Excel & Powerpoint substitutes, I don't think it has a direct equivalent of Publisher.

I don't use my ipad for work much, except for recording meetings at which I'm taking minutes on the SoundNote app, which records and links the recording to the notes you type so you can find a place in the recording by touching the text you were typing at the time. But I then send the files to dropbox, open them on my work computer & edit them in word, rather than editing directly in the Pages app.

But having the 3G can be useful at work, especially for the time we lost the internet, and also because it bypasses the school's filters....

PigeonPie · 03/03/2011 14:34

FourFingeredKitkat - does your DC have to log into school to do their homework? If so, check that the iPad is supported. I know that our Learning Platform doesn't support them at the moment because I questioned it when they launched it last term. However, I wonder whether a cheaper laptop would be better for them at the moment.

Although we all love the iPad and would contemplate getting a second generation, we'll probably leave it till September and see what else they bring out then (if we have any money by then).

glastocat · 03/03/2011 14:47

I've wanted an Ipad for ages but I hate buying the first version of anything. Anyway I got a tax rebate recently so one of those babies is mine on the 25th. I'm thinking of getting the 3G 23GB one, can't decide what colour though. I'm also getting a funky new cover, also colour to be decided but I like the green I think. Three weeks to wait! Whats the best way to get one, order on line or queue at the Apple shop like a true geek? Grin

Niceguy2 · 03/03/2011 15:10

@Silver28. I'd seriously think about how often you'd use it out & about as to whether its worth the additional expense. The ipad is not something you'd take out & about with you a lot. How often do you take your laptop out and need to use it where there's no wifi? In the past year, I can count on one hand the number of times I think it would have come in handy. And that's not worth the £100 premium.

As for 16GB vs 32GB, if you watch videos on it like xvids or MP4's then go 32GB if your budget stretches. Otherwise I would stick to 16GB. Remember, its not like a iphone/ipod. You are unlikely to be wanting to store a lot of music to listen to. This is primarily a surfing device

@FourfingeredKitKat - The ipad is not suitable for children to do homework on.

@glastocat. I'd do both! lol Although I do suspect that there won't be a big queue. This is mainly an incremental upgrade.

MmeLindt · 03/03/2011 15:36

Niceguy
Does the present one not already have mifi capabilities? I thought it did. That will be why it is not working. Meh.

silver28 · 03/03/2011 15:37

Thanks niceguy2. Think I'll just for for the wifi version as can use iPhone when away from home. Stupid question, but if watching things on iplayer or similar will that use lots of memory? That is the sort of thing he'd be watching, not even sure what mp4 or xvids are!

Niceguy2 · 03/03/2011 21:01

MMeLindt. No it has wifi, not mifi. If you jailbreak it then you can get an app which will do it. I tried it once, it didnt work so I wasn't shelling out for it. I'll just use my iphone instead!

@Silver28. You don't need to really worry about memory. Storage is the only thing to worry about. I have 16GB which is a lot of movies. I travelled abroad for a week and managed to take about half a dozen movies and about 30 TV programs (42 mins each) with me. To be fair I did have to delete a couple of big games like Fifa 11 that my son plays and LetsGolf HD which looks good but not a very good game.

Just one thing. Be aware that you can now watch BBC iplayer but there is no 4OD, ITV player etc. And of course the ipad doesn't support Flash and never will.

silver28 · 04/03/2011 07:20

Thanks. Got my terminology wring, meant storage not memory. So I think 16gb should be enough.

While I've got you, could I ask a couple more questions please? when you say you downloaded 30 tv programmer onto your iPad, where do you get them from? Ages ago I tried to get some programmer through a website (I forget which one) and I got horribly c

silver28 · 04/03/2011 07:22

Oops posted too soon....

Confused and ended up giving up. It seemed to require me to download lots of software to my pc and it ended up crashing.

Secondly, I knew that my one fifnt support Flash player but d

silver28 · 04/03/2011 07:24

Bloody hell, sorry I keep pressing post by accident!

As I was saying, I just wanted to know what the impact if nOt having flash player was.

Thanks in anticipation.

MikeStand · 04/03/2011 07:36

I use mine all day every day. I have 64gb and it is about three quarters full. Suppose I could have a clear out. See no compelling reason to buy ipad2 but would go for it if I didn't have one already. I am very mean and not inclined to share it with my family. Don't have 3G but this was not a problem travelling around USA as everywhere has wifi. Also highly recommend apple tv.

RustyBear · 04/03/2011 09:44

I have a 64Gb which has about 21 Gb left. I have about 43 hours of video on mine Most of my video is episodes of Dr Who and Buffy, which are £1.89 each on iTunes, but I also have some of The Thick of It and a couple of Fawlty Towers episodes.

I also have all my music on there, as I play it on my speakers via Bluetooth while I'm surfing, or use it as background music while playing games, and about 8500 photos.

I wanted the 3G mainly for when I'm at my Dad's in South Devon - he's still on dial-up, so I need the alternative for internet access, though it's actually not 3g I'm on most of the time there,as there's no coverage but O2's Edge or Cloud services.

Teachermumof3 · 04/03/2011 18:30

Poo-I only got mine last month and now they've gone down by £100! Am sooooo cross!!

Niceguy2 · 04/03/2011 18:33

@Silver.

I download all my programs from newsgroups but most people use bittorrent.

As for Flash, that was my biggest concern but to be honest I don't really miss it. Sure there are some sites which use it like Miniclip which the kids would like and 4OD/ITV Player all use it. But the most popular sites tend to work fine.

The sheer usefulness of the ipad more than make up for the lack of Flash.

To be honest I am oggling the Motorola Xoom but my brief foray into Android last year was short lived and cash is short at the moment so I'm not ready to blow £500 on another tablet and to be on the bleeding edge once more. I'll stick with something which just works!

MrsJohnDeere · 04/03/2011 18:49

I use mine far too much. Am glued to it for most of my waking hours. Dh is in the US at the moment and is planning to bring home a second one. Apparently v1 ipads are being sold now for $100 less than they were in anticipation of next week's release of v2.

1legmummy · 04/03/2011 19:16

This may have already been covered, but if you have only recently bought a generation 1 (last 2 weeks) you can either return it or apply to apple for £100 refund.

You only get 2 weeks [smilt]