What i-pad do I want?

Ted_Bloke

Not technophobe but often pretty ill-informed and confused.

I decided I want an i-pad for Xmas.

Why? well one of the reasons was as an e-reader. The point against the Kindle is that I-pad has colour - essential for some of my reading e.g. scientific. In fact I saw protein structures in displays and was converted instantly. (I read that people mostly sell the i-pad to themselves, inventing reasons why they want or need it.) The Kindle does not have colour OK? It's said Kindle is easier on the eye. Leading to the question - stuff you download for one e-reader can you read on or transfer to another? All the blah blah of techies and consumer articles never explain elementary users’ need-to-know things like that.

Then I am sure I would use the i-pad for other stuff than reader once I had it.

So looked it up and aaaargh I find there are various types with different prices. How do I know which to choose? Are there any reasons like ‘will never need it’ 'won't notice difference' type not to get the most expensive? Are there any reasons like ‘will miss it’ ‘slow’ etc. not to get the cheapest? I am not much worried about the money they spend :cheesy: if it gets me something while I’m at it. I take it you can’t upgrade?

As far as I can make out there are only two kinds of difference between models. One is the amount of memory. Does that affect just the amount of stuff you can store or other things like speed? 16 GB – you get that on a £30 pen drive.
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[/FONT]The other variable is 3G. I am very well informed in that I have been hearing about 3G for 15 years, I just can’t make out what it is,:wall: but I don’t think I have got it. Am I missing anything? Let’s just say I don’t think I would need to use the device much beyond my homes (where I have wi-fi thingies. I'd need to transfer stuff between it and my computer or netbook) and hotel rooms, I could manage without it on the occasional train or plane. Isn’t it about something like that, plus you pay for it? In practice what is it for?
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[/FONT]Oh and then there’s the colour. You can have any colour as long as it’s black or white. How do I know what colour I want?:D – how did you?

mcfisco

Do you want 3G?

Dunno, do you want internet access when out and about? - you'll have to pay monthly too

I have a Kindle and an iPad, there's no way I'd read a book on an iPad but your needs maybe demand it

Ted_Bloke

mcfisco wrote: »

Do you want 3G?

Dunno, do you want internet access when out and about? - you'll have to pay monthly too

I have a Kindle and an iPad, there's no way I'd read a book on an iPad but your needs maybe demand it

OK the first part I don't think I need so much I would pay for it so that appears to be as I said.

For the second part, it's that bad? You wouldn't read the newspaper on it?

Since you have both, can you transfer your books from one to the other?

Humphrey10

Ted_Bloke wrote: »

It's said Kindle is easier on the eye.

The screen is much better for reading on a Kindle.

Ted_Bloke wrote: »

I take it you can’t upgrade?

No you can't.

Ted_Bloke wrote: »

One is the amount of memory. Does that affect just the amount of stuff you can store

Yes.

Ted_Bloke wrote: »

The other variable is 3G.

it's for accessing the internet when you don't have wifi. Yes you'd have to pay for it, you'd need a sim card, you can get data only contracts. Hotels usually have wifi, some long distance trains do too (East Midlands Trains do, I assume other operators do also).

ailuro2

Or you could wait a few months ang get a Kindle Fire

dazzer68

If you just want a colour ereader why not look at the kobo vox available on line and whsmith. It has a reader very dimilar to the ipad reader in colour, it also does other stuff like email, movies, music internet. And its wifi.at about £170 its a bargain

Keith

If you buy the 3G, you can use it on wireless only. You can't buy the wireless and then use it on 3G later.

I have the first 16GB iPad, it has a series of the Sopharnos on it, some albums, some photos, numerous apps and isn't full.

mcfisco

For the second part, it's that bad? You wouldn't read the newspaper on it?

A newspaper is not too bad as it's short articles and you can easily navigate back and forth with an iPad
The Kindle wins all day, every day for novel reading etc.

Since you have both, can you transfer your books from one to the other?

Yes, there's a Kindle app that allows you to read the same purchased Amazon books on both [I think] but there are other reading apps that will read DRM free ebooks and these can easily be moved to the Kindle if you wanted

macy_c

I've got the original ipad 32gb with 3g, and its fab.
Mind i love apple stuff, and there are some great new device that run mobile windows if you prefer that operating system.

Bought a kindle (£89 one as advertised) for father i law as they are the best if reading is to be the main use, but if you want a simple all rounder thats stylish, robust and will hold its value (as others won;t) get the ipad!

boxst

As mentioned above, if you want an all round device the iPad is great. The Kindle is much cheaper and very good at reading books but little else. You can have the kindle application on the iPad (and you CAN transfer the books between devices), but the iPad is a little heavy to hold for long periods so it isn't as 'natural' as having a book. I have about 40 books loaded on my iPad to use whilst I'm travelling. Along with movies, games and other applications from the App Store.

From a memory perspective, it depends what you want on your iPad. I have a 16gb version and can fill it up, but I just swap things around. Each movie takes up around 600mb-800mb so I only have a few at a time. Each album takes 80mb (depending on the bit rate) so I have about 100 albums (hlaf the available space). The apps vary from small (a few mb) to large (I downloaded a car racing game yesterday that was 1.1gb!).

I like the convenience of 3G so I can access the internet where-ever I am in the UK, so I would only buy the 3G version. I use a pre-paid '3' data SIM from Amazon or eBay for £11 or so. This lasts 3 months or 3gb whichever is sooner. In the house it is connected to WiFi so doesn't use that allowance.

wantnomoneyworries

I want to buy 2 for my kids for Christmas (last minute decision) they have ipod touch are ipads basically a larger version? Or do they do loads more? Sorry to hijack post but thought while you were on the subject...............;):o;)