Which iPad 3? 16 vs 32 vs 64 GB: Usage Scenarios, Experiences & Apps w main PC/Mac

I have had trouble running videos at CNN because it said I require flash unless they changed the streaming recently.

 

cnn works. they use proper modern non-flash video on their site, just like pretty much every other site. major news sites in particular were pretty much the first to switch.

 

Because that "access" is gimped beyond belief. Accessing Flash websites on my Droid X is such a pain that I avoid them entirely. Embedded videos don't load properly, scrolling through the website feels like I a browsing on a computer from 1995, and video the source video often changes when I want to watch it full screen (often from 360p to 480p or even higher). Rapidly depleting the battery is just the cherry on top of the crap experience.

So you are essentially saying it is better to have a (lack of) access with an extremely crappy experience than it would be to not be able to access a site at all? That is the portion that I am just not buying. I would rather play Halo on my NES.

 

It's more like you're given the option between two textbooks. One textbook is written in standard English. The other textbook is encrypted, and a decryption-cipher is included. To read the encrypted textbook, you'll have to use the cipher to look up each word, letter by letter.

The standard textbook is missing the errata. The encrypted textbook may also be missing part of the errata (free hulu, for example, won't work on android even if flash is available).

Short aside: is Sky sports is a paid service? I just went to their website, they want me to sign into their "Sky Go" service.

Anyway, here's the iOS application: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sky-go/id446086440?mt=8

 

accidental double post

 

Lack of flash has been a complete non-issue for this iPad owner. Every site I've looked at so far has been perfect.

 

I'm leaning on the 64GB only for resale purposes and lots of games. Which color is the preferable choice? I prefer white but was told by several ipad owners that it tends to discolor.

And I for one abhor Flash, can't wait for it to go away.

 

My iPad 2 didn't get discolored so I don't think that is an issue. It did show more dirt around the bezel but that was only on the screen protector so a new one took care of that. I like the white color simply because it is different and tends to go with all of the case options out there. Black looks nice too but I prefer white.

 

Thanks, I actually like the look of white. I also like that it tends to hide fingerprints better than black.

I'm now actually considering an ipad 2 and buying from Apple's online outlet store. I've only own Android tablets.

Apple states that they put in a new battery and replace the covers which are pretty cool. If I went with a 2nd gen ipad could I possibly get away with 16GB?

EDIT: I just ordered the 32GB 3rd Gen version.

 

Link isn't turning up anything for me. Could it be a location thing? Ps I am on iPad, so it automatically brings me to the AppStore but without a link to the app.

 

I think you are better off doing what you did. 16GB really isn't a whole lot of storage and the only people I have seen get away with that are consumers that just store apps. Adding video content drastically reduces the already low potential that 16GB had. My Mom had to learn that the hard way. She had a 16GB iPad 2 through the schools. They offered to buy 32GB versions for the administrators and 16GB for the teachers. The schools cheaper out and just picked up 16GB versions for everyone. She put 4 movies on it purchased from the iTunes Store and only had about 2GB left for music and app storage. Granted, those movies were in 720p HD but you still get the idea.

32GB seems to be the sweet spot in terms of price and capacity. I only had 64GB iPad models but I never really found myself fully using the 64GB. My iPads always had about 4GB of free space and I was never in a situation where I would want to consume 64GB of video content (I don't carry around music on my iPad) in a single trip. 32GB is still enough to hold 10 hours or so of videos along with a bunch of apps and photos while still having ~1GB of free space left over. To me, that is more than enough to get me through any trip.

People have been asking me about which iPad they should get and I always tell them that, if they are going to buy now, might as well get the iPad 3. I don't really see a point in buying an iPad 2 since the iPad 3 really does provide a better experience. Now if I was a parent buying for my kid, they would be getting a refurb or new iPad 2 (and they would be lucky to even get one). I am not a parent and most people ask me for themselves. You might as well go all out and spend the extra money for a 32GB iPad 3 when buying for yourself. The main issue with these iDevices is that Apple and app developers stop supporting them after a while. You want to buy something that ensures it will be fully supported over the next two years. Although the iPad 2 looks like it will have steady support for a while, you just never know. Apple has already drastically slowed support of the iPhone 3Gs and there are some apps that require the hardware in an iPhone 4/iPad 1 as a minimum. We might see developers start to require the iPad 2/iPhone 4S as minimum hardware later this year.

I don't know though. Either way, it is always best to go with the latest model and a capacity of 32GB. I don't see a point in spending the extra money for 64GB models (I always did and never fully used it) and 16GB just seems to paltry. Apps are taking up more space with the iPad 3 too so 16GB just isn't going to cut it.

 

Is there a way to add extra storage via MicroSD or USB Thumb Drive on the iPad? I have a USB adapter for my Samsung Galaxy Tab to offload storage onto my USB Flash drive.

 

I've seen an ad in a magazine for extra storage that plugs into the charging/data port. Have to find it in order to provide a brand name/link.

 

Try changing your region to the UK. It looks like Sky may have restricted their app to that region. You can do this from your iPad.

iOS: Changing the signed-in iTunes Store account

 

Not really. There are some solutions (Seagate has a wi-fi portable hard drive) but none are integrated into iOS. Apple has a camera connection kit but it does not expand iOS's storage capacity. Either way, there really isn't anything that can be done for additional app, music, or video storage.

 

Au contraire. Can't be used for app storage, but it otherwise works interchangeably among iOS, OS X, and Windows.

 

That requires the use of their app though, no different than the wi-fi hard drive from Seagate. Support for media, contacts, etc. isn't built into iOS. You have to use their apps to sync that content to the iDevice in order for iOS to pick it up. You can't plug it in and have iOS automatically recognize everything (or anything, unless there are photos on there, then it might see it as an SD card or digital camera) as that is not the way iOS works. So what I said still stands. There are options like that and what Seagate makes but they require the use of an additional app to access the content. There is no way to expand the integrate storage that iOS has access to (it isn't like Android).

 

@kornchild2002

Hey, you mentioned that you take virtual notes on the iPad by using a stylus. Could you please elaborate more on it.

 

Sure, its an app called Notes Plus. It is the best note taking app that I have found. Notes come out (pretty much) just as good as writing them in a notebook with a pencil. iAnnotate is another one I use when I have to add notes to PowerPoint presentations. Its input is not as accurate as Notes Plus though. iAnnotate is supposed to ignore input from your palm whenever you rest it on your iPad's display to write something with a stylus. It is supposed to do this automatically but it never 100% works for me. The app will sometimes ignore something that I wrote down and instead put a little dot or dash where my wrist was.

Notes Plus works a little differently as you long press on the paper where you want to write and a text box comes up. You write in the text box and the app will accept text input only if it is in that box. That means that you can rest your wrist on the iPad's display without worrying about writing somewhere else. You also progress from left to right naturally as once you get to the right of the text box, the left area will become grayed out and you can start writing in there. The text box will automatically move to the right. The same thing happens when you get to the far right of the paper, it will automatically go down a line when writing in the grayed out area.

Notes Plus syncs with Dropbox and Google Docs so that you can save your notes files as-is or export them to PDFs. Right now their resolution is limited to 768X1024. It hasn't been updated for the iPad 3 yet (the developers are working on it) so I don't know if the resolution of exported notes is going to increase. The developers have their own website and constantly accept user input, answer e-mails, etc. They are really open to things. I think that is one of the reasons why I chose Notes Plus over the other apps. They recently updated it to support PDF input too so you can annotate over PDF files. I still use iAnnotate for that simply because most PDF files I am importing are PowerPoint presentations for class. Notes Plus doesn't handle non 8.5X11 sources nicely.

 

What shipping times like from the Apple Store? It says 1-2 weeks.

 

From what I have read online, it is taking Apple anywhere between 3-7 business days to actually ship them out. There was that initial demand that pushed things back (twice) but Apple has caught up. I have come across a bunch at a few Best Buys and even the Apple Store. If you really wanted one, your best bet would be to check an Apple Store if you have one around or even a Best Buy (though my friend tells me that the one back in my kinda hometown doesn't have any, that is a small city). I was able to pick mine up on launch day from Best Buy without issues.

 

In my area my Best Buys are about 30 miles in each direction. It looks like my smart cover is about to ship from Apple, and 3-7 business days for the iPad isn't too bad. I just read today that BB is in serious trouble and is planning on closing a bunch of stores.

I'll just wait for both items to ship from Apple.

 

Yeah, I saw that announcement too from Best Buy corporate. That doesn't have anything to do with their iPad 3 stock or the quality of the iPad 3 units they are selling (an iPad 3 is an iPad 3) but they are in financial trouble. You can also check online to see if a store near you has one in stock by using the store pickup option.

 

You never know. If they're desperate enough, maybe they shave off 10% of each iPad so that you end up with 90% of an iPad at full price, and they can sell 10% more iPads than they purchased and reap huge profits.

Or maybe not.

 

I can't see that on the new model when it's selling like hotcakes. OTOH I can see them doing that to the 2nd gen stock.

The only thing I would not buy from BB is an extended warranty on any purchase. I've done that only once because it was so cheap.

 

Well things got interesting. I went to a Best Buy Mobile store and saw the iPad 3rd Gen vs the iPad 2 and honestly there is a bump in the resolution, the icons look sharper but it's not where the iPad 2 resolution looks butt ugly. And my eyes are such that bigger looks better and easier to see.

Decisions, decisions.

 

The biggest advantage to the iPad 3's display, for me, is that I no longer have to constantly zoom in and out of websites to read text. I just view the website as-is and I can easily read the text. Additionally, photo viewing on the iPad 3 is 1000X better due to the bump in resolution and increase in color gamut.

In all honesty, if you are going to buy an iPad, there is absolutely no reason to buy an iPad 2 unless you want to save $100 (which, in the grand scheme of things, isn't all that much). You might as well buy the most recent model instead of trying to save a few bucks and get last year's tech. Also don't forget that the iPad 3 has faster web browsing speeds than the iPad 2 (even when going through wi-fi). All-in-all, the only thing holding it back is that the iPad 3 is $100 more than the iPad 2. As I said, big whoop.

 

If you want to save $100, it makes MUCH more sense to go from 32gb iPad 3 -> 16gb iPad 3 than 32gb iPad 3 -> 32gb iPad 2.

 

I agree but there re limitations in going with a 16GB model. The one thing to keep in mind though is that apps are taking up a lot more space if they are formatted for the retina display. For example, Angry Birds Space takes up 84.9 MB yet the other titles didn't even break 20MB for me. Both Keynote and Pages jumped beyond 200MB and GarageBand (which was never really that small to begin with) is pushing 800MB.

For the iPad 3, I don't really see a point in getting the 16GB model especially since you can easily fill it up with apps. Factor in movie and TV shows (especially if they are 720p or 1080p HD) and 16GB isn't going to carry you through any type of trip. 32GB seems to be the sweet spot for iPads as it is just enough storage for content to get you through a trip.

Either way, when you buy an iPad, it is best to go with the model that you can most afford. This is something that has to last you (at least) another generation (so you won't upgrade to the iPad 4 but rather the iPad 5) and it is extremely difficult to predict what type of media storage you will encounter next year. 16GB might seem fine now but you could be pulling your hair out next year.

 

16GB is quite difficult to fill up without the use of movies (aka with just apps).

Unless you're hoarding free apps that you never touch more than once.

The apps I use most: splashtop (to view flash), Pulse (a reader), AirDisplay (second monitor), Documents to Go (essentially Microsoft Office), Handoff (chome to phone for iOS), imo (because Trillian has no iPad support), Netflix/Hulu+, Safari, Youtube, and Dropbox. I think that's less than 1 gb of app space used.

I've got Real Racing 2, all of the "with friends", Infinity Blade, Plants vs Zombies, and a couple other hard hitters. All in all, I can't see 16 GB being "easily" depleted with just apps.

 

But I can. I have 71 apps which I access in some form about once every few weeks. I also have my daily apps and my iPad 3 is using up 8.3 GB just for apps. Only 1/8 of those have been updated for the iPad 3 and, given the large increase in size, I am expecting apps to take up another 3-4 GB once they are all updated. If I had a 16 GB iPad 3, it would essentially be full in a few months just from apps. I might be in a minority but it can be done rather easily.

Factor that in with 2 movies and 3-4 30 minutes TV shows and you are all out of space. 16 GB just isn't enough if you want to get through the week without recycling contents few times. Even people I know who aren't big media consumers ran out of space on their 16 GB iPads. Additionally, you don't actually get 16 GB of storage but more like 14.7 GB. That holds true for all of the capacities but there is a big diffence between 14.7 GB and 27 GB, enough to make the extra amount worth it.

 

I'm honest to God curious if you could list some of those 71 apps. I'm not getting much use out of my hardware then.

 

Some or all? Notes Plus, Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons, Angry Birds Rio, Angry Birds Space, X-Men, iAnnotate, Pages, Keynote, GarageBand, Remote, SoundHound, Trailers, Google Earth, Facebook, Skype, iTunes U, Star Walk, a periodic table, Word Lends, NCAA, Speed Test, USA Today, Engadget, Cinemassacre, TBS, TNT, Crackle, Hulu Plus, Netflix, HBO Go, NBC, ABC Player, Marathon, Slayer HD (pinball game), Scribblenauts, GTA III, 10 Pin Shuffle, Fruit Ninja, Cut The Rope, Scrabble, Dropbox, Evernote, Pandora, and I can keep going on. Is listing 44 apps enough or do you want me to list absolutely everything I have on my 32GB iPad including movies (along with their resolutions and bitrates), TV shows (with their resolutions and bitrates), music (with prospective song lengths and bitrates), music videos, and photos?

 

I just got mine 32GB off Ebay for 660$ shipped plus free portfolio leather case.

 

Resolutions and bit rates would be nice. cheers mate.

 

Hopefully Apple will start with 32GB as their base model with the 4th Gen iPad. It's already looking like 32GB is the minimum size for the 3rd gen iPad. OTOH I don't know who would need 128GB?

 

32GB is decent for me, listening to music and watching clips "offline/stored" don't make sense to me "personally". I'm no iPad gamers, I have like less than 2GB iPad games. My last 16GB iPad 2 had 7-8GBs free

 

It's just the opposite for me. I'm a gamer first. I've got like 7GB of games on my Samsung Galaxy Tab and that's not a high res display.