Ipad2, what model to choose?

December 7, 2011 5:38 PM

Will be getting Mrs Mikedelic an ipad2 for Christmas. Selection questions inside.

She is a teacher who will be using it 90% at home and work where there is WiFi. I don't know if it's worth it to pay the extra for the 3G model if she won't be using it much. Are there any other options for the 3G service besides signing up for a $25-$45 per month data plan. She has a 2 year old iphone if that matters. Also, if you could chime in on whether you have a 16, 32 or 64 gb model, that would be appreciated. I don't expect her to be downloading movies etc.
Thanks in advance for the help.

posted by mikedelic to Computers & Internet (13 answers total)

I say get her the 16gig wifi version. If she has an iphone already I doubt she will need the ipad on 3g.

Everybody that has an ipad that I know of (including myself) uses it for apps and the internet. If i really need to put a movie on it i do and then delete it after i am done watching it.
posted by majortom1981 at 5:49 PM on December 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'd get her a 32 gig wifi. You can load plenty of apps on the device to tide you through the 10% of time between access points. I'd go with the 32 gig, because the 16 gig, once loaded with some serious apps, movies and games for the kids, gets awful snug. Some sample big apps: Lego Harry Potter is 475 meg, Oregon Trail is 313 meg, etc. You can't expand the storage later, so if the device gets passed down or re-purposed the 32 gig of space will be handy.
posted by jeffkramer at 5:58 PM on December 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I have 32g 3G version. I use the 3G when I am using the iPad as a navigator using Google Maps, when I am waiting for my kids and wherever I am sitting does not have free wifi or when I am somewhere that I simply think is too sketchy to use their free wifi. I am sure that your wife has a decent secure connection at school and at home it should be good to go. I have been in waiting rooms (doctors, basketball practice, etc where I have seen others with iPads getting frustrated they could not get a wifi connection asking me how I was getting the wifi. I explained about 3G. I am unable to load all my music on it because I have over 16,000 songs a lot of which is live Grateful Dead concerts.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 6:12 PM on December 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I use a 16 GB 3G iPad 2 for accessing the net on my bus ride to work, having signed up for the $15/month plan. I have also found it useful elsewhere, where wifi access is spotty, iffy or non-free. You might base your decision on 3G service, asking whether she might have use for 3G outside of wifi-covered areas.

I couldn't say what storage capacity is ideal. I find 16 GB is more than enough for storing all the music, books and journal articles I need.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 6:18 PM on December 7, 2011

32gb white wifi.
posted by michaelh at 6:37 PM on December 7, 2011

I think this will depend on whether her school will allow her to connect to their wireless internet with a non-school device.

I love using my ipad at school. Does she use powerschool? They have an app where you can record grades as you are walking around the room. I'm sure other online grading programs have something similar. Does she have a projector? Using the ipad and an app to connect to a computer ala Go to My PC or the Splashtop App should make it possible for her to wirelessly project her ipad onto her computer and onto a projector (I haven't used this personally, but that is how it was explained to me).
posted by aetg at 7:46 PM on December 7, 2011

Ok, I just tried the Splashtop app and my mind is blown. This is the teaching situation I have been waiting for. Try to find out if your wife can get onto the wifi at school and if she can't then buy the wifi access for her. Otherwise, a 16gb ipad is all she needs.
posted by aetg at 7:55 PM on December 7, 2011

If she has an iphone, then she can share the 3G connection on her iphone with the ipad on the rare occasions that she takes the ipad out (assuming her iphone runs IOS 5).

So get her the wifi only version.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 7:59 PM on December 7, 2011

I believe the 3G version has GPS while the Wifi version does not. I would get the 3G if only to get the GPS sensor. You don't have to activate the 3G service, and you can just use it on Wifi. In this case, you're paying a flat amount more to get GPS and the option to use 3G at some later date. If you go that route (i.e., paying for future options), I may opt for the GSM version of the 3G, for more flexibility.
posted by chengjih at 4:49 AM on December 8, 2011

There is a comparison chart for size based on how many novels, TV shows, photos, etc. each will hold. I can't find it in my bookmarks, but teh Google should help.
posted by jgirl at 5:33 AM on December 8, 2011

I roll with 64 and it holds plenty but I would have been unhappy with less since I carry a lot of data and just want to be sure that anything I open will work. I will probably get the 3G later so I can have my pad be a GPS.
posted by jadepearl at 7:37 AM on December 8, 2011

I just wanted suggest the plastic/nylon or whatever they are covers over the leather ones. I find the leather ones start to get dirty and old looking really quick and aren't worth the extra coin.
posted by dripdripdrop at 7:45 AM on December 8, 2011

I don't see any reason to buy her the 3G model over the wifi, but I thought you should know that it's not a contractual data plan. You pay monthly, and you can stop/start up at any time. So if there are occasionally situations where, I dunno, she's out of town and would have liked to use the iPad over 3G she can buy just one month's worth of data and then cut it off again.

But it doesn't sound like she'd need that.

If she wants to download & keep more than a few podcasts, I'd get the 32GB. Those audio files quickly start taking a lot of room unless you delete them off the device when you're done with them. Otherwise, 16GB is plenty.
posted by asciident at 6:53 AM on December 11, 2011