Buying an iPad

[GreenLantern]

My wife has a new job with a fair amount of travel so I thought this was a good enough excuse to buy an iPad to help keep her entertained. I've never bought a tablet before, just curious if there are any opinions on which model, size etc.. to look for. Insurance is worth it? Nice cover right off the bat?

I think the question I am curious about the most is where did you buy yours from?

[sureLoss]

Are you locked into the iOS ecosystem or are you willing to consider Android or Windows tablets? Also are you looking for a wifi only model or want wifi + cellular?

If your wife is more of a casual user or doesn't use a stylus for drawing/writing I wouldn't recommend the iPad pro and save yourself some money.

If all she is going to do is watch some movies and surf the web and some light gaming go with an Air 2. A Mini 4 might be good enough too if you want a smaller form factor, which might be useful as you say she is going to be traveling a lot.

I bought mine at the Apple store in Market Mall. It was a black friday sale a couple of years ago and they gave a $75 gift card with purchase.

iPads rarely go on sale and almost the same price at all official Apple retailers. Sometimes you can find refurbished models on Apple's website to save a few bucks.

If you are sticking with Apple, get the model with the most storage you can afford, because they can't be upgraded after.

[GreenLantern]

I am not entirely locked into the iOS ecosystem, our phones are iPhones but our desk/lap tops are Windows. I just figured Apple would be the easiest user experience for her as she is app challenged. I don't think she needs a stylus so we can probably rule out the pro.

Wifi + cellular means that we can buy a separate data plan for our tablet? Can we just tether it to our cell phones for internet?

I would say that her use will be 90% watching Suits on Netflix and using apps like Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram etc.. Mine would be surfing the net and playing app games.

[HotHotHeat]

The built in cellular isn't worth it, just connect to your iPhone's wifi when you need it.

[spetch]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

My wife has a new job with a fair amount of travel so I thought this was a good enough excuse to buy an iPad to help keep her entertained. I've never bought a tablet before, just curious if there are any opinions on which model, size etc.. to look for. Insurance is worth it? Nice cover right off the bat?

I think the question I am curious about the most is where did you buy yours from?

I've never had an issue with my ipads before so I would pass on the insurance. As for the cover that is 100% a must. Not only does it help as a stand to watch movies, but it will act as your insurance and protect it if you drop it. Just make sure you get a decent leather/pleather one that can take the impact if it does get dropped.

The biggest thing as said earlier is storage. Even though you may be on wifi most of the time it is nice to have lots of movies/tv shows loaded on it as wifi can be crappy or not at all in a lot of places. I am so glad I splurged for the extra storage on our ipad as we like to travel and my daughter can sit in the car for hours as long as she has all her movies and tv shows on the ipad

[GreenLantern]

I was thinking of getting it at Costco for their great return policy, but I wonder if it extends into electronics/apple products.

[gaffobohs]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

I was thinking of getting it at Costco for their great return policy, but I wonder if it extends into electronics/apple products.

I believe you can purchase insurance through Costco that isn't too expensive if you were going to go that route.


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[psicodude]

Get it at Costco. They sell their own version of Applecare that is only $70. If memory serves, you only pay a $50 deductible for an accidental damage claim, and they just send you a brand new one via courier, worldwide. Apple's costs more and you have to be close to an Apple store.

Link to their warranty: http://www.costco.ca/Excellence-Plus...100073627.html

It might be $100 for more expensive iPads. you should go in and speak to someone there as my information comes from the guy selling cell phones. It may be different for iPads.

[GreenLantern]

So we ended up going with the Air 2 128 MB from Costco. Grabbed their smart cover and the 3 year insurance and got it all for under $1000 so I am happy about that. I looked at the pro and the differences didn't seem worth the money, especially since we have never had a tablet so don't know what we are missing/upgrading to. I don't even have 4k on my TV, don't need it on my ipad. The stylus also seemed pointless for our use, but I am sure that the newer model is useful to some so to each their own. So far very happy with the purchase, thanks for all the help.

[FurnaceFace]

I have an air. I also have a Surface and a Kindle fire (and an Android phablet). I dislike the cult of Apple but I pretty much live on my iPad. There isn't a lot of regular day to day or travel you can't do with it. Only annoyance I have is the lack of memory expansion. I wouldn't use it to do major spreadsheet tasks but viewing the odd office attachment and making minor updates infrequently would be OK. The Surface is better suited for that. I use a surface pro 4 for work and it's pretty rock solid. My home Surface is a pro 3 and it just doesn't seem to compare to the 4. Nothing I can specifically put my finger on but the 4 is more refined....much like the newer iPads are better than the older ones, it's just evolution.

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

So we ended up going with the Air 2 128 MB from Costco.

Dude, you got robbed.

[GreenLantern]

Haha, took me a second.