To iPad or not to iPad?

[DISdreamin']

I really need some help figuring out whether an iPad would make a good Christmas gift for DHs parents....and for DH! I think DHs parents would make good use of it if we had one because they could do Facetime with the kids (I think?! Not really sure how it works!). But that would mean buying TWO iPads.

So are they worth it? We may be traveling next summer, and I was thinking having one might be good for when we're on the road (depending on whether we just got Wi-Fi or 3g...if we decide to get one). If I did get them, how much memory do you think would be do-able? I'm figuring a movie or show here and there, maybe some songs, but I don't know how much storage I'd really need.

So all of you out there with iPads, please sound off on whether you think they were worth it! This would be the sole present for DH if I did it, and same for his parents. Good idea, bad idea? Help!

 

[BCV2003]

I say go for it!

My sisters and I purchased a first generation ipad for my Mom for Mother's Day, she uses it everyday whereas she only used her computer once every six months. She loves it and takes with her almost everywhere she goes.

I purchased an iPad 2 a few months ago for my DBF's birthday and he loves his too! Again, he uses it daily.

I want to purchase one for myself in the next month or so. We'd then have two in our household and I can't wait!

I purchased my BF the 32 GB but he said he probably would have been ok with 16. I will probably likely only get myself the 16gb athough I'm thinking about the 32. I have a 16gb iPhone and I have all of my music on it plus one movie and tons of pictures and I still have room on it so I think it would be fine.

The best deal that I have found is at Target. If you have their CC or Debit card you get 5% off and this week they have a sale where you can also get a $40 or $50 Target gift card if you purchase an iPad.

 

[CarlisleMom]

I am also thinking about getting one as a family gift this year. I think DD10 would love it as she is always asking to play on my I-Touch. If we get 3G, how much does it cost a month? I love the idea of having internet wherever we go. We don't really use our cells so only have pre-paid., so no I-phone in our current future.

 

[QVCshopper]

I love my iPad; it's my favorite possession. We're giving my in-laws the 16gb wifi iPad2, which is plenty or them. The Target deal this week is the best I've seen.

 

[Desnik]

Go for it! Seriously, it's the best!! I'm on mine right now
We had the first generation iPad and got the iPad 2 when it came out. DH & I use it more than our kids. They still use their iPods daily . We are an "Apple family" & have iPads, iPods, iPhones, MAC desktops, laptop, Apple tv. I have to say next to my iPhone which I adore this iPad is the greatest thing. We use it for everything & take it on vacation too. We have the wifi not the 3G & I can honestly say I never needed the 3G. Most places have wifi & it hasn't been an issue for us. I don't know how many gigs it has (i thinkt its only 16) but I have music, movies, pictures & tons of apps with room to spare.

 

[newdeal]

The ipad is great for travelling because the battery lasts so long. The 16gig is fine for me, we can put over 10 disney movies on it easily (about 700megabytes per) and still have plenty of room left over. Also makes a great digital frame and with ios5 you dont even need a computer to set it up so it could be your only device (which is great for old people lol)

 

[thomas998]

Not a huge fan of Ipads even though I have one and use it quite a bit.... It has some flaws that other options don't have.

1. You can't do "flash" on it... so you cannot access some websites and do anything on them because it will say you need a flash plug-in... well Apple refuses to put that capability into them because of a feud with Adobe.... so don't expect that to change.

2. Putting movies on it is a pain in the backside unless you buy them through iTunes... the movie needs to be in a iPad friendly format where as some of the competing tables are a lot less finicky.

3. A lot of things that are free on other computers or tables aren't free on an iPad... for some reason I can access some newpapers for free using other computers or tablets.. but if I try to access the same site on the ipad it puts me onto a screen where you are told you need to subscribe and pay a fee... Sorry but if I can read it free on my computer I should be able to read it free on an ipad... but apparently some people feel Apple owners are wealthier than other people and want to fleece them every chance they get.

I know some people love their Ipad.. and I use my for quite a bit.. but it isn't able to allow me to ditch my computer so really are you making things simpler?

 

[newdeal]

See bolded

Not a huge fan of Ipads even though I have one and use it quite a bit.... It has some flaws that other options don't have.

1. You can't do "flash" on it... so you cannot access some websites and do anything on them because it will say you need a flash plug-in... well Apple refuses to put that capability into them because of a feud with Adobe.... so don't expect that to change. Flash sucks on mobile because the input elements were all designed for a mouse and so are too tiny to use easily with touch. I have used flash on a tablet and the experiance is horrible,mimdo not miss it on my,ipad

2. Putting movies on it is a pain in the backside unless you buy them through iTunes... the movie needs to be in a iPad friendly format where as some of the competing tables are a lot less finicky. This is easy to do, there are apps in the app store that will play more movie files than the stock player does and youmcan easily put movies into them via itunes (select your ipad, go to apps tab, scroll to bottom and add them in the file sharing area

3. A lot of things that are free on other computers or tables aren't free on an iPad... for some reason I can access some newpapers for free using other computers or tablets.. but if I try to access the same site on the ipad it puts me onto a screen where you are told you need to subscribe and pay a fee... Sorry but if I can read it free on my computer I should be able to read it free on an ipad... but apparently some people feel Apple owners are wealthier than other people and want to fleece them every chance they get. Buy a browser called icab mobile. Its like 99 cents and you can change your user agent to whatever you want so the website will think you are on a computer instead of an ipad and will display the free stuff instead

I know some people love their Ipad.. and I use my for quite a bit.. but it isn't able to allow me to ditch my computer so really are you making things simpler?

 

[canadianjovigirl]

Hubby and i would really like to each get one for Christmas, but that wont happen unless the holiday bonus's are good!! The teacher is really pushing for us to get one for our son as he has an IPP and uses one at school all the time and they want him fully transitioned to it for independant learning at the high school next year. Daughter would also love one, but would be happy with a e-reader. Wish i could bring myself to just buy ipads all around and then Christmas would be taken care of, but i cant get out of my cheap mode long enough to do that

 

[Ed J]

I am also thinking about getting one as a family gift this year. I think DD10 would love it as she is always asking to play on my I-Touch. If we get 3G, how much does it cost a month? I love the idea of having internet wherever we go. We don't really use our cells so only have pre-paid., so no I-phone in our current future.

I have a month to month contract with AT&T and its $25 a month. I'm not as lucky as the pp who says they find enough free wifi for their liking, I find the pad with out 3G not nearly as useful.


Over all I'm a big fan for non work related stuff, it doesn't in anyway replace a PC.

 

[luvthemouse71]

Love my iPad. It sees a lot of use daily. I have a MacBook Pro that I love too but the iPad is very portable. I have a 16GB 3G iPad 2.

 

[cakebakr]

Definitely it is a really cool widget!

 

[Swimalie]

I wanted to let you know that if you want to get an iPad for facetime with your family and you own a Mac, you can download the app for facetime on your computer. I believe it was $1.99 when I did it. My husband travels a lot for work so I got him an iPad in May. I downloaded facetime on my lap top and we can video chat without the expense of another iPad.

 

[thomas998]

See bolded

Flash might be bad without a mouse but some sites I use don't have any need for using a mouse, they are just showing things like stock quotes or news feeds, nothing to click, just scrolling data across a screen... so flash on a tablet will work, only you can't do it on an ipad.

And yes I understand there are other players out there I've download two already to try and find one that will work well... thus far the ones I've tried aren't able to show HD quality video smoothly... so I still end up having to tweak the video before watching...

And I wasn't aware of the work around on ipad sites that want to charge money... then again, I don't like having to do work arounds if I can avoid them.

 

[prncess674]

I bought my 60ish year old parents an Ipad2 this year and they absolutely adore it. I did help them set it up with many apps that I thought they would like. They love being able to check email from the recliner. It is ridiculously easy to use and they love being able to facetime with the grandkids. My Dad is the least techno guy and my Mom usually would make the Facetime calls, but it warmed my heart when I got a Facetime call in the middle of the day and Dad had been playing on apps and found Facetime and just called in the middle of the day.

It isn't the cheapest gift, but if you can afford it then go for it!

 

[karen l]

I just bought an iPad last Saturday & absolutely love it. I've wanted one for ages but Saturday's storm convinced me to get one. We lost power but I was able to get on the Internet and check the news, etc. looking forward to bringing it to WDW.

 

[Keira1387]

I love mine, and use it all the time. For me personally the 3G was a must, as I have trouble finding a wifi connection.

 

[HM]

We got my parents an iTouch with Facetime for their 50th anniversary. They LOVE it. They use it constantly to check email, surf the web and Facetime with grandkids. If you don't want to spend as much as an iPad costs, maybe an iTouch would work for them.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Not a huge fan of Ipads even though I have one and use it quite a bit.... It has some flaws that other options don't have.

1. You can't do "flash" on it... so you cannot access some websites and do anything on them because it will say you need a flash plug-in... well Apple refuses to put that capability into them because of a feud with Adobe.... so don't expect that to change.

2. Putting movies on it is a pain in the backside unless you buy them through iTunes... the movie needs to be in a iPad friendly format where as some of the competing tables are a lot less finicky.

3. A lot of things that are free on other computers or tables aren't free on an iPad... for some reason I can access some newpapers for free using other computers or tablets.. but if I try to access the same site on the ipad it puts me onto a screen where you are told you need to subscribe and pay a fee... Sorry but if I can read it free on my computer I should be able to read it free on an ipad... but apparently some people feel Apple owners are wealthier than other people and want to fleece them every chance they get.

I know some people love their Ipad.. and I use my for quite a bit.. but it isn't able to allow me to ditch my computer so really are you making things simpler?

I have an iPad2 and I love it. It would be nice if it could handle flash, but I haven't found that to be a big problem.

Putting your own dvds on the iPad2 is easy if you use the right software. I like WinX DVD Ripper Platinum.

I don't have any trouble reading free newspapers on my iPad.

As for ditching your computer, the current iPad was not designed to replace a computer.

 

[AndreaDM]

DH has had one for work for over a year, then bought me one for Christmas last year. We use them all day, every day, LOVE them!! We just have the wifi, but got a mifi through Verizon, so we can use it in the car while on long trips or wherever we are. My favorite new apps? Both NBC and ABC have apps that you can use to watch all the new shows, anytime after they air, so if something doesn't get DVR's I watch it on my ipad. I have Netflix on there too, great for DD on trips.