Just ordered an iPad Air

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maverick786us

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I have just ordered an iPad air, it will be delivered within 3-4 days. Compared to my dad's iPad 2, is there anything significant will I feel apart from retina display, better processor and GPU?

I usually use iPad for
1) Reading books and magzines. I love iBooks, but reading PDF files in iBook application is good.
2) Net surfing, navigation
3) Games, youtube
 
You'll notice that it's a good amount lighter, I was surprised how much difference it actually made - it's much easier to hold.
 
I've got an iPad Air as well, it's a solid feeling piece of tech. We've also got an iPad 2 ironically, so I feel compelled to comment. The difference in weight feels tremendous in hand, that's the first thing I noticed.

The screen and colors are excellent, you'll be pretty blown away coming from the 2, especially if you like reading comics or media with tons of colors, they really pop. Of course, it's snappier as well with the upgraded internals, though I thought my 2 handled iOS7 just fine tbh.
 
I went from an iPad 3 to the Air, with the wife inheriting the older model. I have to agree on weight, as ever time I pick up her device I do a double-take. The difference is just crazy.

People can dog the iPad all they want, and initially I thought they were silly. After spending time with one, I use it more than any other device and it goes with me everywhere that it's feasible.
 
I rarely used my iPad original to the point when I finally forced myself to use it after a year just to see if I should even keep it or craigslist it I set it down and someone stole it. In contrast, I use my iPad Air all the time. Partly because of the cellular version I have but also mainly because of the weight difference, I think.
 
brentsg said:
People can dog the iPad all they want, and initially I thought they were silly. After spending time with one, I use it more than any other device and it goes with me everywhere that it's feasible.
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Congrats! My sister-in-law got an Air a few weeks ago and I helped her set it up. Very nice piece of hardware. The iPad is the best consumptive tablet ecosystem out there. There's a lot of zero sum thinking in places like this when it comes to tablets. All that matters for some if how fast, how cheap and a keyboard, as though all computing tasks require high-speed text input when so many things that we used computers for today don't have that requirement.
 
Sometimes I miss my iPad, which I got rid of because I was doing mostly browsing and really missed a keyboard and desktop browser experience, plus all the usual Apple limitations.

But sometimes, its easier and faster to use an app and its nicer, e.g. to search for flights, look at movie trailers etc. Funny how if mobile apps were made available on desktop, tablet use would decline.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. I hope I will not regret the decision of selecting iPad air over an iPad mini retina?
 
If you care about image quality and color accuracy then you made the right choice. The image quality on the Air is better than that of the Mini Retina. The Mini Retina has a reduced gamut range:
http://www.displaymate.com/Tablet_ShootOut_4.htm

If image quality and color accuracy isn't a concern then it just comes down to if you like the 10" tablets or 7" ones.
 
|Tch0rT| said:
If you care about image quality and color accuracy then you made the right choice. The image quality on the Air is better than that of the Mini Retina. The Mini Retina has a reduced gamut range:
http://www.displaymate.com/Tablet_ShootOut_4.htm

If image quality and color accuracy isn't a concern then it just comes down to if you like the 10" tablets or 7" ones.
Click to expand...

I believe bigger is always better. 50% time I will use iPad for reading books, magzines, comics and newspapers () . Although I did get my hands on iPad mini numerous times, the good part that it can be held single handedly. For primarily reading purpose, is the size that makes much of a difference or the weight?
 
I previously owned the iPad 2, and decided to get rid of it for the following reasons:

1. size
2. storage capacity

The iPad 2 was just too...cumbersome for me though it was very pleasing in an aesthetic/tactile sense. It wasn't as portable as I would have liked and with the amount of comics and books I had stored on the thing, I was constantly juggling to add new things to the 16gb.

When the mini retina came out, I jumped all over it. I had briefly considered the Air due to it's slimmer size and reduced bezels, but the mini has an even greater portability factor. Plus, for the same price you can get 32gb instead of 16gb. Reading comics or books on this thing is just fantastic, and I take with me on my commute, which is more than I can say for the old form factor.

For me, reading on the mini is just fantastic. Hold it in one hand and activating scroll mode on iBooks is the way to go. I suppose if you do extended reading, the weight becomes a factor (as it did with the iPad 2 for me) but I haven't noticed it a single bit with the mini.
 
I wouldn't upgrade right now since they'll be obsoleted by new models in a few months. Also, the current models with only 1GB DRAM will be deficient for iOS 8. As for the iPad Mini Retina it's too wide to comfortably cup in one hand but maybe I just need to use a finger stretcher like pianists used to do.

finger+stretcher+for+musicians.jpg
 
mi7chy said:
I wouldn't upgrade right now since they'll be obsoleted by new models in a few months. Also, the current models with only 1GB DRAM will be deficient for iOS 8. As for the iPad Mini Retina it's too wide to comfortably cup in one hand but maybe I just need to use a finger stretcher like pianists used to do.

finger+stretcher+for+musicians.jpg
Click to expand...


Damm!!!, you are scaring me, making it sound as if it will become obsolete within less than an year
 
maverick786us said:
Damm!!!, you are scaring me, making it sound as if it will become obsolete within less than an year
Click to expand...

Yeah...I wouldn't worry about that. These don't really go out of date like that. Hell, the iPad "3" is still fine, unless you NEED the absolute latest, or have something like a 2 or the original one, in which case those have been paid off several times over.
 
Good thing about iPad (Apple in general) is they hold their resale value for a long time.
 
You are going to notice a huge difference in the iPad Air vs the iPad 2. It's the best tablet on the market hands down, I am sure you will enjoy it immensely.
 
Thank you. One last question. Is 16GB storage a limiting factor? I know games usually cost a lot of memory. I will not use my iPad to store any music or movies. But I will keep on installing books and applications and sometimes games.
 
My son has an iPad 2 that he's had for 2 years now and I think it was already a year or 2 old at that point. I have been pretty surprised at the types of games it can play. He plays the LEGO games and its fairly involved 3D environments. So I imagine an Air would be pretty capable for a while.

16GB is pretty small. I have to really encode his movies specifically to go on the iPad in order to keep somewhat good video quality (for a 4 year olds taste at least) and keep the size down. I can get a movie down to about 700-800MB and games like LEGO are several gigabytes. Plus he loves to whale on that camera button.
 
maverick786us said:
Thank you. One last question. Is 16GB storage a limiting factor? I know games usually cost a lot of memory. I will not use my iPad to store any music or movies. But I will keep on installing books and applications and sometimes games.
Click to expand...

The answer to that question is usually no. 16GB is good enough for the average user, which is the bracket that I would place you in. You stated you wouldn't store any music or movies, which are massive in file size. Depending on the game, and even how many games you plan on having on your iPad at any one time, 16GB MAY be a limiting factor, but I can't imagine it would be. I have hundreds of books and comics on my 16GB iPad Air, and I see no need to swap it for a 32GB, though granted, if I could go back in time, I would have gotten the 32GB just to have peace of mind, as I only ever upgrade the iPad every 2-3 generations (so 2-3 years I suppose). Hope that helps.
 
maverick786us said:
Thank you. One last question. Is 16GB storage a limiting factor? I know games usually cost a lot of memory. I will not use my iPad to store any music or movies. But I will keep on installing books and applications and sometimes games.
Click to expand...

Yes, 16GB is very restrictive and you'll regret it. Download a few games that can be easily over 1GB and almost 2GB and you'll be out of storage in no time. I'd say 32GB is minimum while 64GB is the sweet spot.
 
Ive got 16gb on my 2 and hate it. So much data management now.

We switched from 2 to airs at work finally and I love how much faster they are and how nicer the display looks, but I found I dont like typing on it. the glass feels like it is raised higher above the LCD and so it seems a lot more hollow. It could just be me though and how I type on the ipad keyboard, but my fingered definitely do notice the difference when I hit the glass. (ipad typing is about 60-75wpm)
 
Now that iOS has switched to 64bit I wouldn't limit myself to 16gb. I used to buy 64gb and never used it and regretted it. Resale value never approaches the same for the higher capacity models. But that might be changing. 32gb seems to be the sweet spot.
 
Finally I got my iPad air. No doubt it is beautiful. But I was shocked, when I saw that they gave me black version, when I orderd white version with a silver back. For that I almost paid 20$ extra.

Now my question is, is it really worth to exchange white for black and wait for almost a week?
 
At least have them credit you the difference if they won't take it back. I put a case on mine as soon as I got it so I never really cared what color it was.
 
voklskier4452 said:
At least have them credit you the difference if they won't take it back. I put a case on mine as soon as I got it so I never really cared what color it was.
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Offcourse I am gonna put a case on them. But is it really worth to get into all this mess because of color? I thought that I should go for white, because on papers and internet it looked better. But when i got the black one, it didn't look bad. Does white looks more classis, more preimum?

Another issue, my iPad came without the headphone. Does iPad always comes without a headphone? How much does those new apple headphones cost, if i buy it separately?
 
They don't include the terrible earbuds, no.

Color is just a personal preference. I'd personally never consider white. YMMV
 
brentsg said:
They don't include the terrible earbuds, no.
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No Apple product has included those terrible earbuds for years. iPods and iPhones come with EarPods which are actually pretty decent. They're not IEMs but they're better than most earbuds.

iPad has never included any type of headphones.
 
I just can't stand the feel of any earbud, EarPods, whatever that they have packed in. I wouldn't use any of them. Obviously another YMMv.
 
What kind of shady place did you buy it from where they charge you more one color then ship you a different? I'd return it out of principle and buy it elsewhere. If you have a local Costco they now carry Apple gadgets and it's a little less than what Apple charges. If you watch a lot of movies in low light the reflection off of the white bezel can be annoying. Personally, I'd go black.
 
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mi7chy said:
What kind of shady place did you buy it from where they charge you more for black then ship you white? I'd return it out of principle and buy it elsewhere. If you have a local Costco they now carry Apple gadgets and it's a little less than what Apple charges. If you watch a lot of movies in low light the reflection off of the white bezel can be annoying. Personally, I'd go black.
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They were selling me for 8% less with additional cashback of 10%. With the white model it 20$ more.

Can you guys recommend me a good case / smart case. That should provide safety to my iPad without adding too much of bulk?
 
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I got a timbuk2 sleeve. I have another sleeve lying around I think it's a belkin if you want one for cheap
 
Finally I returned it and ordered a 64GB version. It was a continous troble after using it for 2 days. Installing couple of iBooks, MS Note, Excel and one small game and some magzines. I found the free space was only 7.7 GB. Even after moving

Its a tension to continously monitor free space and adjust applications. I searched on internet to find some ways to optimized space in 16GB iPad and I discovered that after retina display, most of the applications take more than twice the space to support that resolution.

I hope with 64GB I can install applications and games without much of a tension? After 2 days of using iPad air, I also realize that it is perfect size for reading, magzines and other applications. I would have regretted if I would have gone for mini retina
 
Storage space on an iPad is like a garage. Sooner or later you'll fill it up if you don't pay some attention.

-Posted from a 128GB iPad with 1.7GB remaining, because I deleted a bunch of stuff.
 
brentsg said:
Storage space on an iPad is like a garage. Sooner or later you'll fill it up if you don't pay some attention.

-Posted from a 128GB iPad with 1.7GB remaining, because I deleted a bunch of stuff.
Click to expand...

Holy crap. What do you keep in your 128GB iPad, that you have mere 1.7Gb remaining?

I will not use iPad as a primary source of storage. But 16GB was a headache. I used my iPad for 2 days and within next day, I had to delete cache, transfer mails to cloud, remove some important applications, games and books for conserving space. So I decided to return it and go for 64GB.

I will primarily use my iPad for reading, gaming, sometimes video. iPad Air has a good camera, but I primarily use my Lumia 920s great camera. Showing photo albums are best in iPad. So 64GB should fulfill my needs. I will not blindly keep on filling the iPad with data.
 
Finally got my iPad Air 64 GB. The strange thing is, iOS occupies not more than 3GB space, mine has 58.6 GB free. Buy anyways, this is an amazing device, and I am completely overwhelmed with it
 
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