Opinions - IPad 2 or 3?

Mallus · Aug 7, 2012

I'm in the market for a tablet, primarily for gaming PDFs, comics, and reference books. I've already own an iPhone 4s, which I think is swell, but e-reader wise, it's only practical for novels.

We already have an iPad 2 in our house -- my wife's. She uses it all the time. While I do notice the difference between its screen and my phone's, it still seems like a nice display. So...

Is the Retina display worth the extra money?

Don't some sources look worse on it?

Anyone have issues with the latest version -- heat, battery drain, screen tint problems, ie the ones currently being mooted on the tech forums?

Since I already own a number of universal apps, I'm not seriously considering Android units. Besides, after many years of not owning a single Apple product, I find, now, that I quite like them.

Janx · Aug 7, 2012

good questions. I have an iPad 1, iPhone 4 and my wife has an iPhone 4s.

At home, I'd rather use the iPad than the iPhone. Bigger screen for looking up Wiki stuff while playing a game, etc.

I tend to leave my iPad at home when I'm out and about, as I have an iPhone so I have emergency lookups solved.

Screen-wise, the iPad 1 is good enough, so iPad 2 or 3 is better enough.

However, Apple has an expiring generational support schedule. Meaning, my iPad is about to fall of the supported hardware kist for the newer versions of iOS.

That'll mean less apps I can run when they get upgraded to support iOS6 and only iOS 6.

That doesn't make an older model worthless, but it does diminish its potential usefulness as new apps come out.

This is the conundrum you'll face with the iPad 2 vs. iPad 3, which is why I babbled so long about the iPad 1. If my iPad 1 is falling off the ladder this coming spring, the iPad 2 will be falling off a year later.

Get the newest model you can, for the longest supported lifespan of the device.

That's my generic iThing advice, based on my experience with the products, and my experience working in the tech industry.

For your case specifically, you have an iPad 2. why spend more money? The new screen will probably look nice, but its not such a game changer to warrant a single generation jump. Wait'll the iPad 4.

Hand of Evil · Aug 7, 2012

Retina display is nice, very nice and the improvement in the graphic card make it fast painting the screen. The you have 4G LTE, when used with Wi-Fi makes for great tablet BUT all-in-all not worth the jump from an iPad 2 to the 3. If it was an iPad 1, yes but the 2 has a smaller form factor (thiner & lighter) does not have the heat issue due to the graphic card and really doee everything the 3 does, plus by next year you may see another model.

Mallus · Aug 7, 2012

Janx said:
For your case specifically, you have an iPad 2. why spend more money?

Heh... I've got nada, tablet-wise. While our asset-type assets are jointly held, the iPad in our home belongs solely to my wife!

Hand of Evil said:
... BUT all-in-all not worth the jump from an iPad 2 to the 3. If it was an iPad 1, yes but the 2 has a smaller form factor (thiner & lighter) does not have the heat issue due to the graphic card and really doee everything the 3 does, plus by next year you may see another model.

I'm leaning toward the 2. But to be clear, I'm not upgrading. I'll be a first time iPad buyer.

Hand of Evil · Aug 7, 2012

Mallus said:
Heh... I've got nada, tablet-wise. While our asset-type assets are jointly held, the iPad in our home belongs solely to my wife!

I'm leaning toward the 2. But to be clear, I'm not upgrading. I'll be a first time iPad buyer.

Then, only if money is the issue, get the 2, if no issue, get the 3, always get the latest and great with tech.

Mallus · Aug 8, 2012

Hand of Evil said:
... always get the latest and great with tech.

That's always sound advice, though I was kinda hoping some iPad 3 owners would chime in with their hands-on experiences. Reasons not the get the latest and greatest that aren't price related.

Hand of Evil · Aug 8, 2012

Mallus said:
That's always sound advice, though I was kinda hoping some iPad 3 owners would chime in with their hands-on experiences. Reasons not the get the latest and greatest that aren't price related.

I have an iPad1 (personal) but work with iPad2 and iPad3, managing 80+ units - the biggest thing about the iPad3 (other than its display) is that it is 4G LTE, if you are going to be using wi-fi, you can take that out and all you are left with is the display (it is a good display).

Riley · Aug 8, 2012

If you think the iPad 1 screen looks great, and have no issues with reading small text on the iPad 1, then you should be happy with the iPad 2. (It has the same screen.)

If you look at the iPad 1 screen, and think that reading blocky small text on it is hard on your eyes, then pay the extras $$ for the iPad 3. Personally, I passed up both the iPad 1 & 2 because I thought that the DDI pdfs (and other small text documents) looked terrible on them. I think they look great on the iPad 3.

Mallus · Aug 8, 2012

Hand of Evil said:
... managing 80+ units - the biggest thing about the iPad3 (other than its display) is that it is 4G LTE, if you are going to be using wi-fi, you can take that out and all you are left with is the display (it is a good display).

Thanks!

Riley said:
Personally, I passed up both the iPad 1 & 2 because I thought that the DDI pdfs (and other small text documents) looked terrible on them. I think they look great on the iPad 3.

So these are PDFs that weren't made with the Retina display pixel density in mind? That's what I wanted confirmation of -- I didn't want to buy an iPad 3 only to find the majority of the documents I intended to read on it would look better on the prior version.

(like SD television on an HDTV with bad up-scaling).

And thanks, too.