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1st Time iPad Buyer (initial thoughts and why I chose retina/4th gen over the Air)

quotientstech

New member
Jun 30, 2013
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I have been around the Mobile Nations in one form or another since back before Verizon bought Alltel. In that time I have seen many many devices come and go and have used my fair share of them, especially tablets. I have used the Galaxy Tab, Galaxy Tab 2, Toshiba, Thrive, Acer Iconia A500, Portege M750, Archos 9 PC Tablet, and about half a dozen others. This weekend I finally decided to commit to the iPad. (I have used at work but never owned).

My decision to buy the iPad 4th gen was probably the easiest tech decision I have ever made. Most of the reasons may be obvious but I wanted to share for those that may be trying to decide.

1. The price point was absolutely perfect. At $399.99, the price on this model was pretty hard to argue with. It's even harder to gripe about when I consider that my tablet is more powerful than a large portion of the laptops that I encounter on a daily basis. Now it is absolutely true that for $100 more you can get a better iPad or even a halfway decent Windows 8 unit from Lenovo, but for your dollar, I think that this particular model offers an excellent value. The iPad Air is gorgeous, completely lust worthy but let's be honest, today every dollar counts and for a budget conscious user, this deal is too good to pass up

2.(It gets said often because it deserves repeating) The ease of use cannot be beat. In less than two minutes from the time I opened the box, I was in my iTunes store account pulling in the applications that I will use on a daily basis. In 14 years of working with tech, I have never seen Windows do that. (There's something to be said for not having to deal with a ton of crapware.)

3. App Selection and Quality. What can I say? The apps on the iPad are sexier, more efficient, and just all around more enjoyable here. Not to mention, the selection is far greater. With the exception of 1 lonely little app, every thing I need for work, or service, was free and the one that wasn't is such a good value that it was kinda hard to argue.

4. User Community (probably most important for me Up until this purchase, I never really realized how much value forums like this bring to the ownership experience. Normally buying tech takes me weeks of research. This time it took less than a day.

All in all, this has been the most enjoyable gadget I have ever acquired and, from what I can tell, will probably be the most enjoyable one I have ever owned.
 

Jaguarr40

New member
Jan 14, 2011
14,320
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Great commentary on the iPad 4 and you are right on every point you made. Just hard to beat unless you actually want to spend the extra money for the Air. Thank you.
 

JobSteves

New member
Jan 3, 2013
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I feel that unless the weight of the 4 is an absolute issue for you then it's a much better buy. My fianc? has the 4 and has it in a bulky case and she never complains about the weight or performance. Also I think the 4 (at least in white) is even more aesthetically pleasing.



Sent from my iPad using iMore Forums
 

Haalcyon

New member
Jan 26, 2014
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While I love my Air, if the iPad 4 32GB LTE had been available on AT&T's NEXT I would've gone with that. It just makes sense.


via the tablet 🔵
 

sherpa14k

New member
Apr 8, 2014
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I have almost 1 week with my (first) ipad (4th generation) and I love it. The quality of apps, iOS and sync with my iPhone, iTunes and iCloud makes the perfect sense. Now I can separate the apps that I have in my iphone and use them only in the ipad.
An excellent product with countless hours of entertainment.


Sent from my iPad using iMore Forums
 

ladyc0524

Active member
Dec 8, 2010
7,371
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While I love my Air, if the iPad 4 32GB LTE had been available on AT&T's NEXT I would've gone with that. It just makes sense.


via the tablet 🔵

That's how I purchased my 64GB, but that was before they changed it to where you can't buy tablets on the NEXT program


Sent from my iPad LTE
 

Haalcyon

New member
Jan 26, 2014
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They must have just done that recently because I got my rMini and Air on NEXT.


Sent from 1 f IV 🔘
 

taz323

Moderator
Mar 10, 2013
18,591
8
38
Paid full price for my 4, and haven't regretted yet. So getting it at those prices are a deal.
 

ladyc0524

Active member
Dec 8, 2010
7,371
3
38
They must have just done that recently because I got my rMini and Air on NEXT.


Sent from 1 f IV 🔘

Must have been shortly after the iPad Air release..now the Next program excludes tablets😢


Sent from my iPad LTE
 

Haalcyon

New member
Jan 26, 2014
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1st Time iPad Buyer (initial thoughts and why I chose retina/4th gen over the...

Must have been shortly after the iPad Air release..now the Next program excludes tablets😢


Sent from my iPad LTE

I got both my iPads at the end of January on NEXT. I wonder why they cut tablets off of NEXT.


Sent from 3 f IV 🔘
 

ladyc0524

Active member
Dec 8, 2010
7,371
3
38
Oh wow. Had to be sometime earlier this year then


Sent from my Space Grey iPhone 5S
 

Tsepz_GP

New member
Apr 25, 2014
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Congrats :D

Got my iPad 4 16GB LTE (in White) in late 2012, it's now 2014 and I am still so happy and satisfied with it, the gorgeous Retina, the excellent build quality, the apps+games in terms of quantity and quality and to top it all the LTE, it's all just a lovely package.

I owned a Galaxy Tab10.1 for a year, form Android3.0 to Android4.0.4, I'm a huge fan of Android and even own a Galaxy S4 which I'll replace with a Galaxy Note 4 later this year, I thoroughly enjoy Android BUT the Android tablets are lacking tremendously in terms of apps+games in both the amount, optimization and overall quality! I think Apple still have the best tablet range on the market, an iPad is a must if you are looking for a tablet.

The iPad 4 is running beautifully on iOS 7.1.1 to, I'm going to be enjoying mine unto a iPad with 2GB RAM arrives, then I'll drop my,iPad 4 and even then I may just keep it as a spare.