which iPad for travel?

[97tbird]

My wife might be doing some traveling (overseas) early next year, and will probably need some sort of a tablet-device. (She prefers tablet to netbooks/chromebooks).


As we have 2 iphones (iPhone 6), I thought it would make more sense to get her an iPad rather than a Kindle Fire etc, so we can maintain the iOs platform, and use the same portable chargers / cables, and other accessories .


- It doesn't have to be a current model. I am hoping buy a used / refurbished item, as it might live a rough life during travel.

- Which non-current iPad generation would suit her? (space saving is essential, but she did say that an attachable keyboard, if slim enough might be nice, as she might do some work while traveling, and would be good to have a hard keyboard, however this is not a *must*).

- Retina display is not needed. It will be used almost only for messaging / facetime / normal browsing / email / some work.
Entertainment is not a priority duty.

- Is a 3G/4G that much beneficial? or should she just get a wifi only model? Some countries she will be traveling in may not have easy wifi access, but she is considering going with a Verizon jetpack/pocket wifi thing...

What non-current iPad models/generations can be gotten for a reasonable price, and where would you guys look for such?

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[Leo99]

Overseas data is very expensive but if you need 3G/4G, you have it. You can always turn it off and stay on wifi or nothing.

Just like iphones, the ipad charger connectors changed. Get a cheap case for it and I wouldn't worry about a rough life during travel.

My wife loves her ipad 3 but it uses the older, larger charging plug. And they still go for about $200+. I'd get a new ipad Air for $400.

I would skip the external keyboard, It's too much to carry and defeats the goal of a thin light tablet. Might was well get a netbook if you want a keyboard.

 

[Hokiefyd]

If her iPhone will be able to get online over there, I wouldn't worry about a 3G/4G model. That'll only require another monthly line (and bill). I'd personally stick to one with a Retina display. I think that started with the 4th generation, but I could be wrong. I also think the 4th generation is the first one with the Lightning connector, and you'd want that for compatibility with phone charger cords I think.

We have a 4th generation iPad and use it daily. We have a Bluetooth keyboard for it that I used to use often. It makes a great little laptop if you need the keyboard. If you don't, put the keyboard away and you have a light tablet. Best of both worlds in my opinion.

 

[expat]

We went from an Ipad to a Samsung tab4.
In fact, we did away with our PC and now use the tablet for eveything!

They are inexpensive (just over $200) accessories like wireless keypads etc. are available from multiple sources and very inexpensive.

Basicly, it's been 10 months now as our only device, we have not had a problem.

 

[97tbird]

Thanks for advice so far.
Some great tips already.

REALLY would like to stay on iOS platform, so other brands are out, I guess. (This is not because of fandom or anything; just trying to keep platforms and accessories to a minimum, due to the phones we have)

OK, so far:
Will have to stick with 4th gen or up due to plug/charger cables.
BT KB really is a nice tip - thanks! will think of that for sure.

Another question: what about the Ipad Mini? Any cons?

 

[iahawk]

I use an ipad for work and love it..my daughter has an ipad mini. I think the mini could be about the best compromise for a travel tablet. Big enough to be useful, small enough to carry around very easily. Never looked for a used one..craigslist?

 

[Srt20]

Any gen iPad mini. All minis have the lightening connector. Not really a ton of difference from first one to latest one if retina and other "fancy" features aren't needed. Get at least a 32gb. Idk about the data thing overseas. I'd probably just hotspot off your phone if you need 3/4G. The wifi only iPads don't have gps chip in, but your phones do.

 

[Andrew1972]

iPad Mini could be had for $200 with 16GB around black friday. As my wife states it fits so nicely in a purse. The Jetpack router is a waste because your iPhone can serve that purpose and amazingly integrated if the iPad mini shares iCloud account. You simply go to your iPad and click on wifi as the iPhone(which shows in vicinity) and without touching iPhone it fires up the data sharing and connects.

My wife carries her iPad with her a lot and does this quite often waiting on kids activities.

I have a iPad Air for(from) work and find it way too bulky to use one handed and screen not that much larger. I just suffer on my iPhone 6 trying to do tasks. I cannot get my hands on my wife's iPad mini which is the perfect size IMHO.

 

[stranger706]

Walmart.com has the Ipad mini 2 for $199 right now.

I wouldn't bother with used. They are barely cheaper. The hardware would probably be fine, and the software gets updated almost monthly now. But you would have no idea how many cycles the battery has left. Ok, get a new battery then. Now you're back at the price of a new one with warranty.

And yes the Ipad mini is the perfect size for traveling.

 

[IndyIan]

My wife uses an ipad mini 2, 32 GB 3G/4G and a $5/month data plan. It can send messages, but not texts I believe. It has a pretty serious rubber case and the kids use it all the time with no problems from all the floor drops.
The first one we had bricked due a battery or charging problem outside of warranty, but apple sells new old stock replacements pretty cheaply so we just got another. The new one has a better screen.

 

[97tbird]

Aren't messages = texts?
or do you mean it can only send imessages? I thought imessages and regular text messages to non-apple phones can be done anyway, just that imessages are free.

Apple has certified refurbished iPad mini-3 for around $299 - $350 (depending on capacity)

But IDK if that's a smart buy or not... they do come with a good apple warranty, and NEW battery.

 

[Srt20]

You can send txt and iMessages with a wifi mini. The iPad's work extremely well with iPhones. If I get a txt on my phone but it's plugged in at the wall, I can see and respond on my iPad. Basically my iPad does everything my phone does but make cellular calls. I can make video or audio FaceTime calls with my iPad.

I'm not an Apple fanboy, but apple products work fantastic with each other.

 

[surfstar]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/apple-ipad-m...p;skuId=4266103

mini 4 is $300 at best buy

hopefully you have an amex offer for $25 off or something also (edit its $20 statement credit when you spend $199 or more)

or $200 for the mini 2 at walmart


I'm glad our new Fires were only $35 each

 

[97tbird]

Yeah if we didn't have iphones Fire would have been ok.

There's a $272 open box at BB also (Ipad mini 4).... SHOULD I ??

 

[97tbird]

I am guessing for the intended purpose the benefits of the mini 4 vs the min 3 can be negligible? do you guys agree?
(Our phones are iPhone 6)

 

[Andrew1972]

My wife looked at me with 2 heads when she got an iPad mini for her birthday. Her laptop has now sat for 2years+ except when she deals with photos from digital camera and phone. The laptop collects dust otherwise.

I'd get a recent model if processor is better.

 

[emg]

Originally Posted By: Srt20
Any gen iPad mini. All minis have the lightening connector. Not really a ton of difference from first one to latest one if retina and other "fancy" features aren't needed.


I upgraded my girlfriend from an Ipad Mini to Mini 4 recently. I think the Mini 4 has about 8x the RAM and CPU performance, so it is noticeably faster. Probably as much from the RAM as the CPU, since it won't have to kick apps out of memory as often when you switch between them.

But, if you don't care about performance, the original Mini still works fine and is still getting OS updates. Most apps still run on it, unless they need lots of RAM or CPU power.

I would agree that you should get at least 32GB. The main reason we upgraded that one was not the performance, but lack of space as it was only 16GB.

 

[97tbird]

Just got an open box but new(geek squad certified, whatever that means) ipad mini 4 from best buy for wife. 64GB.
In the long run, i think it's better to have a 64GB.

As far as price, getting refurbished older ipad minis were either even more expensive or same price. Not worth the hassle, and getting it from BB using the American Airlines got us some free miles too.

All the 16GB were sold out at BB. Ipad mini-4 only has 16, 64 and 128GB.
They eliminated the 32 GB size with the mini-4.