Alright, after actually playing with one I now really want an ipad. And I just remembered I'm getting longevity pay at the end of the summer.

So.... Which model should I buy. I don't need 3G, wifi is fine. How much memory. I suppose I WANT 64gb, especially since it doen't have an SD slot, but how much do I really need for a good selection of apps, a bunch of epubs, and maybe 1 or 2 movies?

apps are small.. even the largest i have installed is only about 250megs. most are in the 10-20 range. even with the 16G ipad you'll have plenty of space for apps..

epubs are also very small, a few hundred k for even large books in .epub format. pdf files can be larger, especially with graphics. if you do comics, expect them to take up a bit more too. but even 1g would mean plenty of reading material for a few weeks.

movies. i rip my own using handbrake at the highest settings and most movies are 1-2G in size.


you don't mention music at all, so i'm assuming you have a mp3 player and use that (the ipad is an awkward mp3 player imho).

so given what you mentioned there, a 16G would be fine if you go a week or two with the same content before you're able to get to a computer and re-sync (swap out movies and the like). larger space just means less time between swaps. i have the 64g model and was able to fit 100 or so apps, over 500 epubs, 250 or so pdfs (many technical with lots of diagrams and graphics), 80 albums, 20 movies and still about 9g left of space.

Thanks! That is exactly what I wanted to know. I forgot about music, but though I do have an mp3 player I would want to have at least some. I've always felt bummed that I wasn't able to really use my Sony Reader to play music.

I suppose I WANT 64gb, especially since it doen't have an SD slot, but how much do I really need for a good selection of apps, a bunch of epubs, and maybe 1 or 2 movies?
You'll probably be good with the 16gb model then. Apps don't take up too much space, epubs are very small, and only 1 or 2 movies won't be a problem on the 16gb model. I've found that hq iPod video (640x480, 1500kbps) looks great on the iPad and is half the file size of hq iPad movies (720p). I have a lot of episodes of anime on mine (ripped by me from dvds) and each one using hq iPod video settings is 250-350mb (for 22 mins of video). On the other hand, I tried converting a dvd anime episode to hq iPad video and it came out to a little over 700mb... not worth it.

hmm.. my sony 600 played music. though it was awkward to do so on it.

I got the 3G with 32G in it.

You'll always be able to keep track of space used on your iPad with itunes -- it will show you how much space is taken up by apps and your media. The itunes store will show you the size of the apps you're installing. Generally, they are all pretty small, but there are some exceptions: Elements for iPad comes in at about 1.8G. I also have a foreign language dictionary (on my iphone) which takes up about 750Mb. That said, I've got hundreds of apps installed.

Re movie file sizes, I found this online:

http://www.zinf.org/qna/How_large_is_standard_ipad_movie_size-qna1299.html

I quote:
"around 700 mb for a dvd movie and 350mb for series episodes if they are encoded with mp4. and 600-650 for a dvd movie and 200-250 mb for series episodes if the files are m4v (default Ipad movie file format). If you want smaller size you`ll have to convert the files yourself and cut from the image quality."

I have not done this myself, fyi...

I have the 64GB wifi version but only because that was the only one I could get my hands on. After using it for a month, I believe 32GB is enough. With the 16GB I would already need to carefully manage content and apps.

The 3G models have an ease-of-use advantage but the lack of data sharing in most countries with your existing phone data plan makes the 3G use pretty expensive. There are already multiple solutions for wifi models to access data tethered through Bluetooth or through 3G devices that can be wifi hotspots such as the Novatel mifi, any Android phone with PDAnet or any jail broken iPhone running Myfi. For casual 3G use, IMHO, this is the way to go.

700mb for a dvd movie is simply because that's what the piracy groups would fit them into so they could be burned to a standard cd. 350 for an episode of a tv show because it is half that.

my suggestion, pick up a copy of handbrake (http://handbrake.fr/) and convert a couple of movies on your own, it's free, only takes some time. there are a number of pre-sets for quality (i use high profile for everything) and see how big your movies are, you can use vlc (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/) to watch them on your system. think about how many movies you want to carry at a time and how long you'll go between syncs with a desktop. then you can figure out what size is going to work for you.

This seems like a good opening to plug the iPad/iPhone app I would give my award of excellence to, Airvideo. Not only does it do iPad conversions of any video content you throw at it-including 1080p Mkv-it does so faster than handbrake AND it can also convert on the fly and stream it to the iPad over wifi or through the internet... Internet, not a typo. I've tested it streaming from my home computer through the Internet to my work wifi network. It converted and streamed a 720p Mkv full-length movie (Inglorious Basterds) with zero hiccups. Just amazing.

It streams video only but this is a very good thing since it doesn't try to do it all but streams just video flawlessly. This is not something I could say for any other streaming program I've ever tried including Nero, Tversity, Windows Media Player or Media center.

Airvideo is easily worth 10 times it's modest $2.99 price.

airvideo is great for streaming and you're sitting around the house and want to grab a quick flick. it's not so good when you're flying at 25,000 feet or on the road with kids in the backseat watching cartoons off your ipad. conversion speed is also affected by quality. you can convert at iphone/ipad native resolution and headphone stereo sound and it will be pretty quick, the high quality preset i use keeps 5.1 and hd resolution so i can play the same file back on my 62" projection system or on my iphone or ipad. i got sick of converting once for each platform and having multiple copies of a movie. recently picked up a drobo fs (great little system), stocked it with 2g drives and using it for my media storage center now. i can mount it on my macs, my pc's, my linux boxes, etc. itunes works just fine with mounted storage.

airvideo is great for streaming and you're sitting around the house and want to grab a quick flick. it's not so good when you're flying at 25,000 feet or on the road with kids in the backseat watching cartoons off your ipad...(snip)...

When I said faster than handbrake (which was my previous go-to converter) I was talking about highest quality off-line conversions which you can then sync with iTunes if you wish for off-line viewing. Most people think of Airvideo as a streaming app but it's also a very competent and speedy off-line converter.

The same files will play on my 52" home screen although, of course, they'll be upconverted to the big screen through my PS3. I find this upconversion to be only slightly less quality than standard definition DVDs.

Based on what you say your needs are a 16gb should do just fine. I have an 8 gb iPhone and I still have a ton of space left even after my apps and ebooks.

There is an adapter for an SD card. I hope the next version just builds it in instead of that nonsense.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/accessories/

I have a 64G 3G and would recommend the 32gig. It is more than enough space, and the sweet spot on pricing. I would get the 3G though if your budget allows, and you don't have tethering on your phone. You will be surprised how much you use this thing,and it is nice to have the 3G option available if you need it.

the other nice feature about the 3g ipad is it has the gps receiver where the wifi version does not.

Most people think of Airvideo as a streaming app but it's also a very competent and speedy off-line converter.



It's actually using the same trick as handbrake is using, ffmpeg for encoding. It's the settings that would cause a speed difference.

I have a 64G 3G and would recommend the 32gig. It is more than enough space, and the sweet spot on pricing. I would get the 3G though if your budget allows, and you don't have tethering on your phone. You will be surprised how much you use this thing,and it is nice to have the 3G option available if you need it.


But you can also think "for only 100 dollar you get twice as much space". Personally I'm glad I got the 64GB. Only got 5GB left now..

the other nice feature about the 3g ipad is it has the gps receiver where the wifi version does not.

However, for the usual google maps things, the wifi-positioning works very well. Especially in an area where google streetview has been around or where lotsa iphones had been running (wifi positinioning depends on the ssid/mac-addresses from wifi-routers in the neighbourhood. If some device with GPS comes around, picks up the wifi-routers SSD/Mac and send it back to a central system, mapping is possible. Streetview does that, so are iphones)

I guess the only place where you'd really need a GPS in the ipad is somewhere in the dessert or at sea, where no wifi-routers has been around.

actually the gps comes in handy when using the iPad for navigation. you can use it for driving directions when driving down the highway, you can't with wifi/skyhook. skyhook also isn't very good outside of urban areas. my house is in a rural (non-desert or sea) area, not a lot of wifi around here either, a lot of farms though.

actually the gps comes in handy when using the iPad for navigation. you can use it for driving directions when driving down the highway, you can't with wifi/skyhook. skyhook also isn't very good outside of urban areas. my house is in a rural (non-desert or sea) area, not a lot of wifi around here either, a lot of farms though.

I just thought up a situation where I could use the builtin gps.

In a plane, checking where the heck we are with offmaps.

Thanks for all the recommendations. I think I'll go for the 64g with wifi. I think the extra storage space will be more valuable to me than 3G. Pretty much everywhere I go is wifi enabled. I went camping this past weekend with my son and we were in the middle of NOWHERE. I fully expected to find no cell service and yet he found a wifi connection for his laptop.

congratulations and good luck!

I placed my order online last night, after finding that every store in Vegas was sold out including the three Apple stores. Now I have to wait for almost three weeks. Grr.

I placed my order online last night, after finding that every store in Vegas was sold out including the three Apple stores. Now I have to wait for almost three weeks. Grr.

That sucks. Time to pick out your cover, though. There are a bazillion of 'em.

I placed my order online last night, after finding that every store in Vegas was sold out including the three Apple stores. Now I have to wait for almost three weeks. Grr.

Yeah, here too in California...they must have redirected a lot of inventory for the international launch, or really underestimated demand.

Yeah, here too in California...they must have redirected a lot of inventory for the international launch, or really underestimated demand.

I just read that they're selling about 200,000 units a week right now.

It's actually using the same trick as handbrake is using, ffmpeg for encoding. It's the settings that would cause a speed difference.


Sorry for the newbie question, but will these programs convert commercial DVDs, that I guess would have DRM? I'd love to be able to convert some of my movies for viewing on my not-yet-arrived-but-supposed-to-be-delivered-by-May28th iPad.

I ordered the 64G 3G, btw, for the GPS functionality, and ability to have internet when traveling away from home. But I still have room on my 32 G ipod touch, so that would probably have been ok.

Sorry for the newbie question, but will these programs convert commercial DVDs, that I guess would have DRM? I'd love to be able to convert some of my movies for viewing on my not-yet-arrived-but-supposed-to-be-delivered-by-May28th iPad.

I ordered the 64G 3G, btw, for the GPS functionality, and ability to have internet when traveling away from home. But I still have room on my 32 G ipod touch, so that would probably have been ok.

Not all DVDs has drm. At least, 90% of my DVDs which I backed upped to my nas don't. For those who have drm, I would first make an iso out of them with dvddecrypter. That one removes the drm.
And I could convert them further if I want (but just ISOing them is usually enough for me as I usually just steam them)

Not all DVDs has drm. At least, 90% of my DVDs which I backed upped to my nas don't. For those who have drm, I would first make an iso out of them with dvddecrypter. That one removes the drm.
And I could convert them further if I want (but just ISOing them is usually enough for me as I usually just steam them)

Great - thanks for the tip!

Not all DVDs has drm. At least, 90% of my DVDs which I backed upped to my nas don't. For those who have drm, I would first make an iso out of them with dvddecrypter.

This isn't quite correct - virtually all commercial DVDs have CSS encryption as a copy-protection measure. DVD Decrypter will remove that, but the last update to that program was years ago, so it can't deal with some of the newer DRM schemes studios have come up with since. If you run into a disc that you can't rip with DVD Decrypter, you'll need to get something like AnyDVD too. AnyDVD is updated all the time to deal with new DRM - it will circumvent the DRM on the DVD before mounting it. Then you can either use AnyDVD's built-in ripping utility to rip the disc, or DVD Decrypter if you prefer (I still use it because I like to just rip the main movie as one big file instead of ISOing the whole disc).