iPad Which Size?

[Xanthe]

Finally played around with an iPad and now I suffer from iPad lust. If I do wind up getting one, it will be the WiFi only version. I need some advice though, regarding which size to get. I can see myself using it to read those large image-intensive PDF files or for letting the little ones play games on it, and for surfing the net. I've never had any Apple products, so I don't know which size would be optimal for those actions.

Any suggestions?

[tyche]

If you don't try and carry every single piece of music, video, book, game, etc you own with you, 16GB is just fine. iTunes on your computer is your library and the iPad can sync what you want to carry.

[Tamara]

I have a 16gb and after almost 5 months of use, I still have quite a bit of space free. 16gb is fine unless you plan on storing lots of movies/videos/music/photos on it.

[Seanette]

Originally Posted by Xanthe

Finally played around with an iPad and now I suffer from iPad lust. If I do wind up getting one, it will be the WiFi only version. I need some advice though, regarding which size to get. I can see myself using it to read those large image-intensive PDF files or for letting the little ones play games on it, and for surfing the net. I've never had any Apple products, so I don't know which size would be optimal for those actions.

Any suggestions?

I lean toward buying the largest capacity I can afford since I know I'm going to be adding more stuff.

[vonCZ]

i bought the 64, have loaded up tons of apps and 1000+ books... and have used just approx 6-7 gigs. Unless you plan on filling it up with videos and music, the mid- or even small-sized will work just fine.

I wish I'd gotten mine with 3G though: not for the 'G, but for the GPS.

[simplyparticular]

I bought the 32GB WiFi (used on eBay -- all those people who upgraded to the 3G were in a hurry to sell).

I specifically wanted that size because it seems like every time I buy the bottom memory size (like my 8GB iPHones), I always wish for just a little bit more. I like using the iPad for a photo viewer for my DSLR, too, so 32GB has been nice.

In terms of book usage, I use Calibre to load what I'm looking to read, either wirelessly using the server feature and Stanza or Bluefire, or via sideload into iBooks.

I'm about 2/3 full with 12GB of photos, 6GB of music, and about 50 eBooks, 12 children's picture eBooks and 20 eMagazines so the 32GB was the right choice for me.

[DixieGal]

I have 900+ songs and 1,200 high res photos on mine, in addition to my books and stuff. It still has nearly 14 of 16 GB left. I hope that helps you visualize the capacity, because it was confusing for me also, since I was not a Mac user.

Enjoy your new iPad!

[Maggie Leung]

On a 64GB, I have hundreds of books, nearly 9,000 songs, about 20 audiobooks, about 1,000 photos and about 100 apps. I have about 9GBs left.

I love 3G. I wanted GPS, and I've spent months away from home and have been using iPad for most of my nonwork computing needs. Nearly everywhere I go, I have all my music, hundreds of books, e-mail and instant Internet. While overseas, I'm paying about 25 bucks USD a month for a local micro-SIM with unlimited data.

[Xanthe]

Thanks for your replies, everyone. They give me a much better idea what the storage capabilities are.

I don't think that I would be using it much for pictures; I tend to use my laptop for that because that's where I have all of my photo editing programs loaded.

Does the iPad have a good enough speaker system for music playback? I tend to use my Sansa Fuze with headphones, and my Nokia 5530 has speakers so I also use that for music playback.

[DixieGal]

The speakers suck, but it is high iPod quality with headphones.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by Xanthe

Thanks for your replies, everyone. They give me a much better idea what the storage capabilities are.

I don't think that I would be using it much for pictures; I tend to use my laptop for that because that's where I have all of my photo editing programs loaded.

For me, having photos on iPad is like being able to carry around a bunch of photo albums everywhere. One cool thing is being able to hand over an iPad to friends and family when they wanna check out photos when you're visiting or out and about. They can flick through photos with ease anywhere, without having tech know-how. And when someone e-mails photos I wanna save, it's easy to immediately add them to my iPad albums.

I also like the ease of screen-capturing and having those images on hand. For instance, I'll screen-capture stuff I find online, to keep notes, etc. Zooming and screen-capturing just the bit you want is handy, for instance. I have a bunch of screen-captured maps, too, of subway systems and airport terminals in various cities around the world. Handy for traveling.

[DixieGal]

Hey Maggie, I've found a really handy use for the screenshots. I looked up 2 recipes for holiday food - sausage balls and a peanut butter ball that included coconut. I did the screenshot, zoomed the photo big enough for my blind eyes, and it worked perfectly.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Hey Maggie, I've found a really handy use for the screenshots. I looked up 2 recipes for holiday food - sausage balls and a peanut butter ball that included coconut. I did the screenshot, zoomed the photo big enough for my blind eyes, and it worked perfectly.

Cool, DixieGal.

I think recipes, user manuals, instructions and such are handy on iPad because of its form factor and portability. I was trying to do something on my laptop and I had instructions on my iPad, so I didn't hafta toggle back and forth on my laptop.

[MelC]

For recipes try out Paprika app. It is everything you could possibly want in a recipe app.

[John F]

I've used up 5Gig on my IPad, there are ~30 books, ~40 apps (the kids like their games). Apps can vary, they just loaded HP Lego, and I think it was ~300MB, while some are under 10MB. I don't have any music or movies on it.