Can't afford a IPAD air. Anything close or equal for less?

[lucky2041]

I have the iPad Mini w/out retina display and it has worked fine for me. If you are going to go with an Ipad though I would strongly recommend getting more storage space. I made the mistake of getting the 16gb version and only have 1gb remaining and having to delete things whenever I want to download something.

The screen is competent although obviously not as nice as the retina display. I have no issue with processor speed, it seems to work fine for me.

 

[cmdrdredd]

In another thread someone said that 16GB should not even be an option anymore and they should just start with 32GB as the base. I agree. Especially considering a 32GB SD card is only around $25 and they want at least $100 extra for a 32GB model.

 

[TheStu]

In another thread someone said that 16GB should not even be an option anymore and they should just start with 32GB as the base. I agree. Especially considering a 32GB SD card is only around $25 and they want at least $100 extra for a 32GB model.

With the recent price adjustments on the iPod Touch, where it's 'only' $50 per storage jump instead of $100, I'm hoping that they'll adopt that in the future with all iDevices. Start at 32GB, and then only $50 to jump to 64GB.

 

[Mopetar]

In another thread someone said that 16GB should not even be an option anymore and they should just start with 32GB as the base. I agree. Especially considering a 32GB SD card is only around $25 and they want at least $100 extra for a 32GB model.

Maybe this year will be the year that they start at 32 GB. I think the hold up has been due to cost and/or availability of parts for a 128 GB model. There is a 128 GB model of the current generation iPad, so I'm guessing that this year they'll switch to 32/64/128 GB configurations. Then again I thought they would for sure last year, but that didn't happen either.

With the recent price adjustments on the iPod Touch, where it's 'only' $50 per storage jump instead of $100, I'm hoping that they'll adopt that in the future with all iDevices. Start at 32GB, and then only $50 to jump to 64GB.

I doubt it. They're probably just trying to clear out stock ahead of a possible iPod refresh. Those things are still using A5 chips which is already over two years old. I can't imagine that Apple is even having any new chips fabbed because there's nothing else that still uses them except the AppleTV which people say is also due for a refresh.

 

[soulcougher73]

You might also consider waiting till one of your young relatives wants to upgrade & offering to buy their used iPad from them.

This is actually probably a really good idea if you are budget crunched.

 

[Eug]

Maybe this year will be the year that they start at 32 GB. I think the hold up has been due to cost and/or availability of parts for a 128 GB model. There is a 128 GB model of the current generation iPad, so I'm guessing that this year they'll switch to 32/64/128 GB configurations. Then again I thought they would for sure last year, but that didn't happen either.

This was what I used to think too, and that's what I'm hoping for, but then Apple went and released a "new" 8 GB iPhone 4S last year.

 

[Roland00Address]

If I were to guess they would move to this type of pricing structure or something similar to it come this winter.

$299 ipad Mini Retina (2013) with A7 and 16gb

$399 ipad Mini Retina (2014) with A8, 32gb, 2gb ram and touch id
$499 ipad Mini Retina (2014) with A8, 64gb, 2gb ram and touch id
$599 ipad Mini Retina (2014) with A8, 128gb, 2gb ram and touch id

----

$399 ipad Air (2013) with A7 and 16gb

$499 ipad Air (2014) with A8, 32gb, 2gb ram and touch id
$599 ipad Air (2014) with A8, 64gb, 2gb ram and touch id
$699 ipad Air (2014) with A8, 128gb, 2gb ram and touch id

LTE models for $130 more

Now the only thing I am not sure of is if they want these two models as in between steps or is that just too much skus for not enough benefit. I could argue for the $349 ipad Mini Retina with 32gb, but the $449 ipad Air just seems like it won't sell enough to be worth the hassle.

$349 ipad Mini Retina (2013) with A7 and 32gb
$449 ipad Air (2013) with A7 and 32gb

 

[s44]

It was a problem before but the processing speed is approaching diminishing return on tablets and phones so it shouldn't really factor into your decision anymore.

Current iPads, however, are RAM starved. This will become a device killer if/when you try to use iOS 8's multiwindow feature.

 

[Eug]

Current iPads, however, are RAM starved. This will become a device killer if/when you try to use iOS 8's multiwindow feature.

That's why I've been waiting patiently with my iPad 2 for that mythical 2 GB iPad beast.

At least with a 16 GB iPad, you can simply pay more and get 32 GB or 64 GB. However, with a 1 GB iPad, you can't pay more and get a 2 GB version.

Hopefully that changes in October.

That said, 512 MB on the iPad 2 isn't absolutely horrible... yet.

 

[Trombe]

Got an iPad Mini Retina LTE 16GB during a T-Mobile sale, learned my lessons.

1) 16GB is not enough, but at the same time an extra $100 for the 32GB is absolutely not worth the price increase either.

2) 1GB RAM makes the A7 based devices kind of crash-happy.

3) Mobile data on a tablet generally isn't worth the extra costs for me either, but I'm on the free 1.2GB/month promo on T-Mobile right now so it's not a big deal. Will drop to the free 200MB plan at the end of the year. $130 upcharge on top of a higher monthly bill really blows when there is no plan for unlimited data for tablets available (though I've heard the old Verizon unlimited supposedly works on some tablets?).

4) I originally got the Mini because it fits in most of my pockets to remain "truly mobile" (no bags/backpacks), but since the data limit is so low I use my phone (unlimited data) far more often anyway. I could tether but that's only practical when I'm sitting down somewhere as a hot phone in your pocket is not fun (granted it's not safe to be walking outside with your eyes on a tablet instead of the street either lol).

I'll hang onto it for now until a 32GB minimum (and hopefully 64GB for only another $50) and 2GB ram model comes out, buy that, then give this one away to my mom. I say if you want an iPad now to look at used ones of last year's model to save some significant change and hopefully not have to deal with the app crashes that the current versions go through. The crashes aren't THAT frequent but on one cross-platform game I've already had to use my phone to get through a certain scene because the iPad would crash trying to load it every single time, and that's just silly.