Who here has upgraded from Ipad1 to Ipad3?

[ControlD]

I have had the original iPad since shortly after launch and I still use it daily. It is purely a recreational item for me, but one that gets a ton of use. For whatever reason I am starting to get the itch to upgrade, if for nothing else than to have a tablet with respectable web browsing speed, something that the original iPad was never great at.

I am just curious to find out from those that made a similar upgrade, how do you feel about it? Is it a noticeable performance boost and does the new display make that much of a difference? In particular I do a lot of reading on my iPad. I am thinking the retina display must be a help there.

 

[amdhunter]

Going from an iPad 1 to an iPad 2 was a huge difference for me. Night and day. There are times when the iPad 1 would force quit or just get "sluggish" for no real apparent reason.

Going from an iPad 2 to an iPad 3...well not so much. The screen is definitely better on the 3, but since everything is scaled, it doesn't really feel like an upgrade at all.

If you are going from a 1 to 3, I'd imagine you'd see a huge difference in usability and image, but don't count out the 2 if money is tight. I've seen excellent deals on Craigslist for 3G/64GB versions, and even some decent deals online.

There are also rumors of a new iPad this month, presumably it will support the new 16:9 ratio, so maybe you should hold out just a little bit longer, just to see what it brings to the table.

 

[ControlD]

Thanks for the input. I was not aware of an upcoming announcement (even if just a rumor right now) so I will sit tight.

 

[amdhunter]

Thanks for the input. I was not aware of an upcoming announcement (even if just a rumor right now) so I will sit tight.

Yeah, just a rumor at this point (and a few leaked photos of potential hardware.)

I have had a smaller device than my iPad, an Iconia A100, and the smaller form factor was infinitely more usable, but I took it back due to a stuck pixel.

There are also rumors of a new iPod coming out. Apple is planning a lot for the upcoming shopping season.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I'll second some of above. The 3 has a nicer screen, but it's not much more usable than the 2. The 2 I have is an excellent piece of hardware. I just wish I had a use for it. (My roommate uses it to watch movies at the gym, mostly. It's a handy grab-it-and-look-something-up-online machine, but we both have laptops for that too.) By comparison, the 1 is a dog.

The announcement next month will, if it's an iPad at all, be a 7" model. The iPad 3 is fairly new and not in need of upgrading. The iPhone 5 will be a 16:9 device, and there will presumably be an updated iPod Touch with the same form factor.

 

[ControlD]

I'll second some of above. The 3 has a nicer screen, but it's not much more usable than the 2. The 2 I have is an excellent piece of hardware. I just wish I had a use for it. (My roommate uses it to watch movies at the gym, mostly. It's a handy grab-it-and-look-something-up-online machine, but we both have laptops for that too.) By comparison, the 1 is a dog.

The announcement next month will, if it's an iPad at all, be a 7" model. The iPad 3 is fairly new and not in need of upgrading. The iPhone 5 will be a 16:9 device, and there will presumably be an updated iPod Touch with the same form factor.

I'm not so interested in a smaller version of the iPad honestly so that helps. I guess I am just the opposite of you. I have a MBP that I almost never use because I find the iPad to be handier to use on the couch. It also doesn't singe my nether regions the way the MBP does which I guess is a plus. When I need to get anything serious done I hop on my desktop but for everything else the iPad seems to fit the bill.

 

[mmntech]

It's a huge difference. The iPad 1 isn't a particularly slow device but it's 256mb of RAM really limits it. Why it never had 512mb to begin with is beyond me. The iPhone 4 had that much and only came out a few months later. Performance wise the 3 is as fast as the two, but the retina display is much better. Especially for reading. It's lighter than the 1 as well.

 

[ColdFusion718]

Going from an iPad 1 to an iPad 2 was a huge difference for me. Night and day. There are times when the iPad 1 would force quit or just get "sluggish" for no real apparent reason.

Going from an iPad 2 to an iPad 3...well not so much. The screen is definitely better on the 3, but since everything is scaled, it doesn't really feel like an upgrade at all.

If you are going from a 1 to 3, I'd imagine you'd see a huge difference in usability and image, but don't count out the 2 if money is tight. I've seen excellent deals on Craigslist for 3G/64GB versions, and even some decent deals online.

There are also rumors of a new iPad this month, presumably it will support the new 16:9 ratio, so maybe you should hold out just a little bit longer, just to see what it brings to the table.

This was the same rumor from last year after the iPad 2 came out. Apple and its suppliers invested significant resources to produce the iPad 3, in fact they were producing them 24x7 for months before launch.

They are not going to update the iPad 3 after just 6 months. A smaller iPad is more likely.

 

[amdhunter]

This was the same rumor from last year after the iPad 2 came out. Apple and its suppliers invested significant resources to produce the iPad 3, in fact they were producing them 24x7 for months before launch.

They are not going to update the iPad 3 after just 6 months. A smaller iPad is more likely.

Yeah. I hope stock is as good as when the iPad 3 came out. It wasn't hard at all to walk in and just pick one up from any of the stores here in NY. I am not sure I want one, but I'd like to have the option in case I feel the urge to waste money.

 

[Ns1]

I don't think I could go back to web browsing on an iPad1.

 

[cheez]

Any iPads is a huge no-no for me as it doesn't even support hardware acceleration for video playback (UNCOMPRESSED, 1080i MPEG2-TS).

That is the only reason why I find iPads completely useless for me.

 

[ControlD]

Any iPads is a huge no-no for me as it doesn't even support hardware acceleration for video playback (UNCOMPRESSED, 1080i MPEG2-TS).

That is the only reason why I find iPads completely useless for me.

Aaaand /thread

 

[Rottie]

I had an iPad 1 for about 5 months of test drive I love it and I compared with the new iPad the retina display is awesome but it is bit heavy and warm on the back of new iPad so I decided to go with iPad 2 last month I am in love with iPad 2 now.

 

[Tegeril]

Any iPads is a huge no-no for me as it doesn't even support hardware acceleration for video playback (UNCOMPRESSED, 1080i MPEG2-TS).

That is the only reason why I find iPads completely useless for me.

Not this again.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I actually just did this upgrade this week. The main catalyst for me was that I have been reading magazines (Top Gear and National Geographic) on my iPad, and the non-Retina display just looked awful. I traded my 32GB wifi iPad in to Amazon for $240, and bought a 32GB wifi iPad 3 for $559 at Microcenter. I just took a 4-day trip with my new iPad this week, after buying it last weekend.

To me this is a fairly night-and-day upgrade. The old iPad felt really kludgy to me compared to my iPhone 4, and the non-Retina screen looked just awful. The new one is wildly quicker and obviously looks much better. I do not have an Apple TV but will probably buy one since I now have an Airplay-capable device, and will shortly have another (iPhone 5). I'm very pleased with the change.

 

[Kadarin]

It's been quite a while since I've used an original iPad, but I do have both the new one and an iPad 2 here at home for casual use. The new one is much more pleasant to read on due to the sharper screen, but otherwise they're pretty much very similar for what we use them for.

 

[Subyman]

I upgraded from the iPad 1 to the 3 and it is a night and day difference. Not only is the screen higher resolution but the color fidelity is much better. Colors look muted and washed out on the first one. The iPad 2 is fast, but why not spend a bit more and get the better screen and 1gb of ram for the future? The first iPad is already being phased out by not being supported in ios6. Since you keep a device a long time, get the iPad 3 so you don't have to worry about being locked out of the newer iOS versions in the near future.

 

[ControlD]

Thanks for all of the responses everyone. I think I will probably go ahead and make the upgrade.

 

[dmw16]

I did this upgrade about 2 months ago and I wish I'd done it sooner! I originally made the switch because iOS6 won't work on the iPad1. But it was worth it on so many levels.

The improved performance is very noticeable and the screen on the iPad3 is amazing. If I were you I'd go ahead and do it. The iPad1's are still selling for about $250 on eBay so that will help offset the cost.

Do it, you won't be sorry.