Buying an iPad - 16 or 32g?

[notnowImreading]

DH and I are planning to buy an iPad. At the moment we are novices and are hoping just to replace the way we use the Internet on our (clunky, elderly) work laptops. We haven't got a lot of songs on iTunes or anything like that but we're keen to make the most of the kit we end up buying.

Would we regret buying the 16g version? Is there a good reason to fork out the extra for the bigger memory?

Thanks

[PedroPonyLikesCrisps]

The first question is do you really need an iPad? The price vs functionality is very poor compared to some Android tablets. Plus the cost Apple charge for the higher memory is extortionate (roughly 800% mark up on SD card prices). Many Android tablets have SD card slots so you can avoid the additional cost.

A tablet won't fully replace a laptop but you could do worse than go with one of the transformer style tabs with detachable keyboards.

Tablets al

[GwendolineMaryLacey]

I'd always go for the most memory I could afford. You'll never regret having more space.

[Twinklestarstwinklestars]

Definitely get the biggest memory you can, ours are both 64gb but we have loads of films etc on them.

[nannynick]

Go for the most memory you can afford as you can't add more later. I put a couple of movies on my iPad, plus some downloads from iPlayer and my iPads memory is nearly full. I need to delete the movies.

[PedroPonyLikesCrisps]

Well there you go, my point proven, you need the memory so don't give Apple the pleasure of, for example, 16 extra Gigs for £80 which you can get in an SD card for less than a tenner. It's literally the only difference between versions and it's one of the biggest rip offs in the modern consumer market.

Go for Android, you won't regret it.

[GwendolineMaryLacey]

Pedro, which bit of "Buying an iPad - 16 or 32g?" is hard for you to understand? Would you like it explained in more simple language? If the OP said "iPad or other tablet?" then you'd be in the right discussion.

[OneLittleToddlingTerror]

I have both a asus transformer (android tab) and an ipad mini. The tablet experience is much better on the ipad. Many apps tagged as suitable for tablets aren't on google play. They are just blown up phone app. Maybe give it another year before the app gets up to scratch.

[OneLittleToddlingTerror]

I have only a 16g and haven't got any problems. I use it o browse web and read books. Only the books need to be stored on the device. But if you buy them from amazon or iBooks, they are also in the cloud anyway. Same with magazines and newspaper, you only need the latest issue on the tab. Other apps use very little storage.

[Teahouse]

I have a 16 and because I use Dropbox I can't imagine ever having a space issue.
Mind you apart from web browsing, Notes, Keynote, I annotate and similar, it is full of games my DS uses, such as Stupid Zombies which is great fun

[OneLittleToddlingTerror]

Yes I forgot about Dropbox too.

[notnowImreading]

Thanks for all the advice, everyone. Pedro, I do see your point about the android tablet but DH is a marketeers dream and has his heart set on the iPad because it's so pretty. I use my iPhone all the time so it would make the transition very easy for me (although I'm pretty sure I could cope with another version).

Could anyone explain about Dropbox and the cloud, please? I don't know anything much about these. Thanks

[OneLittleToddlingTerror]

The cloud. It's computers you can use that belong to megacorps.

If you buy from amazon or apple or google, they remember what you have purchased. So you can download to any device you have. So if you remove a book you no longer are reading, you can just download it again.

Dropbox is like a computer folder but in the cloud. You can move a file from the PC to Dropbox. Open it again at your work pc or your iPhone or ipad.

The cloud is also used to store your address book, browser history, tabs, etc. No more problems of moving your phone contacts to your new phone. The bookmark you added on your pc shows up on your ipad.

Another option of have more space for your media is having a NAS at home. We have that for music, videos and books.

All of this saves the space on your iPad for games