Apple iPad ??

[BobT]

I'm not an Apple person. My daughter is graduating from high school this year and next year will be attending a college of cosmetology. They have indicated to her that she will require an iPad. Rather than fight with the compatibility issues with a PC system I figured I'd help her get tooled up.

I'm looking for suggestions regarding what to get.

I see they are available in many various sizes and types.

iPad Mini

iPad Mini with retina display (whatever that is)

iPad with retina display

iPad Air with retina display

Each of these come with Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi+cellular. Not sure what that means but I suspect the cellular version comes with phone capability?

And of course they come with a wide variety of memory from 16GB to 128GB. Are they memory hogs or ????

[delcecchi]

There are different size screens, and different screen resolutions. "retina display" has more pixels per inch than non retina.

All can communicate via wi-fi. Some models can also use the cellular data network to access the internet. A data plan is required also at extra cost for that to happen.

Some cell providers will throw in a certain amount of cellular data if the tablet is bought from them.

[Sandmannd]

There are different size screens, and different screen resolutions. "retina display" has more pixels per inch than non retina.

All can communicate via wi-fi. Some models can also use the cellular data network to access the internet. A data plan is required also at extra cost for that to happen.

Some cell providers will throw in a certain amount of cellular data if the tablet is bought from them.

Memory on them isn't the same as on a computer, it's more like a cell phone or MP3 player. It's how much space they have for apps, music, etc. Get the most you can afford, get the biggest screen you can afford. If you can afford to have it connect via cell connection it's awesome. If not, anywhere you go with wifi you can connect. I'd get more ram and larger screen before the cell connection.

[Eckie]

Great info -- all that's provided is accurate and good to know.

My household has two Ipads, two Ipad mini's and 3 Ipods (as well as two Iphones). In a side by side comparison -- I actually prefer the Mini over the larger Ipad -- it's easier to hold, to type on and to use in general. It's also easier to store, whether in a purse, or hide in my vehicle, etc. I don't really notice the screen size difference, unless they are side by side.

As previously stated, get the most memory you can.

[Borch]

Only thing I would add is have her go along. Some people really like the portability of the Mini's over the full sized iPad. Also a griffin survivor case is pretty nice to have to protect it. They come in many colors, a stand and are pretty reasonable on amazon.

[BobT]

Thanks for all the info.

[delcecchi]

If she is going to be using it in her cosmetolgy training I would bet she will be looking at pictures and videos, or doing graphics to see different styles and colors on the same model. Or facetiming with instructor to show results.

Seems like she would want a bigger screen with the highest resolution.

As for the storage, if she will be storing videos or large amounts of music and photos, maybe more storage than the base 16GB will be needed. If she will just be connecting to the school's system to look at stuff maybe not.

It would really help if you understand how she will be using it. Does the school have a recommendation?

[leechlake]

also she could use her present cell phone as a "hot spot" which in essence means its a modem she can connect to using her iPad. I use my iPhone as a modem at cabin and any device can access it, PC, Mac, iPad. It costs something via your provider but depending on usage it's cheaper than other options like getting iPad on a plan.

[Whoaru99]

Should be little, if any, need to have a cell modem built in on campus/at school. The only places I've needed a modem with my tablet is in the car or some fairly remote spots. Just about anywhere else has WiFi these days.

Presumably the newer tablets have 4G cell modems, but something to confirm if going the cell modem option. While it is a separate device, albeit it fairly small (mine is about size of a deck of playing cards, maybe bit less) a hotspot is another consideration and may be less expensive than getting the modem built in. I have this one: Hotspot

Also, most data plans don't have a real big data allocation especially if streaming videos, lots of downloads, etc. Going over can be expensive. Something else to consider.

Was going to disagree too about buying large internal memory as it is very expensive to go up in memory on tablets. Unfortunately, I don't believe Apple makes it easy to use external storage like USB, SD, etc. There are WiFi hard drives these days but, again, something else to carry.

[BobT]

The info you've all provided is very helpful. I appreciate it. I think I will try to find out if the school offers suggestions. That sounds like a good idea.

As far as getting connected, she already has an iPhone and we have AT&T's family data plan so she can use it as a remote hot spot if needed. I'm not too comfortable with using iCloud or other online storage services because I don't like the idea of passing too much information back and forth over the internet plus accessing the data can be slower I suspect. Unfortunately one of the disadvantages of iPads is they don't come with a card reader. For this reason I'm thinking I might want to go with at least a 32GB model to be sure it has enough on-board memory to work for a few years.

With regard to size I asked her about it and she has been using an iPad Mini in high school this past year. Our high school began a similar program of using iPads for assignments, textbooks, etc. and she said she is comfortable with the mini. But I think the suggestion that the larger screen might be nicer has some merit with regard to her college choice. From the specifications, the iPad Mini with retinal display has the same resolution as the iPad Air. If I understand correctly it looks like the only difference between the Air and the Mini is physical size of the screen. Every other feature is identical.

[Whoaru99]

I don't spend a bunch of time on my tablet, but I do like the mid size 8.9" of my good old Galaxy Tab. Much easier for me to hold the thing and thumb-type at that size than the larger ones.

[Whoaru99]

I don't spend a bunch of time on my tablet, but I do like the mid size 8.9" of my good old Galaxy Tab. Much easier for me to hold the thing and thumb-type at that size than the larger ones.

Also, I suggest checking to see if the phone is capable of data and voice at the same time, if considering it for a hotspot. My BlackBerry cannot (do voice and data at same time) and sometimes I need to talk and be online at the same time; hence a separate hotspot. (and, no, changing phones isn't an option in my case)