Should I buy a new IPad Pro?

sueh1

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Aug 16, 2004
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They’re pretty expensive and I don’t really need it, but I’m in love with that photo and video resolution and it would be good to watch movies on. I have an iPhone and a desktop computer and a crappy old Android tablet that barely works. Any cheaper alternatives that look so good?
 

nighthob

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Jul 15, 2005
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I can't tell you how grateful I am for that video resolution when I'm on the road and feel like watching something to pass the time.
 

Blacken

Robespierre in a Cape
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Jul 24, 2007
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I use regular iPads. Works with the (1st gen, but whatever) Pencil and it's plenty fast enough. Two of them act as my control surface for video stuff while I'm running shows and the rest of the time I use them for YouTube etc.
 

Seven Costanza

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Apr 11, 2007
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Either cop a new iPad Air or if the screen resolution/clarity/experience is really that important, a refurbished 10.5in Pro. The 10.5 Pro has the same 120hz refresh rate 'Pro Motion' foolishness that the newer Pro models have at a nice discount. It's also still a helluva machine. Blacken can speak to this 1000 times better than I, but Apple seriously overbuilds their iPad Pro models- virtually no one needs that kind of raw power in an iPad. Upside of that is that they're pretty future proof.

4 speakers on the Pro models versus 2 on every other iPad, if that sort of thing is important to you as well.
 
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NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
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I love my iPad Pro, but if the newest iPads were out, I wouldn't have spent the extra $ on the Pro. If i was buying an iPad today, I'd buy a good regular iPad.

Posted from my iPad Pro.
 

sueh1

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Aug 16, 2004
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I love my iPad Pro, but if the newest iPads were out, I wouldn't have spent the extra $ on the Pro. If i was buying an iPad today, I'd buy a good regular iPad.

Posted from my iPad Pro.
All I know is, we got a new Pro at work and I couldn’t believe how gorgeous photos look on it.
 

Blacken

Robespierre in a Cape
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Jul 24, 2007
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If you're going to spend that kind of money, you just might want to spend a little more for a MBP.
 

sueh1

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If you're going to spend that kind of money, you just might want to spend a little more for a MBP.
Fair point. But I don’t need a whole new computer, and there’s a big learning curve for a Mac, where the IPad is just a bigger iPhone, for me. Although, my whole purpose would be something portable to watch videos and do social media and web surfing with, that isn’t small like my phone, so I guess either would work. I can get the Pro for $700 in 64G, or as he pointed out, a refurbished 10.5 for less.
 

sueh1

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Aug 16, 2004
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I love my iPad Pro, but if the newest iPads were out, I wouldn't have spent the extra $ on the Pro. If i was buying an iPad today, I'd buy a good regular iPad.

Posted from my iPad Pro.
Do the newest ones have such good resolution?
 

sueh1

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So, I went to Best Buy and looked at all 3 iPads. $325 for regular, $499 for Air, $675 for Pro, with Memorial Day sales. It was hard then to justify the more expensive ones, other than amazing display on Pro. Seeing that I won’t use it for much more than Instagram and Netflix, and an occasional ebook. Is there any reason I’d regret buying the basic for those needs, anything bad or glitchy about that one?
 

Marceline

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So, I went to Best Buy and looked at all 3 iPads. $325 for regular, $499 for Air, $675 for Pro, with Memorial Day sales. It was hard then to justify the more expensive ones, other than amazing display on Pro. Seeing that I won’t use it for much more than Instagram and Netflix, and an occasional ebook. Is there any reason I’d regret buying the basic for those needs, anything bad or glitchy about that one?
The $325 one should be fine for your needs. I recently bought one - it's definitely anything but bad or glitchy.
 

B H Kim

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So, I went to Best Buy and looked at all 3 iPads. $325 for regular, $499 for Air, $675 for Pro, with Memorial Day sales. It was hard then to justify the more expensive ones, other than amazing display on Pro. Seeing that I won’t use it for much more than Instagram and Netflix, and an occasional ebook. Is there any reason I’d regret buying the basic for those needs, anything bad or glitchy about that one?
I absolutely love my iPad Pro 11” and it has replaced my MacBook Pro for about 75 percent of the things I used to use a laptop for. That said, it think the base iPad is fine for Netflix. That’s the iPad my daughter has and uses almost exclusively for Netflix and other video streaming. I will note, however, that, in my experience, Instagram on an iPad is almost unusable. There is no iPad app and you can only use the iPhone app in portrait orientation.
 

sueh1

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I absolutely love my iPad Pro 11” and it has replaced my MacBook Pro for about 75 percent of the things I used to use a laptop for. That said, it think the base iPad is fine for Netflix. That’s the iPad my daughter has and uses almost exclusively for Netflix and other video streaming. I will note, however, that, in my experience, Instagram on an iPad is almost unusable. There is no iPad app and you can only use the iPhone app in portrait orientation.
Thanks. I post on the work IPad for instagram and hadn’t noticed! But, that would be the same on any iPad, right? But mostly, I want to use it for what I use my iPhone for without ruining my eyes.
 

Vinho Tinto

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Dec 9, 2003
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Thank you. Looking at the site, it does seem to be for military and I am not, is that the case?
Correct. For current enlisted or veterans. Tax free and no cost shipping if you use their card. If you have a member of your family who is a vet, they can create an account.
 

sueh1

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I did get the regular. I mostly love it, but I do find typing on it a bit tough-somehow, I was used to doing it on phone but much harder on this (for messenger, etc). Any ideas? I guess I need either a stylus or keypad, not sure if either will work well.
 

gtmtnbiker

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Jul 15, 2005
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I mostly love it, but I do find typing on it a bit tough-somehow, I was used to doing it on phone but much harder on this (for messenger, etc). Any ideas?
What do you mean by tough? For me, I think the issue is the keyboard is much bigger so you have to move your hand more than the phone. It is more tiring.

One thing that frustrates me is the iPad feature of being able to tap a key and swipe down to input a symbol or number. For instance you press the key t and flick down and instead of getting t, you input the number 5. This saves you the step of tapping the ?123 key. The problem is that I’m typing normally and I see that I spelled the word baseball as bas3ball. I did not try to do the tap and flick to get the number 3 but it did get registered. The worse part is that the autocorrect does not fix it. To me, that is an obvious and easy autocorrect. Just typing a previous sentence I had the word but show up as bu5.

I find myself using the voice transcription a lot more to avoid typing. It works very well and I just have to do minor edits. Still, I love my iPad as a great device for reading of newspaper, forums, and other content.
 

sueh1

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Aug 16, 2004
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What do you mean by tough? For me, I think the issue is the keyboard is much bigger so you have to move your hand more than the phone. It is more tiring.

One thing that frustrates me is the iPad feature of being able to tap a key and swipe down to input a symbol or number. For instance you press the key t and flick down and instead of getting t, you input the number 5. This saves you the step of tapping the ?123 key. The problem is that I’m typing normally and I see that I spelled the word baseball as bas3ball. I did not try to do the tap and flick to get the number 3 but it did get registered. The worse part is that the autocorrect does not fix it. To me, that is an obvious and easy autocorrect. Just typing a previous sentence I had the word but show up as bu5.

I find myself using the voice transcription a lot more to avoid typing. It works very well and I just have to do minor edits. Still, I love my iPad as a great device for reading of newspaper, forums, and other content.
Yes, it must be the size! I was having a ‘conversation’ on Messenger and did feel like my hand was getting tired in a way it doesn’t on desktop or iPhone. My fingertips, to. How do you activate voice? Haven’t noticed the number thing yet.
 

gtmtnbiker

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Yes, it must be the size! I was having a ‘conversation’ on Messenger and did feel like my hand was getting tired in a way it doesn’t on desktop or iPhone. My fingertips, to. How do you activate voice? Haven’t noticed the number thing yet.
There's a little microphone icon on the bottom that you can press. Then you can speak and have it transcribe your voice. I do this for lengthier messages/texts. It's about 90-95% accurate. You do have to enunciate your words or you might see incorrect words show up.

This article might give you some tips about the keyboard options. I personally haven't tried the split keyboard. Another option might be to do the Swype keyboard.
https://www.lifewire.com/ipad-keyboard-help-1994647

The number thing is called "Key Flick".
https://www.imore.com/how-use-keyboard-flick-ipads-quicktype-keyboard-ios-11

I guess I need to look into disabling it myself.
 

Gorton Fisherman

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I think the entry level iPad is one of the best bargains in tech right now. It’s one of the few Apple products that is routinely discounted; I see the 32GB model frequently on sale for around $250. It’s fast, thin and light, has a very nice screen, and supports the Apple Pencil if you need it. And the selection of quality tablet-optimized apps available for it is unmatched IMO.
 

sueh1

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Aug 16, 2004
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I think the entry level iPad is one of the best bargains in tech right now. It’s one of the few Apple products that is routinely discounted; I see the 32GB model frequently on sale for around $250. It’s fast, thin and light, has a very nice screen, and supports the Apple Pencil if you need it. And the selection of quality tablet-optimized apps available for it is unmatched IMO.
It’s pretty great so far. That was actually a good selling point for me over the Pro, the lightness. Good for reading ebooks or watching video in bed.