New tablet

My iPad 2 has been acting kinda wonky for a while... So I'm starting to think in terms of a new tablet.  I use this alot, but not for extreme work; just some word processing, email and surfing.  I'd like something that can sync w/ Mac desktop.

I've had this one for 2+ yrs and don't know if that wonkyness was there and recently discovered or something new.  Some probs manaifested themselves a couple of months ago.  I've spent a bunch of hrs trying to get issues resolved to no avail.  My point here is that it's taken so long for any problems to become apparent bc of how I use my tablet.  Also, that I don't really feel a great loss bc I never synced these 2 and bc I may have figured out my own workaround.

I don't think I NEED an expensive Apple prod but if it's the best solution: so be it.  I only have requirement gotta be:     N E W !!  My choices are narrowed by my total distain Dell and hPOS.  Not really thrilled with Lenovo either.

As noted above I'm just starting to think about a replacement.  Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

Lots of people like their Android tablets. BUT! Not many people buy ipads and regret they didn't buy an Android tablet instead. Yes they're expensive, but you get a lot out of them. I think the wonkiness you've experienced might be attributable to the fact that it was a refurb. For whatever reasons, these things do wear out starting at Day One, so I don't like refurbed things as much as I used to. I paid a lot for my ipad mini two years ago, and I've gotten my money's worth. Unfortunately, it's starting to slow down. I guess it will last another year or two, and I guess that's OK. Really, I've gotten a lot for my money.

In other words, in case it's not clear, my recommendation is a brand new ipad.

Tom_Reingold said:

In other words, in case it's not clear, my recommendation is a brand new ipad.

I just got the iPad Pro 9.7 with the Smart Keyboard case.  I must say.... it's absolutely amazing and beautiful. It's almost like having a laptop.  

composerjohn said:

Tom_Reingold said:

In other words, in case it's not clear, my recommendation is a brand new ipad.

I just got the iPad Pro 9.7 with the Smart Keyboard case.  I must say.... it's absolutely amazing and beautiful. It's almost like having a laptop.  

Jealous. I've had an iPad 2 for five years. I still love it but it gets temperamental sometimes. I'd love a new iPad but I just can't justify the expense while this one is still working.

marylago said:
Jealous. I've had an iPad 2 for five years. I still love it but it gets temperamental sometimes. I'd love a new iPad but I just can't justify the expense while this one is still working.

Drop it on the sidewalk a few times. Instant justification.

I've had various low to mid level 8in tablets in the past. They are ok, but do get slow after about 2 years. They will do what you are asking for.

If you were happy with your iPad and just want to replace it with something similar, get a new iPad, they are great tablets. Go to the store and compare them, weight, size, etc.

I bought a Surface Pro 4 a few month ago and absolutely love it, but it's kind of big if you just want to use it as a tablet, it's clearly a 2in1 device. It's also on the pricier side.

There is also the Surface 3, which at 10 in is smaller and will do all the things you need it to do. But rumors have it, it will be replaced with a newer model soon.

Then, there are many other Win10 tablets from no-name, to HP, Asus, Lenovo. There are some pretty nice options, go to BestBuy and take a look at what they have, and see what they have. You would want at least 4GB of RAM, and I would prefer a Core m3 over an Atom chip, but you will pay more for those. Also, get at least 64, better 128GB of storage.

On the Android side, Samsung is sort of the standard, but I also like the Lenovo Yoga line. The latest Tab 3 series is quite cool looking and they have unreal battery life.

BrickPig said:

marylago said:
Jealous. I've had an iPad 2 for five years. I still love it but it gets temperamental sometimes. I'd love a new iPad but I just can't justify the expense while this one is still working.

Drop it on the sidewalk a few times. Instant justification.

Thanks everyone for your time,

My big deal right now is to convince myself i NEED a tablet.  This one is my first- purchased from local online vendor- Jan 2014.  It was $200 while transactions were being completed on eBay for $250; otherwise I would not have gone refurb again.  Note that was 2.5 yrs ago.

The current wonkiness may have been there, unnoticed, for all that time.  I first noticed it about 3-4 mos. ago when I tried to use the share feature .  I never tried to sync to my mini until 3 nights ago.  It's been several months and I've made 3 serious efforts (3 Apple chat sessions totaling 6.5 hrs at least) to get it taken care of.  In short most of the things I use on this tablet work well.  How important can correcting the wonkiness really be?

Add to this that I paid $200.  New iPads are going for $700- talk about sticker shock!

There's more.  Need to go.  

Apollo_T said:

Thanks everyone for your time,

My big deal right now is to convince myself i NEED a tablet.  This one is my first- purchased from local online vendor- Jan 2014.  It was $200 while transactions were being completed on eBay for $250; otherwise I would not have gone refurb again.  Note that was 2.5 yrs ago.

The current wonkiness may have been there, unnoticed, for all that time.  I first noticed it about 3-4 mos. ago when I tried to use the share feature .  I never tried to sync to my mini until 3 nights ago.  It's been several months and I've made 3 serious efforts (3 Apple chat sessions totaling 6.5 hrs at least) to get it taken care of.  In short most of the things I use on this tablet work well.  How important can correcting the wonkiness really be?

Add to this that I paid $200.  New iPads are going for $700- talk about sticker shock!

There's more.  Need to go.  

My (late) husband and my nephew bought me my iPad in 2011. It was a fabulous gift. Five years later, I still use it for most of my communication. I always said that when it goes bad, I will replace it with another iPad, regardless of the expense. It's a great machine and a great tool, not to mention all my games...

Mine is the first iPad Air model, with only 16GB storage capacity. Because I am a firm believer in cloud storage, it handles every bit of my home computing needs except for my (increasingly rare) Photoshop use. 

I even use it to remotely log in to my work computer (via TeamViewer) if something there requires my attention while I'm home. 

Certainly there are compromises made, mostly because I choose to use the onscreen keyboard, but for me the convenience of it far outweighs its shortcomings. 

I'd sooner do without my laptop than my iPad. No contest.

We just migrated to MS 365, which may force (push?) my hand--if only for a speedier model. As of today, I have a complete remote desktop, as before I was only able to check email. I do have a Bluetooth keyboard but I rarely use it. Good thing I only paid $5 for it. 

But I agree. iPad forever, even my old model, or until the come out with a better product.

Tablets are becoming so useful that many people can do without a computer. My home computer is too old to be useful any more, so I pretty much never use it. I have a workplace-issued laptop, and I leave it home on weeknights and bring it home on weekends. On weeknights, I use my ipad mini for the internet etc. That's how good it is.

The Surface Pro 4 sounds fantastic. It's a different class of machine.

Read this before you buy the Microsoft Surface Pro 4

last year at xmas I bought the first gen ipad air (brand new)  (2nd gen  was  already out)  full size with 16gb for $299 at best buy.  got it for my mom.  works great.

they may still have some-it was not advertised.  ask a salesperson

I love my tablet- which happens to be an iPad 2, 9.7"- and my immediate impulse was to look there first.  I needed my heart pills after seeing the prices.  So I sat down to think about all this.  My needs are really quite light:

1-  Retired so no heavy, urgent business needs.  Very rarely used away from home.

2-  Tablet mostly for email, light word processing, surfing- all of these every day sometimes for a bit of time.  Very rarely a couple of photos (last time 1+yrs ago)  Anything requiring more capacity will be dealt with on my desktop..

C-  Measures of use as an example- I have cell capacity, but have never gotten a data plan.  About (in General Specs) describes my iPad as: 0 songs; 0 videos; 0 games, 216 photos, 6 apps (I guess those were things i tried out), no info re data use(since I never hooked it up).   Capacity 57.2 GB;  Available 55.7 GB after 2 1/2 yrs of use.  This last point implies, to me at least, that I don't need a lot of machine.

4-  What I need/want in a possible replacement:  reliability- iPad has given zero problems other than the wonks above and these aren't all that bad,  wife's Samsung Galaxy has also performed well for the amt of time;  portability including bluetooth keyboard-Note: at 6' 2", 225lbs. I'm not to be confused with a petite lady, so bit of weight in tablet/laptop isn't a big deal- in my fat ASSets OTOH...

5-  The single biggest, hugeest, mostest and bestest PLUS for Apple is customer service PEOPLE.  After having dealt with 1(800) 3rd-world DISservice agents I could see joining a terrorist org to attack their facilities!!!  Do you think this may be a major recruiting tool for Isis?

Right now time to stop.  I'm having some good afterthoughts but don't want to deal with them now.

You make a good point about Apple customer service. When I call, I get to a human first, and that human is able to help me. It's pretty unusual these days.

I'm a cheapskate and too often make the mistake of buying cheap stuff, thinking I'm smarter than I am. I've bought a few Apple products and in the end, never regretted it. There's that old saying, the bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten. I'm still stinging from my last purchase of an iphone 6S, and I'm even embarrassed to say how much I paid for it. But I knew anything else would annoy me in use, and the phone works great. If I manage to use it for a few years without losing it or breaking it or getting it stolen, it will prove to be a truly good value. So the flip side of that old saying is, the high quality and good use I get out of it will make me forget the high price I paid for it.

@oots,

Checked that out- it's available online as a reg item.  May be of real interesst. 

Thanks

while I don't love every Apple product I have, the enormous advantage is walk in support at the Apple Store.  Try and even find something as convenient, and almost always as successful and helpful elsewhere - doesn't exist!

ive has luck with Apple refurbs, though I see others online that I'd probably not take a chance on.