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New iPad vs. iPad 2: Which Tablet Should You Buy?

Mar 7, 2012 02:20 PM EDT by Davey Alba, LAPTOP Contributor  

It’s here: the new iPad has arrived. But before you place your preorder or queue up outside the nearest Apple Store, make sure you aren’t dropping your hard-earned coin on the wrong slate. The iPad 2 is still an exceptional product, after all, and might be more suitable for your needs, particularly since it starts at just $399. Here’s a quick rundown of both tablets’ specs to help you decide which iPad is worth your money.

  New iPad iPad 2
Price with Wi-Fi $499, $599, $699 From $399 
Price with 4G LTE $699, $729, $829  N/A 
Carrier AT&T / Verizon AT&T / Verizon 
Availability March 16,
pre-orders start today		 Now 
Dimensions (in) Unspecified, 0.37 inches thin 9.50 x 7.31 x 0.34
Weight 1.4 lbs

1.33 lbs (Wi-Fi),
1.35 lbs (3G) 
Display Size 9.7-inch 9.7-inch 
Display Resolution 2048 x 1536,
264 pixels per inch (ppi)		 1024 x 768, 
132 pixels per inch (ppi)
Processor

A5X Quad Core
(supposedly 2x faster,
4x graphics performance
of Tegra 3 chip)

 A5 Dual Core 1GHz
RAM Unspecified 512 MB
Storage 16GB / 32 GB / 64 GB 16GB / 32 GB / 64 GB
Siri No, but has microphone button 
with dictation support 		 No
Front Camera Unspecified, iSight camera VGA video and stills
Back Camera 5-megapixel CMOS sensor,
shoots 1080p HD video 		 960 x 720 stills,
shoots 720p video 
Microphone Yes Yes
Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n + Personal Hotspot 802.11a/b/g/n
Mobile Broadband 3G World-Ready 3G 
Bluetooth Yes Yes
GPS Yes Yes
Battery

9 hours on 4G,
10 hours on 3G

 10 hours, 6600 mAh 
Gyroscope Yes  3-axis
Accelerometer Yes  3-axis 

With its higher-res display, improved camera and faster CPU, the new iPad is definitely worth $100 more than its predecessor. The only reason to buy an iPad 2 is you absolutely can’t afford to pony up more than $399 or, if you’re buying the tablet as a gift for someone who won’t notice the obvious difference in screen sharpness and speed. 


Comments (3 Responses) 

3 Responses to “New iPad vs. iPad 2: Which Tablet Should You Buy?”

  1. Indoor Says:
    March 7th, 2012 at 7:47 pm

    Which Ipad to buy? NONE. Get an Android is wayyy better!

  2. Satish Singhal Says:
    March 10th, 2012 at 8:34 pm

    There is one simple reason to buy ipad2 for $100 cheaper than buying ipad3 (or new ipad) right now. That is that any time a new product is introduced, for first few months factory has quality problems, and you are not likely to get a a good ipad3 until 4-5 months from now. On the other hand the ipad2 that Apple is selling now are coming out of factory that removed mpst bugs from the manufacturing, thus correspondingly ipad2 right now would have a better quiality.

  3. dlb Says:
    March 16th, 2012 at 8:40 pm

    That’s odd with the Ipad’s we have purchased in our huge family, we have never has a problem or heard that. I went with the new Ipad which was here at my door at 8AM, and I’m SO very happy with it, I had hoped it would be as good as it looked on my Mac, and I think it’s even better, painting, graphics, digital and personal art are all part of my favorite chores and hobbies and it’s SO easy to read on they were right and whoever said it would not be faster, well it is, not just graphics. Do you have one?

    To the Android owner, my son’s have android and I thought I needed to buy 2 for their birthdays but now one wants the Ipad after seeing this! We don’t discriminate in our family of 7, too many people and devices LOL

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