iPad newbie

harrisonaero · #1 06-03-2012, 06:59 PM

Well as a diehard Droid user I would like to take bite into my first Apple product... a used iPad for flight planning and VFR GPS use.

My question is... which used model is the best bang for the buck for my application?

Several choices between 1st/2nd/3rd gen and then the storage choices. What's the minimum needed to use it comfortably in the cockpit?

IOW, is there a must have like, "...ya gotta have 1 gig of RAM and 64 gig of storage or it will just be too slow to be useful or hold enough maps.... and the first gen GPS stinks, get at least second gen..."

Thank folks.

BillFear · #2 06-03-2012, 07:09 PM

I have the original (hand me down from wife) that has 16GB of memory and the 3G option which includes the built-in GPS. Works great, I have all the foreflight stuff for the southeast stored plus all my music and a couple movies. 16GB is plenty for me.

DGlaeser · #3 06-03-2012, 07:10 PM

I have a 2 with 16 gig, network only (no phone/gps) and it works great. I have Foreflight. Folks have said the Foreflight on the 1 is a Bit doggy, but I don't have any experience with a 1.
I have a Dual Bluetooth GPS, which also works great.

RV8iator · #4 06-03-2012, 07:26 PM

I really like the GPS that's built in with the #G version. I've had it lose lock once in over a year and when it did I took it off my leg and held it above the glareshield and it was back in a jiffy.
I've got a bluetooth GPS for it, but now I don't even turn it on. Between my 3 GPS's in the plane, my iPad 2 and my wife's iPad 2 and our two iPhones, I have several back up charts and GPS's.
I love having it in the cockpit with me.
As to your question, I have 32GB 3G and it's overkill. 16 gig is plenty if you don't plan on using it for movies or music. I would go with at least the iPad 2. But what the heck. You've never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul..spring for the newest one!

KRviator · #5 06-03-2012, 10:34 PM

I've got the 64 GB iPad 2, 3G/WiFi running OzRunways and I wouldn't change a thing. The iPad 1 is a bit reluctant to run some memory-intensive apps I'm told, and the iPad 3 too expensive for what it is. The 2 is the perfect compromise.

Get the biggest one you can afford as you can load a bunch of movies for those weather-related delays.

DanBaier · #6 06-03-2012, 10:48 PM

Just today saw a iPad 1 with Foreflight that was connected to a Stratus - everything (including ADSB weather display) worked fine in actual IFR. While this was a 64G unit, from what I can see, 16G should be enough for most needs.

Just a note - the ADSB weather depends on you having a little altitude (evidently line of sight for the Stratus to the ground station). So, if you want to see the weather before you launch, you would need to have either WiFi or 3G capability. Once in the air, the Stratus provides you GPS and ADSB weather.

Dan

David Paule · #7 06-04-2012, 08:34 PM

Got an iPad 1 with 32 gigs and the built-in GPS.

Works fine, no reason to upgrade, and with some movies and a set of charts for the entire U.S. except Alaska and Guam, have 14.2 gigs free. Drop one movie and the 16 gig version would have been enough.

Also, after all this time, the battery is still adequate. I still get more than 9 hours on a charge.

Note that the size comment only applies to the non-Retina display used in the 1st and 2nd generation ones. I don't know if the additional display capability affects the memory requirement for the 3rd generation iPad.

Dave

Snowflake · #8 06-05-2012, 07:27 AM

Right now, I'd say that the second-gen iPad with 3G and 32GB memory, purchased through the Apple refurbished store, is the best bang-for-the-buck. Just my opinion...

RWoodard · #9 06-05-2012, 10:26 AM

As another data point, I recently purchased the Gen3 iPad with 64gigs. I'm glad I purchased the 64 gig version as I'm using 20 gigs for music, right off the top. I travel a bunch so I've also got many episodes of TV shows to help me kill time when I have to ride in the back of an airliner. I'm in the process of downloading the whole package on Foreflight and I'm guessing that'll be in the neighborhood of 2 gigs.

As it stands right now (Foreflight still downloading stuff), I've got 18 gigs available out of the 64.

I could always cut back on the music and videos, but in the grand scheme of things, a couple of hundred dollars plus or minus didn't seem to be the end of the world. (Look for the For Sale ad when my employer goes out of business tomorrow! :-0 )

FWIW...