I have a new toy to play with – an iPad. It’s a hand-me down from my soon to be in-laws which I was only too happy to find a new home for.
It’s the first generation model, and is therefore a bit limited in what it can do. It’s a little slow at times, doesn’t have a camera or a retina display, and it can’t run iOS 6 – iOS 5.1.1 is the most recent release that works on it. This means that some apps, like 1Password, won’t run, but for the most part everything else works okay. But, it’s an iPad, and it didn’t cost me anything.
Since I already own an iPhone many of the apps also worked on the iPad so I was able to get up and running with it quite quickly. So far, the only extra apps I’ve added are Tweetbot, which has a separate iPad edition rather than a universal app, and Reeder, which again has a separate iPad app but is currently free.
The bigger screen is great for apps like Reeder, Feedly and Pocket, where being able to view a whole page makes reading much easier. It would be nicer if it had the retina display though – having owned an iPhone 4 and then iPhone 5 I’ve become accustomed to higher pixel depth.
Although this does mean that I no longer need to save up for an iPad in the short term (and with a wedding, honeymoon and probably a new house to pay for this is welcome), I may still consider buying an iPad Mini in future. I imagine the smaller screen is a bit easier to handle, and a good compromise between the full-size iPad and the iPhone. And if I do decide to upgrade, this iPad is still worth around £90 to recyclers.
