I’m thinking of getting myself an iPad. I’ll be sticking with Wi-Fi since I don’t see myself shelling out for a 3/4G connection anytime soon (my phone is as dumb as a box of hammers).
So my key question is: should I go for one of the ones in the previous generation, especially once the prices go down, or is it worth the extra money to get one in the new generation, recently released?
Thoughts/other factors I should consider?
What are you planning on doing with it?
Really, the major improvements in the newest one are the high-resolution Retina display and a better camera. If that sort of thing is important to you and have an extra hundred or two lying around, get the new one. If not…
Also note that the old one is only available with 16GB.
It seems like prices on the newest model only go down once the next model comes out, from what I can tell.
Don’t buy a first-generation, no matter how cheap it is. The recent OS upgrades have made it painfully slow.
Our household has all 3 generations. 16GB models are getting a bit tight these days, even without a lot of video/music storage. We have also found the camera and video chat capabilities of the 2nd and 3rd gen to be useful.
Amazon prices for used 2nd gen 32GB WiFi seem to be in the low $400 area, so compare against that. We have also had good luck with refurbs if you can find them at Apple.
I agree you don’t need 3G - I have it for work, and it’s not worth it as I rarely use it. As with all iOS devices though, I recommend you always get the latest model. While Apple does a great job supporting their older models, there’s always features you miss out on further down the road, and the extra $100 you’ll spend will hold its value really well in the resale market.
My husband has an iPad 2 (wifi only) and I have a new iPad (3g because I go places without wifi). He loves his and uses it all the time. I love mine and can barely stand to look at his because the resolution on mine is so much better. Because he’s used to the poorer resolution, it doesn’t bother him.
That said, I always tend to go for newer, better, latest in everything. I love my toys.
I have a first-generation iPad and a 3. The resolution on the 3 is so much better it’s amazing. I used to think the 1G looked pretty good until I got used to the 3. Everything is so much sharper and clearer.
Certainly don’t buy anything until after Tuesday, when Apple is holding a Worldwide Developer Conference and may announce new products.
Stuff, I guess. 
Device-only apps and games, some Web surfing when I don’t want to take my laptop, e-books maybe (or maybe not, considering my opinion of them)… It’ll mostly be a way to entertain myself on commutes and when out of the house. So unless the display improvement is MAJOR, I don’t really care about the two things you listed (got a digital camera already).
“Only”? Really? Is that bad?
That actually points up something I should consider: how can I tell how much space I need? Because 16 GB sounds like a LOT to me; I don’t even use that on my laptop.
The display improvement IS major - go to an Apple Store or a Best Buy or whatever and hold the two next to each other, just the home screen or any web page will do. For every pixel the iPad 2 has, the new iPad has four. It’s not a marginal improvement. I totally agree you should go for the new one, it also has a faster processor which will help with responsiveness and app performance a few years down the road (right now the iPad 2 performs great, but there will be apps for which it will be too slow).
You don’t use 16 GB on your laptop? Check that again, a single movie is about 1 GB, and some apps can be pretty big. If you plan on keeping a sizable amount of photos on it, 16 GB can become small mighty quick.
I have the ipad2 64 gb wifi and 3G. I’m very happy with it but if I were to purchase it today I would get the new iPad. I think of it as a one time purchase so I want the best and it has 4G. We live out in the woods and while we don’t have cell phone coverage we do get acceptable data coverage.
One other thing, Verizon has a prepaid data plan for tablets at $20 for 1 gb, $30 for 2 gb and $50 for 5 gb. Stay away for utube and video chat and 1 gb is plenty.
This post is from my iPad2.
Try this: Refurbished iPad Deals - Apple
IME, they are brand new, not actually refurbed. My husband dropped his 1st gen 64 gig WiFi and cracked the screen. Apple let him replace it for $249.00 plus shipping and tax, even though it was out of warranty and not warrantable damage. The rep told him they were absolutely brand new iPads, not refurbs.