To start, so long as you’re just looking to get what you need, no less than an iPad 2… Speedier, thinner, and two cameras, front & back. The first iPad has no cameras.
Can you ballpark how many gigabytes of music/video you’ll be syncing to the iPad? I’m a heavy music guy, and I have the original iPad, 32 GB, WiFi only. It’s about 2/3 full of music & vids… Then maybe another gig or two for pics and apps. And honestly, if I’m gonna listen to music, I’ll be using my headphones on my iPhone, or my Mac out to my speakers or stream it to the AppleTV thru iTunes.
Although, can’t ever go wrong with a 64 jigger, if you don’t mind the extra $.
I gotta say, since I already have an iPhone, I just don’t personally see the need for another subscription just so I can look up that name on IMDB on my iPad, when the iPhone is already fantastic. If I traveled, then yes, I’d think I’d opt for the 3G… But if you already have a smartphone… Meh.
Plus, there’s a ton of places that have free WiFi, or offer it (hotels). I find myself taking just the iPad now to almost anywhere. Great to snag for meetings. Great eBook reader. Awesome for the pooper. And I can’t express how much more comfortable it is than a laptop on the couch or on a plane.
I’ll concede I’m somewhat of a Mac fanboy, but one of the main reasons besides the fact I love Apple’s aethetics and philosophy when it comes to these sorts of things. Mostly, the practically seamless integration between everything Apple/Mac now. All the hardware and software is built from the ground up as a mega-platform. Our iPhones, the AppleTV, our MacBook, my 12-core Mac tower, this iPad I’m typing on… They just all cooperate and see each other now with no set-up. It’s all bottom up, not top down. I do surely dig it. Their stuff is like liquid silk, great suite of hardware/software to work and live with.
/witnessing