1) Price: I wanted to find something that was in the price I wanted and was able to spend. This is where the Kindle Fire came in to play. It seemed like it would be best due to price. however I later found out that Apple has reconditioned iPads much cheaper on there website. So this to me was a big pull back to the iPad over the Kindle
2) Wanted: Next thing I wanted was to do the following:
Movies (Netflix, Hulu, NBC, ABC and Food Network online shows)
Games
Blog (and write)
Pandora (radio)
and Books
These where the main things I was looking for however I found with the iPad I was able to get all this and more then I would ever need with the App Store.
3) Size: The next biggest item I really wanted was a large size screen. Over the two years of looking iPad was the biggest I could find however later the Kindle Fire HD came out with a larger screen. This was something I liked however the biggest thing that really worried me with the kindle fire was Amazons app store. To be honest its just not been around as long and it will still need a few more years in my eyes to get where I want it do. The Kindle Fire seems to be great however I wanted to do more.
I have had a iPod touch for years and know what the IOS was all about. For some reason I felt it was clean and simple to use for all levels of users. I would like to see later down the road the choice to change more around however I am fine with what one can do to it at this point. You are able to change more on the android however after having a android phone in the past Its just to buggy for me and I think slow.
The next thing I had to come up with once I made the choice to go with the iPad over other tablets was what size memory and what gen did I want. Well do to price the older model Gen 2 was going to be about all I could pay for. Then I found on the Apple site the reconditioned iPads, for not much more I could get more memory. So this was what I was planning to do however it came down to, do I get a Gen 2 or 3 and get more memory or go for the newest iPad 4 for only 16gb of memory. So I went onto finding ways I could use cloud and dropbox and other programs to save items in a online storage then using what was on the iPad. After looking at my iPod touch I noticed that most of my storage was used up by my music. I had over 13gbs of music. So I knew if I wanted to replace my iPod I would have to get larger storage on my iPad however I don't think I am going to walk around with my iPad listen to music much. So I found this was not going to that big of issue for me. Most of the time I listen to podcasts and I can use the podcast app for this. However I do have a few cds on my iPad however it only takes up about 1gb or less so I am happy with that. and I only put the top cds I listen a lot on there. I can always change out on iTunes when I need to.
The new HD retina display I didn't really know too much about however I know it was the newest thing out and heard may people talk about it. However I have never been into displays as long as I can see it, that's fine with me. In the end I went with the 16gb iPad 4 the newest one out as of (3/18/13) However I am sure in the coming months there will be even a newer one out. I don't plan on getting another one for a long time. So I am happy with what I have. the size works great, storage for what I need it for works fine. I hard many people say I would need a keyboard for it but to be honest I have had no issue with typing on it even with my fat fingers. Now the only thing I would change with it is, it I was some rich guy that had money I would go with a larger storage however 16gb for me is fine. am sitting at 57 apps, I have used 6.3gb and at this point I don't plan on using much more as I have every app I want right now. there is also with a few cds I put in my iTunes and about 50+ pictures I have taken. The display on the iPad blows me away. I rather watch a movie on it then my TV.
I think the hardest choice for me to make once I picked what I wanted was what color iPad I wanted. I picked the classy Black!
Here are a few apps I have downloaded and use daily:
iBook - to read books
Remote - to listen to my iTunes on my pc
Pandora - online radio
Dragon Dictation - I talk and it turns it to text. I love this app use from sermons, emails, blogs ect.
Evernote - for not taking
Blogger - so I can do blog post like this one
Skype -
Photoshop express - so I can edit my photos
Bible software - You Version
Logos
Glo
The Weather Channel - check weather
Kindle - to read kindle books
SmartGlass - to run and control my xbox (how cool is that)
Dropbox - to hold and handle all my pdfs, docs and other files
Gamecocks - to get the latest Gamecock football news and scores
Craigslist - to window shop
Flipboard - a cool way to look at your facebook and twitter feed
Facebook - duh
Twitter - :)
ESPN - Sports
Games - all the way from simple facebook games to larger games like minecraft, Infinity Blade to fun games like Lets Golf and Idiscgolf.
OnLive Desktop - Now this is the best app I have found. if you want to create a word doc, exel, or PowerPoint this program allows you to do just that. Here is are a few screen shots of the program.
Now I will end with the last two thing everyone talks about and that is camera Now I am not big into taking photos with my iPad as I have my phone for that however it takes very good photos. I have not really tried the video camera however it seems to be the same. But again these are two items I don't use much. Here is a Photo taken by my iPad. You can see the detail it takes.
So in the end hands down I felt I made the right choice.
If you have a low budget and just need something to read books and watch a movie or something I would say get the Kindle Fire HD. If you want to be able to do something more and use it for work, school or just fun iPad. You don't have to get the newest one out on the market and keep in mind apple will just make a new one in 6 months anyway. I spend more for the iPad 4 with less storage but with the display I fell in love! Later I will be sure to post about how I feel the iPad can be best used in Ministry.
If anyone has any questions about other tablets, the iPad or Kindle just ask. I did two years of research for a reason. :)
-Pastor J
