Just to keep everyone in the loop, i've decided to go for the iPad 2 16gb. I went for it mainly because the iPad 3 - the third generation - had so few things new to it, except a marginally better camera, 4G capability (not available in the UK and won't be for some time) and a retina display, which I wouldn't need because i'm not a gamer.

I got mine from Orange (am an existing customer with an iPhone 4), so only had to pay a 99p delivery charge and for a 24 month Orange contract with a 10GB 3G allowance is costing me £30 a month. The Ipad 3rd generation would have been £35 a month on Orange - and I didn't think warranted the extra £60 a year for little more than an Ipad 2 with a marginally better display.

I contacted 3 and they were less than helpful on the phone, they wanted an up-front fee of £69 and then £25 a month after that - plus reading reviews of 3's 3G coverage, a lot of people were less than impressed. Also, i'm an Orange customer already, have been for over 10 years and have always been happy with their 3G coverage in the UK.

So that's what I went for in the end.

You'll not regret it. I picked up an iPad 2 for simular reasons to you, and I've not looked back. It's an awesome piece of kit with some amazing apps.

Mark

Considering its main use is text, that is a stupid reason.

It's main use is text ?..that's the first time I've ever seen that mentioned. Every review I've seen agrees it's a fabulous display, but most also say it makes a negligible difference for web browsing or reading. The main benefits appear to be for the photo and movie enthusiast..gaming will come later when more are available for the format.

That's incorrect the main advantage with the iPad 3 is for web browsing or reading, especially in portrait mode. If anything it make little difference for most games.

you don't just need the retina display for games, ie reading websites etc more clearly (on 2 i had to zoom to read some text).

I got a ipad 3 this week (I've got ipad 2) and love it for viewing photos, videos etc, ok if you don't view them the ipad 2 will be a good choice but your right for some the difference between ipad 2 & 3 won't be justified to buy a ipad3.

I'm into me exercise & treat meself to gadgets for all the pain, thats why i got ipad3 and plus there's a jailbreak in a week or so.

It's like something big's going to happen at HITB related to jailbreaking : look at this.

No more to say

http://pod2g-ios.blogspot.co.uk/

I have to agree about the retina display making a huge difference for text. Having said that, if you're happy with the 2nd gen that's the main thing. Just don't look at them side by side!

I am a week into my new Ipad and must say I am hugely impressed with the display. I was reading a magazine in Newstand last night and the quality of text and pictures was fantastic.

Having said that, I've never used an iPad 1 or 2 (except for brief plays in shops) so can't compare, but so far, I'm glad I have the Retina Display.

jailbreak for 5.1.1 is out (absinthe 2) and after a few hours me ipad 2 is history.

Agree about the text, the difference with the new iPad is very clear, well to me anyway.

A friend of mine has the iPad 2 16GB and her boyfriend has the iPad 3 16GB. The two are pretty much the same. I personally prefer iPad 2.

What do you prefer about the iPad 2 over the iPad 3

I have actually used the iPad 2 and was very pleased with how it worked and I can’t see any reason to switch to the new version. The differences between the two models are not very big - iPad 3 is just a bit bigger than iPad 2, the display on iPad 3 has a quad-core graphics and a few new apps.

I can appreciate that some people, especially if they already have an iPad 2 don't feel the need to get a new one. But it did seem a bit strange to say that you prefer the iPad 2. Maybe you just worded it wrongly!

There could be a number of reasons. The new ipad has a wonderful screen but this comes at a price.
The larger battery is needed to give the same amount of hours, but takes nearly twice as long to charge.
There are issues of over-heating, maybe these claims have been exaggerated, but there are just too many reports for it to be totally fictitious. It's probably not uncomfortable, just irritating.
The new apps written to take advantage of the retina display and quad core graphics will be larger, so forget about 16gb..realistically you will need 32, or even 64 to be on the safe side. Therefore the price difference between the two is suddenly getting larger.
I'm not saying the new ipad is not a better piece of kit, it clearly is. It can do everything the ipad 2 could do with a vastly improved screen etc. It just pays to think what you will be using it for, it may not be better for you.

I remember people saying a similar thing when the iPhone 4 came out about their iPhone 3/3GS even thought the screen was infinitely better.

I've ordered the iPad 3 from 3 and hoping its as good as i've been told.

The iPad 3 also has twice the amount of memory, bluetooth 4 and twice the linear resolution of the iPad 2. Wifi speeds and cellular speeds are also improved. The only thing that stayed the same was the cpu portion of the chip.The iPad 1 and 2 screen are painful to look at after spending a day with the iPad 3. It is an excellent upgrade.

It's a shame 3 were unhelpful on the phone with you... I've got an iPhone 4S with them and have even had full coverage at Monsal Head in Derbyshire!

My top download speed with them so far has been 9 meg... and sometimes the upload speed has been twice as fast as my cable provider!