New IPad

Texastaildragger

Texastaildragger

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
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345
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Vernon Tx
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Rick
Wife wants me to get new IPad ( so she can have my old one). Have Ipad 2 which I love. Has anyone tried the " Air" ? Son has a Mini, but it's too small for my taste. Any thoughts ?
 
I am going to secretly answer your question ;) (because if my wife finds out, she will kill me).

I bought the Air and had an iPad 2 for a couple of years. There is a reason they are still selling the iPad 2 -- it ain't that bad. The Air is faster, but not as much as you would think. I did a side by side with them (before giving my son the 2). The big difference is the much sharper screen image and the weight.

I also use a new mini in the plane on a yoke mount. It replaced a Nexus 7. I liked the 7 for the plane but the Garmin Pilot version on the Android version was still not as good as the iOS version.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Texastaildragger said:
Wife wants me to get new IPad ( so she can have my old one). Have Ipad 2 which I love. Has anyone tried the " Air" ? Son has a Mini, but it's too small for my taste. Any thoughts ?
Click to expand...
You could always buy her what she wants .
Nice wife !
 
I've had a retina Air for a couple weeks now. It is quicker than the old ipads, mostly in terms of handling multitasking. The battery life is also better. It is lighter and feels like plastic rather than the solid feel of older ipads. The new connector is more convenient than the previous style.

Buy your wife the new one and then wish you'd gotten it for yourself (or not). You won't notice a difference in foreflight.
 
IMO, the iPad Mini is the better form factor for mounting in a cockpit, either yoke or suctioned somewhere.

Full size works good for those that are happy with it in their lap, or pulled out when needed and then put away.

Battery life on this year's models are a bit better than the older ones. Just preflight correctly to shut down apps not in use (double click the Home button) and then flick upwards on the ones you don't need) and shut down the unneeded antennae like LTE and Cell Data. Other tips to extend battery life can be found on Google.
 
Texastaildragger said:
Wife wants me to get new IPad ( so she can have my old one). Have Ipad 2 which I love. Has anyone tried the " Air" ? Son has a Mini, but it's too small for my taste. Any thoughts ?
Click to expand...

Love my Air. I found the ForeFlight graphics noticeably faster than my iPad3, which was faster than my 2.
 
I have an I pad 3 with Foreflight. Thought about a mini ,don't see any benefit to me inthe mini. Like the ability to scroll out on the larger screen.
 
AggieMike88 said:
IMO, the iPad Mini is the better form factor for mounting in a cockpit, either yoke or suctioned somewhere. Full size works good for those that are happy with it in their lap, or pulled out when needed and then put away.
Click to expand...

Some of us are perfectly happy with the full size iPad on a yoke mount. I know I am. When you cross that 50 mark and your close up vision starts declining, it sure is nice having the larger screen. The key with the RAM yoke mount is disassembling the platter from the mounting arm and rotating it through all of the possible combinations to find the optimum setting for your plane.

I am running WingX on my iPad 2 but I gave my wife an iPad Air for Christmas. While the screen is the same size, the overall case size is smaller on the Air and it is a bit lighter. Since I have the RAM mount for my iPad 2 that will not fit the Air, I'll be sticking with my iPad 2 a while longer. I didn't see enough difference in her Air versus my 2 to make me want to upgrade just yet.

For someone in the market for a new iPad, I would not hesitate to get an Air to use in the plane.
 
If you wait long enough they all will exceed the minimum size and weight limits to be keepers. Except the scrawny sickly ones and you don't want one of those anyway. ;) ;) ;)
 
When I got my Air, I thought, wow, this thing is really sharp and clear. Now when I look back at my old non-Retina iPad I think, ugh, that thing looks awful.
 
write-stuff said:
When I got my Air, I thought, wow, this thing is really sharp and clear. Now when I look back at my old non-Retina iPad I think, ugh, that thing looks awful.
Click to expand...

I think my Grandpa once said the same thing about Grandma
 
The air has the same screen as the iPad 3 or higher. From the 3 to the Air (iPad 5 really) you go from the A6 to the A6x (iPad 4) to the A7 processor. The Air also has some graphics acceleration hardware the other models do not. As for the form factor the 3 and 4 are the same, the Air is smaller and thinner.
 
drotto said:
The air has the same screen as the iPad 3 or higher. From the 3 to the Air (iPad 5 really) you go from the A6 to the A6x (iPad 4) to the A7 processor. The Air also has some graphics acceleration hardware the other models do not. As for the form factor the 3 and 4 are the same, the Air is smaller and thinner.
Click to expand...


The text on PoA never looked so good! LOL.
 
Before you purchase, borrow both sizes for a day at home and some time in the airplane. This might help determine which size suits you best.
 
drotto said:
The air has the same screen as the iPad 3 or higher. From the 3 to the Air (iPad 5 really) you go from the A6 to the A6x (iPad 4) to the A7 processor. The Air also has some graphics acceleration hardware the other models do not. As for the form factor the 3 and 4 are the same, the Air is smaller and thinner.
Click to expand...

Separate motion chip now. Not sure how much of a difference that would make.

David
 
I don't have a tablet, but I've been looking at a lot of them. iPad seems to be the forgone conclusion if you add magazines, musician apps and ease of use. If one wants on-board GPS, they have to get the cellphone chip'd version.

Questions:

1) Anyone using BadElf (and the like) instead of built-in GPS ?
2) Advantages/disadvantages to add-on GPS units ?
3) How much memory 32GB, 64GB or 128G ? (yeah, more is better but is there a sweet spot)
4) iPad Air future proof enough ?
 
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