64gb refurbished iPad available again

[acurtis75]

Just bought the 64gb refurbished first generation iPad from the apple store so dd and I no longer have to share. This is my Christmas present to myself. I am very excited about this. It also means that Reg is now forgiven for apple selling out after he posted about them last month. I've been checking every day since they sold out and they just reappeared today.

[LucyStoner]

Enjoy the space!

[jennsmile]

Thanks for the tip! Awesome deal!

[crazyforlatin]

And now you are going to be responsible for Apple selling out :D.

 

I pm'd you about this deal and didn't know you already snagged one.

[acurtis75]

And now you are going to be responsible for Apple selling out :D.

 

I pm'd you about this deal and didn't know you already snagged one.

 

I know. We'll see how long they last this time. I believe when Reg posted they sold out the same day. Now I just have to convice dh not to worry about what the rest of the family things and to let me wrap it for dd to open Christmas morning. He thinks the family will think we're ridiculous for buying a 6 year old an ipad. I say it's fine because it's for school. He wants to give it to her but not for Christmas. I just can't imagine giving it to her a week before we open presents. I'm thinking I can wrap it as a joint gift for the two of them and that will make it seem less ridiculous. We are pretty conservative financially and probably haven't spend $400 total on her presents the last 2 or 3 years.

[acurtis75]

They are already sold out again.

[acurtis75]

Apple is now sold out of all first generation iPads AND the 16gb ipad2. Glad I didn't hesitate when I looked at the site last week. I rec'd dd's new first generation and have already started setting it up. My dad & sisters and I all chipped in to get one for mom too. I can't wait to see how excited they both are Christmas day. I'm also very excited not to have to share anymore but I think I mentioned that. :lol: As an added bonus dh and I can now play scrabble on the local network option instead of pass and play. Now I can read while I wait for him to play which takes way too long.

[crazyforlatin]

Apple is now sold out of all first generation iPads AND the 16gb ipad2. Glad I didn't hesitate when I looked at the site last week. I rec'd dd's new first generation and have already started setting it up. My dad & sisters and I all chipped in to get one for mom too. I can't wait to see how excited they both are Christmas day. I'm also very excited not to have to share anymore but I think I mentioned that. :lol: As an added bonus dh and I can now play scrabble on the local network option instead of pass and play. Now I can read while I wait for him to play which takes way too long.

 

Well just in case you wanted to return the iPad, Apple employees are very friendly.

 

Did you get the the 64 GB iPad 1 for your mom?

 

By the way, that price drop on the 16GB iPad 2 makes me think that the iPad 3 is going to come out soon.

[acurtis75]

No, we bought mom the iPad2 with 16gb because she will probably use the video camera and she has an iPhone 4s with 16gb already. I don't think she'll have any trouble running out of memory. Did you return your iPad? I certainly have no intention of returning ours. I'm going to do the iOS upgrade today but the initial setup on the 64gb went fine. It is a little heavier and bigger but I doubt I would have noticed as much if I wasn't comparing it side by side with the iad2. I do think the 3 is coming out next year. My husband might end up with one see he let dd and I both get ours first even though he could use it for work.

[crazyforlatin]

No, we bought mom the iPad2 with 16gb because she will probably use the video camera and she has an iPhone 4s with 16gb already. I don't think she'll have any trouble running out of memory. Did you return your iPad? I certainly have no intention of returning ours. I'm going to do the iOS upgrade today but the initial setup on the 64gb went fine. It is a little heavier and bigger but I doubt I would have noticed as much if I wasn't comparing it side by side with the iad2. I do think the 3 is coming out next year. My husband might end up with one see he let dd and I both get ours first even though he could use it for work.

 

I returned the refurbished 32GB wifi+3G iPad1 (didn't even open up the UPS box) and kept the 16GB iPad 2. I really like the camera and HD video. I've taken a close up video of DD and it's so clear. That's another reason why I need to find a different cover, one that will allow me to take videos without holding the front cover open. Did you get your mom a cover without the front flap? I was thinking of the Kraken or Gumdrop....

 

I didn't do an iOS upgrade because I thought Reg said that there were problems. Have things changed?

[RegGuheert]

It also means that Reg is now forgiven for apple selling out after he posted about them last month.

Thank you! Forgiveness is a wonderful thing! :001_smile:

And now you are going to be responsible for Apple selling out :D.

:iagree: :D

 

But no worries. We already got ours! ;)

Edited December 15, 2011 by RegGuheert

[RegGuheert]

I didn't do an iOS upgrade because I thought Reg said that there were problems. Have things changed?

It's probably fine now. I recommend that you do NOT turn on the iCloud stuff during the upgrade. You can always do that later if you want/need to.

 

I will also say that we have completely turned off the iCloud stuff on all of our devices. Because of how I am controlling access to apps with my children I need to use iTunes anyway, so iCloud access is completely superfluous for us. Plus it seems a little invasive to me...

 

One thing I like about iOS5 is that it is much easier to do updates. If you do it from iTunes, it still downloads 700 MB for each iPad update. However, if you do it directly from the iPad, it is much smaller. iOS 5.0.1 was something like 36 MB.

[crazyforlatin]

It's probably fine now. I recommend that you do NOT turn on the iCloud stuff during the upgrade. You can always do that later if you want/need to.

 

I will also say that we have completely turned off the iCloud stuff on all of our devices. Because of how I am controlling access to apps with my children I need to use iTunes anyway, so iCloud access is completely superfluous for us. Plus it seems a little invasive to me...

 

One thing I like about iOS5 is that it is much easier to do updates. If you do it from iTunes, it still downloads 700 MB for each iPad update. However, if you do it directly from the iPad, it is much smaller. iOS 5.0.1 was something like 36 MB.

 

Thanks Reg! I haven't turned on iCloud per your previous advice and will upgrade on the iPad.

[acurtis75]

I am controlling access to apps with my children I need to use iTunes anyway, so iCloud access is completely superfluous for us. Plus it seems a little invasive to me...

QUOTE]

 

Reg - can you give me a quick overview of how you are managing apps and books. I have googled and looked at apple help but so far can't find instructions. I set up dd's new ipad in my itunes and it loaded all my books and all the apps on there automaticallly. I am going to do the ios update today while she's at Grandma's and I have some time to work.

 

I would like to have some music, books & apps on both devices and others on either hers or mine. I'm not sure how to accomplish this.

 

Also, I don't think my photos and videos from the ipad2 are backed up automatically. How are you managing those files? I would like to get them off the device and on to my computer either in itunes or some other way since they take up so much memory.

 

Do you use iallowance for itunes? I'm considering trying it for dd to buy books. I may end up having to use it for myself if I look to closely at my itunes bills for the last two months.:001_huh:

 

 

I returned the refurbished 32GB wifi+3G iPad1 (didn't even open up the UPS box) and kept the 16GB iPad 2. I really like the camera and HD video. I've taken a close up video of DD and it's so clear. That's another reason why I need to find a different cover, one that will allow me to take videos without holding the front cover open. Did you get your mom a cover without the front flap? I was thinking of the Kraken or Gumdrop....

QUOTE]

 

I love the video too. The photos don't come out great unless you are outside in good natural lighting but the videos I've taken are great. I read somewhere that since most people have smartphones with cameras the developers were more focused on video. I got the ipad for dd because I already have the ipad 2 and we didn't need 2 cameras. If we only had one device it would be an ipad 2 with more memory.

 

On the case issue....I have an ill-fitting case because when I went shopping for one I didn't know to buy one specific for the ipad 2. I was too cheap to buy another one when I realized my mistake but now I can give it to dd. Right now I have to take the ipad out of the case for pictures or video because my case doesn't have a hole for the camera:glare:. I am leaning towards getting that smart cover that apple sells. The cheaper non-leather version. I just want something slim that fits in my purse and it seems like a good option. I considered several keyboard cases but I am getting used to typing on the screen and it's better than I expected so I don't think I need a keyboard.

[acurtis75]

Bumping so reg can see this and rescue me from my efforts in iTunes management futility...

[RegGuheert]

Reg - can you give me a quick overview of how you are managing apps and books. I have googled and looked at apple help but so far can't find instructions. I set up dd's new ipad in my itunes and it loaded all my books and all the apps on there automaticallly. I am going to do the ios update today while she's at Grandma's and I have some time to work.

Sure. I'm not sure if what I am doing here is useful to you since you have your iPad and one for your daughter while I have mine plus five others. Part of what I am doing is "defensive" so that I don't have to administer all of these things. I want the children to "own" them along with all (or at least most) of the support issues. So here is my approach for apps, movies, music and books:

 

I purchase apps (free and paid) on my iPad or through my copy of iTunes. Only I have the password for iTunes purchases. These purchases are based on what I find attractive or apps the children request me to buy based on what they find. They are all downloaded and kept up-to-date on my iTunes installation. The children are free to "shop" for apps on iTunes all they want, but only I can make the purchase. In order to get an app or book or movie on their iPad, they must first copy it from my iTunes to their iTunes and then copy it onto their iPad. They can do this fully themselves and I do not have to be involved other than to make sure iTunes is running on my computer.

 

In-app purchases are turned off on all of the iPads. It would be an *extremely* rare exception in which I would allow an in-app purchase here. In fact, that is one criterion that I look at before purchasing an app, even a free one: will it generate a bunch of requests to make in-app purchases. If I think it will, I won't get it.

 

This works well for us except for two issues:

1) We are only allowed to have five iTunes installations in one account. This means two children will have to share an iTunes installation. Hopefully they can manage. :tongue_smilie:

2) DS12 saw an issue trying to upgrade an application using this approach. He copied the new version of the app to his iTunes but there was an error when he tried to sync it to his iPad. I don't know if this will happen every time or if it was an isolated incident. The workaround is to delete and reinstall the app. This works, but it is not attractive if there is a lot of saved data associated with the app.

I would like to have some music, books & apps on both devices and others on either hers or mine. I'm not sure how to accomplish this.

I think once you have the iPads linked to iTunes, you can delete whatever you want off of either device and it will still remain in iTunes. While I don't *think* this is an issue, I have not yet faced it. I will after Christmas when two children start sharing an iTunes installation.

Also, I don't think my photos and videos from the ipad2 are backed up automatically. How are you managing those files? I would like to get them off the device and on to my computer either in itunes or some other way since they take up so much memory.

DS12 and DS13 now have the iPad 2s. I really have no idea how they are backing up this information, if at all. I should ask. I'm interested to hear any advice you may have on how to do this so that I can pass it along to them.

Do you use iallowance for itunes?

I do not know what iAllowance is, so no. DS13 has practically begged me to give him an "allowance" for iTunes but I have refused. It's not because I don't trust him to stick to an allowance. I do. But I don't think I can manage this with the entire crew. I also think the financial situation may change at some point and I don't want to promise something that I do not end up honoring. I will buy what I think best meets the needs of the group and they will live with that. I think they understand it's a good deal regardless of the dictator being in the loop.

I'm considering trying it for dd to buy books. I may end up having to use it for myself if I look to closely at my itunes bills for the last two months.:001_huh:

Please tell me more about it and how it works out for you.

 

Overall, I would say that the apps are incredibly cheap compared with the hardware. Somehow, Apple has managed to come up with a sales model which leverages the hard work of the app developers and most of the profits go into their pockets. They get the hardware sales AND then take 30% of software sales which are already extremely inexpensive especially considering customers like the Guheerts can enjoy a lot of reuse of the licenses we purchase. I see about 400 apps, about 400 books, about 30 movies and about 30 albums in my iTunes and I don't think I have spent even $100 on content so far (although I don't know how to track that :tongue_smilie:). Yeah, Apple's getting the Lion's share here!

[acurtis75]

Okay, so if I understand correctly you have more than one copy of iTunes and they are on different computers but use the same Id? I could do that too but now I need an explanation on how to get apps from one iTunes to the other. I think that would work okay but I'm not sure how to make it happen. We have 2 laptops and several desktop computers.

 

 

I think the issue with sharing one iTunes installation for us will be a problem for your kids also and that is every time I sync it adds whatever I delete right back. It is less of a problem if they have more memory but my ipad2 is only 16gb and I want to remove all the apps I have for dd from my iPad. I can't delete apps in iTunes because I want them on one device but not both. I think having two installations will fix that.

 

I was hoping you had a solution for the photo thing but since you don't I will figure it out and post what I discover.

 

The way I understand the allowance program is that I set an amount and I'm then charged the set amount monthly and it's available for dd to use. I probably won't let dd purchase apps, just books & audiobooks. Of course it's a little easier for us to keep and eye on dd's purchase since she'll be sharing the iPad with dh and she's an only child. If dh agrees to trying the allowance i'll let you know how it works. Your job is a bit more challenging.:lol:

[RegGuheert]

Okay, so if I understand correctly you have more than one copy of iTunes and they are on different computers but use the same Id? I could do that too but now I need an explanation on how to get apps from one iTunes to the other. I think that would work okay but I'm not sure how to make it happen. We have 2 laptops and several desktop computers.

Copying from one iTunes installation to another is easy. Here are the steps:

 

1) On your computer elect the menu item 'Edit->Preferences..."

2) Click 'Sharing' tab at the top of the preferences dialog.

3) Click 'Share my library on my local network' and 'Share entire library' (or you can 'Share selected playlists' and select from a list.

4) Leave your iTunes open and then install and open iTunes on the computer your daughter will use to sync her iPad.

5) She will now see your iTunes library in the left-hand pane of her iTunes under the heading 'Shared'. She can sort, search and browse your library.

6) If she wants something on her iPad, she simply drags it from your iTunes into her 'LIBRARY' in the top left of her iTunes window.

7) Once that copy completes, then she needs to find the same item in her library and drag it to her iPad. The iPad will immediately sync to receive the new item. (With iOS5, the iPad can sync wirelessly, although sometimes it does not work for me, so I sometimes still find I need to plug it in.)

 

BTW, DS12 and I figured out what was wrong with updating: after copying the new version from my iTunes to his iTunes, he was ending up TWO copies of the same app and the sync would fail. In order to make this work, we now use the following procedure for updates:

 

1) Ensure all applications are updated in the parent's iTunes first.

2) Make sure the iPad is NOT connected by a wire to the computer with iTunes. (This procedure requires iOS5.)

3) On the child's iPad, go into the App Store and click the 'Updates' icon at the bottom. iTunes will then list which apps are out-of-date.

4) Without connecting the iPad to the computer, open the iTunes associated with this iPad and click the 'Apps' subcategory in the 'LIBRARY' area at the top of the left-hand pane.

5) Find each of the apps shown on the iPad in the child's iTunes library and right-click and select 'Delete' for each of the apps needing updating. Confirm the deletions with 'Delete App' (or sometimes 'Move to recycle bin' ?).

6) Again on the child's iTunes, find each of the apps shown on the iPad in the parent's shared iTunes library and drag each of them to the 'LIBRARY' section at the top of the left pane. Make sure that ALL of the deleted apps have finished copying the new versions to iTunes before moving to the next step or you will delete the app off the iPad instead of updating it.

7) Sync the iPad that needs to update. (We do this wirelessly so that we do not ever need to connect.)

8) If you want to verify that everything is now updated, simply reopen App Store on the iPad, click the 'Updates' icon at the bottom and verify that it says "All Apps Are Up to Date". If not, you may have missed one.

 

The updating procedure is a little bit complicated, but I can promise that our children will learn how to do this flawlessly. I will print out the instructions and put them by their computers and if they want their apps updated, they will learn how to manage their iPads.

I think the issue with sharing one iTunes installation for us will be a problem for your kids also and that is every time I sync it adds whatever I delete right back. It is less of a problem if they have more memory but my ipad2 is only 16gb and I want to remove all the apps I have for dd from my iPad. I can't delete apps in iTunes because I want them on one device but not both. I think having two installations will fix that.

I might know how to fix this issue. iTunes gives you a ridiculous amount of control. Try this:

 

1) Open iTunes and connect your iPad.

2) In the left pane, click on the name of your iPad in the 'DEVICES' section.

3) Notice at the top of the main pane the tabs: Summary, Info, Apps, Music, Movies, TV Shows, Books and Photos.

4) Click Apps.

5) Notice in the main pane that you can now see the layout of ALL of the pages of apps on your iPad on the right and a full is list of them on the left.

6) The main control is 'Sync Apps". I think you want this to be left on, as it will not sync anything if off.

7) Instead what you can do is simply check or uncheck which apps you want on your iPad. Once they are unchecked, I think you can delete them and they will not reappear.

8) Below the list of apps you have the option to 'Automatically sync new apps'. When this is checked, new apps will automatically get a check mark for this iPad. Otherwise, you will have to check them manually.

9) Finally, notice at the bottom of the page there is a section entitled "File Sharing'. You might find this particularly interesting, since it appears that you will be able to sync a set of Notability files between your iPad and your daughter's. (I haven't tried, but that's what it looks like...) You can tell it to share certain files on your computer with your iPad. I'm thinking if you share the *same* computer file on both your iPad and your daughter's iPad, that it will keep it synced between them. With iOS5, this can all be done wirelessly.

10) You can repeat this with the other tabs and also for your daughter's iPad to fully match your desires. Notice that I think this answers your question on how to sync photos. I don't see a tab for videos, even for DS12's iPad 2, so I'm not sure how to handle that. Perhaps they are covered by the 'Photos' settings?

I was hoping you had a solution for the photo thing but since you don't I will figure it out and post what I discover.

I think the procedure above answers that question, but please let me know if it works for you.

The way I understand the allowance program is that I set an amount and I'm then charged the set amount monthly and it's available for dd to use. I probably won't let dd purchase apps, just books & audiobooks. Of course it's a little easier for us to keep and eye on dd's purchase since she'll be sharing the iPad with dh and she's an only child. If dh agrees to trying the allowance i'll let you know how it works. Your job is a bit more challenging.:lol:

Yeah, we'll see how this goes. Sharing one iPad between four children was not particularly successful here. They all tend to have free time at the same time and it was somewhat contentious. I'll have to admit we are not doing very well with sharing. :tongue_smilie: It remains to be seen whether having one per child is better or worse. Maybe by New Year's we'll be wanting to throw the whole lot of them in the trash! :glare: Edited December 16, 2011 by RegGuheert

[crazyforlatin]

 

I was hoping you had a solution for the photo thing but since you don't I will figure it out and post what I discover.

 

 

Have you tried going to the Control Panel of your laptop to activate Auto Play? If you go to Control Panel, then Hardware and Sound, and then Auto Play, there are choices from the Pictures menu. Each time I connect my iPad to the laptop, I'm able to transfer pictures/videos this way because an Auto Play pops up and gives me a few choices since I didn't designate exactly what it's supposed to do under Auto Play.

 

I haven't figured out to transfer pictures from iTunes when the iPad is connected to the laptop. I'm going to have to take some time to read through Reg's instructions carefully.

[acurtis75]

Copying from one iTunes installation to another is easy.

I find it amusing that you start the post with saying it's easy but then typed out approximately 100 steps:lol:

 

Next time dd goes to Grandma's I'll pull the iPad out of it's hiding place and give this a try. Thanks for your help.

[acurtis75]

Have you tried going to the Control Panel of your laptop to activate Auto Play? If you go to Control Panel, then Hardware and Sound, and then Auto Play, there are choices from the Pictures menu. Each time I connect my iPad to the laptop, I'm able to transfer pictures/videos this way because an Auto Play pops up and gives me a few choices since I didn't designate exactly what it's supposed to do under Auto Play.

 

I haven't figured out to transfer pictures from iTunes when the iPad is connected to the laptop. I'm going to have to take some time to read through Reg's instructions carefully.

 

I think there was an option in iTunes for getting the picture on to the iPad it was the other way around I was having trouble with. I'll check it out next time I go to my office where the my laptop with iTunes now stays all the time. I will try the auto play option. I was limiting my thinking to iTunes but the auto play should work fine. I also need to figure out how to put videos from our camera in to iTunes so I can get them to the iPad to edit in imovies.

[RegGuheert]

I'm going to have to take some time to read through Reg's instructions carefully.

I find it amusing that you start the post with saying it's easy but then typed out approximately 100 steps:lol:

It's been said that Reg is verbose. Perhaps it's really true! :tongue_smilie:

 

(Also, I deal with customers via email frequently. I find that giving general instructions does.not.work.)

Next time dd goes to Grandma's I'll pull the iPad out of it's hiding place and give this a try. Thanks for your help.

If you are going to try keeping both linked to the same iTunes installation (which I think might be best for you), then you can try that one right now with your iPad to see if it does what you want. (That's the bottom set of numbered steps. :tongue_smilie:)