Three questions when buying an iPad

The past couple of days I have been approached with questions regarding what size of an iPad to purchase. Here are three considerations to consider when looking at purchasing a new iPad.

The first decision you will need to make is whether you want a Wifi iPad or an iPad with a data plan. I have a Wifi IPad because I'm not a fan of having duplicate services with two data plans- one for my cell phone and one for my iPad. When I first purchased my iPad I had a hotspot on my phone which turned my phone into an instant internet hub for Wifi devices. Just keep in mind that Wifi hotspots from your phone will be slower than with a normal data plan.

Next, you need to look at the iPad memory sizes and decide which size fits your budget. To give you an idea of usage, a movie downloaded from iTunes will use 2GB. I like to compare buying iPads to buying children's shoes, you will want to buy enough memory to start but you will want enough extra memory to grow with your iPad.  Most people will naturally choose the cheapest model with the lowest memory, but you can double the size of the memory for an additional $100. Check out my list below with the memory size and who falls into each group.

• 16GB - The Wannabe User:  You just want to check email, watch YouTube and check Facebook - the important stuff in life.  Having an Ipad will make you look tech savvy with all your friends.
  
• 32GB - The I Know Enough to Be Dangerous User:  You want to check news, watch movies, read ebooks, update twitter and Facebook.  Danger is your middle name and your not afraid to max your iPad with 10 different versions of Angry Birds.
  
• 64GB - The Tech Geek User :  You eat, live and dream Apple products and never let your iPad from your side.  Some people may suggestion you attend a 12 step program for your iPad addiction.

The last decision to make is when you will make an iPad purchase. If you are not in a hurry to purchase an iPad, you might want to wait a couple of months. Rumor out in the Tech world is that Apple will be announcing the iPad3 in Feb with a release date in March. This will follow the same timeline as last year. If you decide to wait for the iPad3, you will want to place an order the first day Apple allows orders. It would be disappointing to spend that much money for a new iPad only for it to be back ordered for weeks.