iPad for research at remote locations

Took the plunge and bought an iPad !

I bought a refurb from apple with 32gb, wi-fi + 3G.  My primary use will be for doing item lookups when I am at fleas and estate sales and yard sales.

Already seeing difference in typing...I am using hunt and peck here!

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Have downloaded Netflix and eBay apps. eBay app looks great...easy to use full version. Can watch my Netflix instant stuff anywhere.

So far using my home wi-fi net but will order $15 AT&T data plan today with 250mb a month--all I think I need and is month to month.

iPad users---let me know what works for you.

I use my droid more then my ipad for research and stuff at auctions.  Only drawback is the smaller screen vs the ipad.

Watch your network useage.  Netflix can eat up some bandwidth quickly if you watch movies over the 3G instead of wi-fi.

I've had mine for a year......same specs as the one you got.  I love it.  I always have it with me no matter where I go.  Only exceeded the 250mb once.....that's usually not a problem.   Along with the "square" that we've talked about before, it's an awesome combination, you can look up values for just about anything and take credit cards wherever you go!

I also have a smart phone, but the screen on the ipad is so much easier to see without having to scroll around and waste time.  I skipped the two, didn't think it was worth the upgrade, but I'll probably step up when version three comes out....I'm a firm believer!

Should be awesome for research.Could make a big difference.

Should be awesome for research.Could make a big difference.

Here's the REST of the story.

I have been researching Ipads for about 6 weeks. About 10 days ago I had my hands on a piece of electronics that looked OK, but nothing special, no meters, etc. I put it down and didn't even ask how much it was. I thought I MIGHT be able to get $20 for it and if I got it for $5 or $10 didn't seem worth the trouble.

A few days later I look at one of the regular's "picker" type eBay listings and there is this item sitting with several bids at $100 !

A few days after that I couldn't resist and looked at it the completed item. It sold for just over $300 ! (kicking myself here).

This is when I made the decision to get the Ipad. If I had had it when I saw the item at the flea I probably would have bought it after doing a search right there in the field. That item alone would have paid 3/4 of the cost of the Ipad, OR 20 months of data service.

Now I am hoping to find one really good item like that a month...that would be enough to make me happy !

I recently just got an Ipad 2 16GB + WiFi 4G. The cool thing is I did not pay for it. I won it from a sweepsstake. Anyway, I wont be using it to do research on, just to big for me to do that, rather use a smart phone. Besides I am not paying for a data plan for the Ipad

Well, the Ipad has made its debut at a Thursday flea I go to for buying purposes only.

Saw a nice set of 6 Motorola walkies with charger. Guy was asking $500. I went around the corner and got out the Ipad and looked them up on eBay. One set was "asking" $1,000, two others asking $700 and $800. The only COMPLETED has sold for $500.

I offered the guy $250 but he would only come down to $450. Obviously not a deal. When he said "let me show you on my phone" (he had also done this earlier), I said "No, let me show you on my phone." When I pulled out the Ipad he said "That's a phone?" but he knew better. As we talked it turns out one of the eBay items WAS his.  We ended on a good note, but this kind of buying only works when you have a seller who doesn't know what he's got. Moving us on to the next item.

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Found a little yellow box ... an industrial tester. Walked away, looked it up. Last eBay sale was $60. Bought the item for $5 and am hoping for $60 or so. If it does sell for that, that's 4 future months of data plan at $15 a month.  

Have used the Ipad at 4 flea markets now and have bought two items based on that use. The 2nd item I paid $20 and think it will only sell for $40 to $50 because the ones on eBay ARE NOT selling at $80, but worth a shot and want to work the Ipad for its intended reason.

I also had a DUH ! moment when I realized that it also would help me RULE OUT items I might otherwise have taken a chance on. This seems like a NO-BRAINER now that I think about it, but it just hit me when I looked up a tool I thought would be worth $125 plus retail and found out that perfect specimens were going for $40 or so on eBay, and the one I was looking at was marginal at the flea. I also found a second intriguing item that wouldn't pay off....SO, not spending money foolishly is also of course a way of MAKING money.  

You may make a convert out of me yet MovieMan.  I've not really gotten into the buy/sale of many things outside of my specialties.  But an Ipad for research at the flea may be something for me to look into also.  About time for me to hit the estate auctions back up.

I'm not sure it works on the ipad (as I don't have one) but I know on the iphone you can download Amazon's app that works as a barcode scanner.

This little sucker is invaluable.  you simply point it at the barcode and amazon's site will pop up and tell you how much the item is going for. I use it regularly when going into goodwill.  Shoot the books, find one for 15 bucks, pay a couple dollars for it and profit. 

You HAVE to have a smart phone or mobile device now. I can't tell you how many times I have used mine as a navigational system (gps) to look up prices, or as a quick way to store data I want to save.

I better keep quiet or I'll give all my good tips away and no one will end up buying my book! 

Well I'm not going to the iPad yet but I suspect I'll be getting a Kindle Fire come Christmas.  Will have to see how well it does.  I've read mix reviews about it.  However, even if it only searches the Amazon website I could use it for quick item ID and general new price.  Then cut it to 1/4 of price to figure out if worth buying to try and resale or not.

Just a word to all those that have a tablet, ipad or other..........Get some kind of cover!  I've dropped my ipad out of the truck a couple of times, threw a box on it when I forgot I had it laying on the seat, and it's flown out of the seat once or twice during a panic stop.  So far, no damage to my ipad at all, but I finally broke the hinge on my case during a panic stop the other day. 

Just a word to all those that have a tablet, ipad or other..........Get some kind of cover! 

I ordered an Otterbox for my iPad 1 (from Amazon) the same day I ordered the iPad from Apple. They arrived one day apart. Since the iPad 1 is older the case was discounted to $14.95 and came in at about $24 with shipping and tax.

It's polycarbonate and silicon rubber and very heavy duty. I wouldn't drop it to test it, but seems like it would endure a 3 foot drop with no problem. It also included a skin for the screen, but I wasn't too happy with it and will get some other brand when I feel I need to.

The Otterbox case has a removeable cover that goes over the screen and doubles as a stand providing two different positions.

Check it out on Amazon or at the Otterbox website. It's $80 from them !

Here's one of many videos about the Otterbox Defender for the Ipad 1. Not the best, but will give you some ideas.
There is also a model called Commuter for the Ipad 1 and of course similars for the Ipad 2.

Why not just use a smartphone? An iPad is just a big iPhone anyway.