is the oldest i pad Ok for smartgo books?

[jojoUK]

Hi!
I'm thinking of buying a second hand ipad just so I can access the smartgo books app- will an original i pad still be up to the job? Should I worry about memory? Does it matter that I don't have another apple comp to sync it with? Is there anything else I should have thought of?

Thanks all

[Koosh]

I own a second-generation iPad and it works just fine with Smartgo and Smartgo books. The application is not very resource intensive. I can't speak for an original (first-generation iPad) specifically. You don't need a Mac to sync it with; it can operate as a stand-alone device.

I would say that if you can, try to get a used iPad mini instead. It can be difficult to find a place to put a large iPad among rows of go boards, and quite frankly, the older iPads were fairly heavy. The weight is the biggest consideration for me with a tablet.

Of course, price is a serious consideration. With iPad on its fourth generation, I'd hesitate to get anything lower than 3rd generation (personal preference) unless the cost was $50 or lower - some amount of money you feel comfortable doing without after a couple of years of use. It'll be hard to find a buyer for it.

[Bonobo]

forget it forget it forget it forget it don’t click there

If all you want is access to the Go Books app (and to the books, of course), not necessarily on a handheld device, AND if you have a Mac, then you can just use the OS X version.

https://gobooks.com/platforms.html

[quote="gobooks.com"]Go Books is available for iPad, iPhone, and Macintosh; an Android version is in development.[/quote]

forget it forget it forget it forget it

(Sorry, replied too fast again. Thanks for showing me, oren.)

[oren]

If all you want is access to the Go Books app (and to the books, of course), not necessarily on a handheld device, AND if you have a Mac, then you can just use the OS X version.

You missed this part, I think...

Does it matter that I don't have another apple comp to sync it with?

[pleiade67]

I have a first gen iPad and both smartgo books and smartgo kifu work smoothly. No need to sync.

However I would definitely NOT recommend to buy an iPad 1 for this purpose:
- many apps crash due to insufficient memory (the most noticeable being safari and AppStore! Shame.)
- you may get into trouble when downloading apps because Apple stopped the support of the iPad 1 at IOS 5 and many apps require a more recent iOS version. For instance go books requires iOS 8. You may download a former version of the app but this might be not straightforward or even might be not possible, see:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5519108?tstart=0
- even if you are able to download the app, you will not get the last version of Go Books, since iOS 8 is required for this and Apple stopped the support of this model at iOS 5. Consequence: you won't have the most recent books (15 are missing as I have seen).
- the battery of your IPAd 1 will certainly have gone through many cycles, so need to change it quickly. I don't know if Apple still supports battery change for this model and it certainly is not worth the cost.

[jojoUK]

Wow thanks guys! Really helpful stuff- given me plenty to check for when I'm buying so I feel much better. Plus nobody said 'Ew don't bother, isn't worth it' which is reassuring too
Jo