[Ken Gracey]

Hang on did I just post the craziest rumour ever ? Or could apple really be bringing out a minor update and calling it the iPad 3 ( sort of like an iPhone 4s upgrade) and then whacking us over the head 6 months later with an a samsung killing iPad 4, with siri and a whole bunch of other tricks?

Well digitimes seem to think so Ipad 4 If there is the slightest amount of truth to this rumour, will it effect your thoughts on upgrading ?

[Dylstra]

Didn't we just have this rumour about the iPad 2 and 3?

[Ken Gracey]

Yeah but it's 2012 so now it's iPad 3 and 4

[Some Random Bloke]

My thought is there's not the slightest ounce of truth in the rumour. Can't believe they published it!

[BrianB]

I'm getting tired of these rumours, and this one I definitely don't believe.

[Ken Gracey]

I am not so sure, the iPad has become a little dated lately, you have samsung snapping at there heals, with the galaxy tab, you have the much much cheaper kindle fire, and rumours running hot, that Google will be bringing out and iPad killer in June, So taking all this into account, apple needs a new iPad 3, with a few more bells and whistles, followed by a reduction in the price of the iPad 2, to lets say $249 to compete with the Fire, and finally they need an iPad 4 with siri, and a few other killer features, to put people off buying the new Galaxy Tab, and what ever google pulls out of there hat in June.

[Some Random Bloke]

But that's only one new iPad and do with the iPad two what they've done with the iPhone line. Magic.

[JZ]

Yeah I was going to say this rumour is floating around last year. I can't see apple doing this. This would annoy people. The rumour of iPad 3 confuses the general public enough. They say "I just got iPad 2 for Christmas".


jz

[Dylstra]

While I doubt the overall veracity of these claims, I think there are a couple of points that might make it worthwhile:

1. Competition is heating up. While I don't think the iPad faces many challengers right now, it is conceivable that a year between refreshes might be too long at some point.
2. Bringing a second iPad out later this year brings the schedule in line with iPod releases. The big advantage of this is that a new iPad won't be announced a month after Christmas.

That being said, I think Apple will need to keep the previous model around at a reduced price. People will be more upset that the iPad they bought is now significantly cheaper rather than by a new one coming out.

[Mychael]

Competition improves the breed. Generally speaking whatever you buy today is the best a particular manufacturer has to sell. Next year it will always be better again, the buyer always wins. The o/s platform is really the only reason that ties us to a particular brand which is of course what the makers intended. New car buyers have had the same grief for yrs, you buy the latest model then 6 months later they market the identicle model with factory bonuses saving current buyers somethimes thousands over what you paid for the identicle model.

Anyway I'm still open to what sort of tablet I could get, owning neither an ipad nor an Android device. I can wait another year to see what comes out.
I was going to get one or the other to take with me to use when I'm in hopsital for the next few weeks but once I started comparing prices and features of brand name tablets in the Wifi/3g/65gig range with ultrabooks then for me at least the ultrabook won hands down.

Larger then a tablet it's true but smaller and lighter then a laptop. It's got more memory, a 13.5 inch screen, a real keyboard, WiFi & bluetooth on board, SSD and one of the biggest things for me two USB ports.
Way less battery run time then a tablet and not quite as portable but runs Windows 7 which allowed me to seamlessly run my preffered browser with bookmarks, email contacts etc, etc.

The USB port allowed me to add a DVD player/burner so I can get a load of weekly rental Dvd's heaps cheaper then what it would cost me to buy the movies or shows from an online store.

The choices and options now for a shopper is great and can only keep getting better.