I've decided to make the move to digital for my gaming and want to pick up a used iPad to use at the table for referencing books and dndbeyond. I don't really want to buy new as I already have a laptop and an ipad mini, so this is really only to read large format reference books.
I know more ram is always better, but I'd still like to hear opinions from those who are already doing this. Is 16GB enough? Or do I really need 32GB or more to hold the core books plus 5-10 other volumes?
Storage content isn't kept in RAM, but that's another topic. 16GB of storage space will be more than enough to hold all of the books if you download them through the app for offline viewing. If you have internet access and use the browser, all of the data is stored on DDB's servers so your storage isn't an issue.
From personal experience I would steer away from the low GB options. The processor swaps storage modes to boost speed and if you have a lot of other crud on your ipad like me (photos, music and video) in addition to documents the whole thing slows. My wife runs a 32 and complains it lags, I have a 512 at detect no issues. Kindles are a non starter. They have such an anemic processor that swapping between apps takes too long regardless of apps and external storage.
As long as you don’t gum your “nerd iPad” up with photos and pron you should be okay with any iPad from the last 5 years. As I said, I use an 8 year old iPad2 (11GB I think?) as my dedicated D&D iPad and crammed it with PDFs and it still works fine. I just don’t have anything other than Safari, Good Reader, Dice, and 3-4 dozen PDFs on it. It’s still only using 8.3GB with another 4.4GB to spare. As long as you don’t use that one for other stuff, 32 with the DDB app, a dice app, and the internet and I’ll be shocked if you fill it. My newer iPad is 32 and I have all the same stuff on it, and it’s my every day iPad too, and the only slow thing on it is my internet connection and that’s Verizon’s fault.
Thanks everyone. I will indeed be using it for just this one purpose, so I think 16GB of SSD storage (not RAM!) will be just fine for me based on what people have said.
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I've decided to make the move to digital for my gaming and want to pick up a used iPad to use at the table for referencing books and dndbeyond. I don't really want to buy new as I already have a laptop and an ipad mini, so this is really only to read large format reference books.
I know more ram is always better, but I'd still like to hear opinions from those who are already doing this. Is 16GB enough? Or do I really need 32GB or more to hold the core books plus 5-10 other volumes?
For what it's worth, I have about 15 books loaded on the app on Android and it's using a little over 2GB of storage.
Storage content isn't kept in RAM, but that's another topic. 16GB of storage space will be more than enough to hold all of the books if you download them through the app for offline viewing. If you have internet access and use the browser, all of the data is stored on DDB's servers so your storage isn't an issue.
I have about 3 dozen books downloaded in PDF format on an iPad 2 that I use just for Geeking. You should be fine.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
From personal experience I would steer away from the low GB options. The processor swaps storage modes to boost speed and if you have a lot of other crud on your ipad like me (photos, music and video) in addition to documents the whole thing slows. My wife runs a 32 and complains it lags, I have a 512 at detect no issues. Kindles are a non starter. They have such an anemic processor that swapping between apps takes too long regardless of apps and external storage.
As long as you don’t gum your “nerd iPad” up with photos and pron you should be okay with any iPad from the last 5 years. As I said, I use an 8 year old iPad2 (11GB I think?) as my dedicated D&D iPad and crammed it with PDFs and it still works fine. I just don’t have anything other than Safari, Good Reader, Dice, and 3-4 dozen PDFs on it. It’s still only using 8.3GB with another 4.4GB to spare. As long as you don’t use that one for other stuff, 32 with the DDB app, a dice app, and the internet and I’ll be shocked if you fill it. My newer iPad is 32 and I have all the same stuff on it, and it’s my every day iPad too, and the only slow thing on it is my internet connection and that’s Verizon’s fault.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Thanks everyone. I will indeed be using it for just this one purpose, so I think 16GB of SSD storage (not RAM!) will be just fine for me based on what people have said.