I bought this $80 burner iPad because I needed one for my photos – but I didn't want to pay full whack!

I just bought an iPad for 80 bucks from Amazon Renewed – and it's honestly one of the best purchases I've made.

I had a quandry. I needed an iPad for a few photography-related things – firstly, I wanted something with a decent screen size to act as my digital portfolio rather than asking people to swipe a tiny phone screen. I also needed a tablet to work with my autocue software, for some content creation jobs I do.

However, these are pretty basic bitch requirements for an iPad – there's no way they justify spending 600 bucks on a brand new model. (And yes, I needed an iPad rather than a cheap tablet because I'm trapped in Ye Olde Apple Ecosystem.)

So I took the plunge and bought a refurbished iPad from Amazon – because $80 was much more appropriate for my needs!

Yes, it's a basic bitch model – an iPad Air 2 with a mere 16GB of storage and it's WiFi only. But again, all I want it to do is display my photos and scroll some text; I've got my phone and my laptop for everything else.

I'm always a little apprehensive about buying refurbished products, especially electronics. But Amazon Refurbished gear has a generous returns period and, if worse came to worse, losing $80 wouldn't be the end of the world.

It turns out I worried for nothing. It came in the usual Amazon packaging, carefully wrapped, perfectly clean and in great condition. Being completely factory reset, I obviously had the "new car smell" experience of the Apple welcome and setting everything up from scratch.

The only downside is that, unlike when you're buying from companies like MPB.com, you don't see photos of the actual item you're buying. However, Amazon has a grading system to give you a decent idea of the condition of your product – and Amazon returns are easy, so you can always send it right back if you're not happy.

So, if you're in a similar boat and you want a cheap iPad for basic functions – or maybe you want a burner iPad for travelling or for the kids to use – I only have good things to say about getting one from Amazon Renewed.

Buy your own cheap iPad

Apple iPad Air 2 16GB WiFi – Space Grey (Renewed): $80.99 at Amazon

Mine was Rose Gold because I'm bling like that, but Space Grey is also cool! You get a 9.7-inch Retina display (2048 x 1536), powered by an A7 chip with 64-bit architecture and M7 motion coprocessor. The camera isn't going to blow you away with its 5MP photos or FullHD video, but you shouldn't be using it for that. This is ideal for browsing, showing off your photos and playing YouTube videos.

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