IMO the Genius Bar is pointless if you're out of warranty. Although they can and will do some limited hand-holding for free, it's also a large profit center for Apple retail. Even if you were close to one, they're not going to have some magical way of reviving a dead iPad; but you can try Googling DFU mode to restore (it's the iOS equivalent of format and reinstall base OS). OTOH the Genius Bar is perfectly fine for warranty service.
I don't recommend the 9th gen iPad at this time, with Apple's recent price drops across the line-up. It's too old, and that means you'll get less updates. (Don't people kind of care about security updates? I try to.) I'm going to replace my mom's iPad soon, and she's going to get at least a 128GB model.
Apple's 64GB storage is a joke in 2024, and it's something to consider IF you like to install games and apps aplenty. If all you do is watch Netflix and YouTube and browse with Safari, then 64GB will be enough. The problem with Apple is for the various 64GB iPads of 2022, the next jump up is all the way to 256GB. So in typical Apple fashion, nothing is cheap unless you want to pigeon hole yourself into the BASE model and suffer its limitations.
But like I said, you have numerous models available right now so pick a price point that makes some sense for you. Right now I'm leaning towards the new iPad Air but the Air or Pro from 2022 is also compelling.
I believe the 9th gen iPad has just 3GB RAM, which is lame. What this means is your Safari tabs will be frequently unloaded & reloaded if you tab around a lot. Any M1+ based iPad will have 8GB of RAM, which will be much better in daily usage even if you don't need all the fancy bells and whistles. If you're truly a boomer and use only 3-5 tabs total, then I guess 3-4 GB of RAM can be enough.
Although spending more isn't necessarily superior value, also consider the extra $200 is "amortized" over 5 years (or more). I think small bits of daily joy over the long term is worth it, and I use my computing devices non-stop daily. YMMV. In 2022, I went with the M1 iPad Pro (after the M2 was released) and have been pleased with the decision. I hope it'll be supported for a long time, but I'm also aware Apple is under intense pressure to grow profits (they recently officially committed to 5 years of iPhoneOS support, but Google and Samsung have already up'd the game to 7 years).
Although it sounds like I'm recommending the higher-end iPads, there is an important caveat. The M1+ SoCs are phenomenal, but they are gimped by the limits of iPadOS. People keep hoping that Apple will pimp up iPadOS to be more like macOS in power, but I don't think that's in the plans. The current business model is too profitable; they want an Apple consumer to own an iPhone, a Mac and also an iPad (with some subscriptions!). Each device doing slightly different things at different times. They do not want convergence of the Mac and iPad. But if you skip the Mac entirely, they still have a $299 Magic keyboard to sell you for the newest iPads. 🤮