Large barrel tong/curling wand?

I have the Remington Sapphire which you can get in Argos for £28.99 it's about 1.2" it gives me big loose curls/waves. It's a nice curling wand & has adjustable heat settings.

I have a babyliss one which is thick at the bottom and thinner towards the end. I think it was about £28 as well.

What are the advantages of the tapered ones? It is for a gift for my daughter, she wants to cut her hair to shoulder length, would a tapered wand be better for shorter hair?

I am not sure what is best. I bought mine because of price and because i can make tight and loose  curls using different parts of the wand.
Maybe this link can help

http://beautyrival.com/hair-2/a-world-of-curls-what-is-the-best-curling-wand-shape-size-for-your-hair/

If her hair would only be shoulder length, a 1 inch iron would be much better.  I use 1.5-2 inches for voluminous waves/very large curls, and my hair is much longer than the shoulder.  In general: for a spiral curl you will want the hair to wrap around the iron 6+ times - for a standard curl about 4 times - and for a wave/loose curl about 3 times.  When my hair was shoulder length I used 1 inch for wavy type curls.

Brilliant, thank you so much for all your help, styling aids are really not my thing. I think we may cut first and see how long her hair is before committing to a wand.