IPad opinions?

[simongr]

I rarely get over 150MB but I would use heaps more with the iPad - that being said 1G would be enough.

In terms of crunching the numbers:

Col 1 = A$ price if bought in US
Col 2 = A$ base price
Col 3 = A$ price if you claim back GST
Col 4 = A$ price if bought in the UK and VAT is claimed.

Thus in order of cheapness for the 32G 3G:

UK exVAT = 841 (col 4)
GST free = 853 (col 3)
US bought = 875 (col 1)
OZ base = 938 (col 2)

       	        		1	2		3			4
	US	tax	US+tax	US->A$	A$		ex-GST	UK	UK->A$	VAT Free
Wifi										
16	499	41	540	599	629	30	572	429	708	602
32	599	49	648	719	759	40	690	499	823	701
64	699	58	757	839	879	40	799	599	988	841
3G										
16	629	52	681	755	799	44	726	529	873	743
32	729	60	789	875	938	63	853	599	988	841
64	829	68	897	995	1,049	54	954	699	1,153	982

Note that I am not sure if the Apple store in the UK takes part in the VAT refund scheme.

 

[djfuzz]

Cool - they look pretty close. I imagine the best deal for you is whichever is closest on May 28!

With the UK VAT refund situation, I'm not sure if this is what you need:

Apple - Legal - Sales Policies - U.K. Retail Sales

Tax-Free Shopping

Apple Retail UK Limited offers tax-free shopping through Global Refund for customers taking their purchases out of the European Union. Restrictions apply. Please see a Specialist for details.

The only conclusion I can make is that there's no VAT refund for online sales, but that if you see a specialist in a physical UK Apple Store, you may be able to arrange a VAT refund when leaving the EU. Confusing.

 

[markis10]

For those looking at purchasing locally, don't forget the special double velocity points offer through DJ shop and earn - 4 points per dollar.

 

[simongr]

With the UK VAT refund situation, I'm not sure if this is what you need:

Apple - Legal - Sales Policies - U.K. Retail Sales

Perfect - this is what I wanted. Unlike in Oz where any purchase over $300 on a single receipt attracts a GST refund on exit - the UK requires stores to participate.

I think my main issue will be that I will be arriving a few days after release in the UK so availability might be. I might try and reserve one for day two in the UK... The fall back could then be the Apple store on 5th Ave - but I was really looking forward to buying from the 5th Ave store...

 

[Mal]

Its fantastic value compared to the normal Telstra prepaid rates, what gives? 3Gb is normally $60 a month.

U.S has all-you-can-download for $US30 / month through AT&T, was expecting something like that to be priced up by Telstra et.al.

Also, 30 day expiry on larger data use is poor (The $100 / 12Gb should be at least 2 months).

But after thinking about it further, do agree it's good value *for Australia*

 

[markis10]

A truly unlimited data plan - we can only dream that one day we will see that, then again for many, a truly usable wireless service might be a good start. What most people dont realize with prepaid is that you are sharing the same bandwidth with a lot more people than you are using the same cell site as a post paid customer, freedom of choice does come at a price.

 

[Mal]

Here's a better chart of the current data options from Telstra/Optus:

Telstra, Optus won't sell the iPad - Laptop & Notebook computers

Optus have only released their post-paid plans though, with pre-paid plans coming out shortly.

$20 / 2Gb
$30 / 3Gb
$60 / 8Gb

 

[Mal]

A truly unlimited data plan - we can only dream that one day we will see that, then again for many, a truly usable wireless service might be a good start. What most people dont realize with prepaid is that you are sharing the same bandwidth with a lot more people than you are using the same cell site as a post paid customer

Yeah it might happen one day ... might! Then again, if you move overseas, that day might come along sooner!

I did have that factoid about pre-paid vs post-paid in the back of my mind. Something to do with the various APN's in use isn't it?

 

[simongr]

The main problem with unlimited data plans on the iPad is that it could easily be abused. A normal user would really make barely a dent in an unlimited plan as you can't really download large files (I dont see apple allowing a torrent client in teh App store soon )

However a less scrupulous user would jailbreak their iPad and tether it to their home computer and use it as a primary (albeit not very quick) broadband source...

 

[medhead]

The main problem with unlimited data plans on the iPad is that it could easily be abused. A normal user would really make barely a dent in an unlimited plan as you can't really download large files (I dont see apple allowing a torrent client in teh App store soon )

However a less scrupulous user would jailbreak their iPad and tether it to their home computer and use it as a primary (albeit not very quick) broadband source...

That is hardly a problem because the companies just factor that use by a minority into their pricing. My brother's internet plan in Germany is unlimited. In fact data use isn't even mentioned. This is done by averaging. In fact his comment was that Australian ISP obviously don't know their averages.

Obviously Australia is a totally different market to Germany. But the point remains that such so called abuse is easily dealt with.

 

[serfty]

... Obviously Australia is a totally different market to Germany. But the point remains that such so called abuse is easily dealt with.

AFAIK, Australia and NZ telcos are almost unique in limiting data.

 

[simongr]

Although I say limited - I am on a 70 peak / 70 off peak plan at home and don't get close to using that volume of data (might consider downgrading plans...)

I don't think we are disagreeing that pricing takes account of abuse medhead. I guess my point was that there are no real unlimited plans in Oz and providing one through the iPad that could be abused is unlikely to happen. If it wasn't possible to abuse (and in that I mean a 20s jailbreak and one app to buy/steal) then I think an unlimited plan would be more likely...

 

[anat0l]

*sigh* You can make some outlandish stories about anything these days...even iPads...

Apple blames GST for iPad's high price | News.com.au

iPad and Twitter are bad for democracy, warns Barack Obama | News.com.au

 

[simongr]

*sigh* You can make some outlandish stories about anything these days...even iPads...

Apple blames GST for iPad's high price | News.com.au

The GST is a consideration in the price comparison. Note the list price of the US sold iPad excludes local sales tax. So for example in NY there is I think 8.5% sales tax on top of the reported price.

So at today's exchange rate of 0.9 the comparison for the base model is:

US499+8.5%/0.9 = A$602 vs $629 in the Oz apple store.

I don't think a $20 premium is a big deal given fluctuations in exchange rates and smaller local volumes.

 

[IainF]

I have got my 64gig wifi iPad yesterday.
AWESOME.
We bought some US itunes cards and have loaded up on ibooks.
We only bought them 1 day before they announced Australian avail & pricing but I am not bothered.
I am doing a 14 day tour of Asia next week and am glad I will have it with me as I am flying in J, but....sob...on Korean.
I didn't book the flights, so please don't hassle me about this. I wanted CX or SQ...
Anywho... I love the ipad.
If you are travelling, it will be almost a must have item.

 

[simongr]

Congrats

Put of interest - did you plan ahead and take a usb/flash drive with you to the apple to store to ask them if they would put stuff on for you?

 

[serfty]

... I don't think a $20 premium is a big deal given fluctuations in exchange rates and smaller local volumes.

Actually, 3%-4% is not much when you consider how much cheaper other items in the USA are when compare to the same in Oz. (e.g. GPS's, Batteries, Books, PCs/Laptops/Netbooks)

 

[medhead]

Well I've found a reason to change my mind. If apple had Spike Milligan's war biographies then I might consider getting an ipad

Ohh, fun the iPhone tells me that ipad should be upas. Wonder how long before there is an update to fix that.

 

[IainF]

We bought $100 of itunes cards in the US and set up 2 x USA Itunes accounts and have been downloading from there.
Makes it much easier.

We will then swap to the Australian ibooks and itunes once it launches.

 

[simongr]

Well I've found a reason to change my mind. If apple had Spike Milligan's war biographies then I might consider getting an ipad

I assume a torrent of the ePub wouldnt be hard to find and you will be able to use your own ebooks on the ipad.