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The One-Pound iPad

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by daniel, Oct 24, 2013.

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  1. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Tomorrow's the day. The Apple store will be open two hours earlier than normal. At least, the Spokane store will be. I will not be arriving there before opening time. In fact, I'll probably get there an hour or two after opening. I don't like to drive in the dark, and I don't care to get up early or rush through my morning routine. If there's a big rush and they're sold out, then I'll place an order and wait for it to arrive. But I think the attitude around tablets is different than the attitude around phones, and that they probably won't sell out right away. And if they do, I can wait. I want it in time for my December trip, but I think it unlikely that I would not have it by then. And if demand is so great that getting there at 10:00 a.m. instead of 8:00 means I have to wait more than a month for it, well, I can still take my Mini on the trip.

    My guess is that while a lot of people want the latest phone immediately, most people upgrading a tablet would rather wait and see if there are issues with the first batch, so demand will be slower, and catch up later.

    And there will be considerably less traffic on the freeway at 10:00 than at 8:00.

    I cannot find anything on the web giving the weight of the "smart cover" vs. the "smart case," so I'll choose between them when I see them and how heavy they are. I guess the case provides a little bit of protection if the thing is dropped on an edge. I just have the cover on my Mini. It protects the screen, and I like that it puts it to sleep and wakes it up automatically.
     
    #41 daniel, Oct 31, 2013
  2. zhenya

    zhenya Active Member

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    I'll plan on trying out our local big box stores on the way to work. Kind of in the same boat as you daniel - if I get one great, if not, no big deal to order.

    If you read the reviews a number of them do point out that the Air is so light and slim that any case that covers it completely really takes away from that feeling. That's what I like about my current magnetic cover on the 4 - it is so easy to pop off and the device is a lot nicer to handle with nothing on it.
     
    #42 zhenya, Oct 31, 2013
  3. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Good Luck!!
    I hope you get one....
     
    #43 ETC(SS), Oct 31, 2013
  4. ggood

    ggood Senior Member

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    The rumor sites are saying Apple is going to have large supplies on hand. I'm leaning towards getting the T-mobile version because of the free data and available installment plan. I'm not clear on whether the installment plan will be available if I buy direct from Apple, or only directly from T-mobile.
     
    #44 ggood, Oct 31, 2013
  5. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    What is an installment plan ?
     
    #45 SageBrush, Oct 31, 2013
  6. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    That's when you marry a phone company for two years and pay $800 for a $500 device. ;)
     
    #46 ETC(SS), Oct 31, 2013
  7. ggood

    ggood Senior Member

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    You pay $26.25 a month for 24 months. Works out to the same amount you'd pay up front (no interest). The downpayment depends on how much memory you want - 16MB is $0; 32MB is $100, 64MB is $200, 128MB is $300 (guessing at last one).
     
    #47 ggood, Oct 31, 2013
  8. zhenya

    zhenya Active Member

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    I think you'd have to buy direct from T-Mobile. They will sell it to you for 24 monthly payments that equals the regular MSRP of the iPad if you sign up with them. They will also give you 200Mb data per month for free. If you end your service with them, there is no penalty but the balance is due all at once. Pretty good deal really.

    Not sure I want to spend the extra $129 up front for cellular data I rarely need...
     
    #48 zhenya, Oct 31, 2013
  9. ggood

    ggood Senior Member

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    No data contract required for T-mobile's installment plan, plus 200MB free per month (with no hidden overages, it just runs out). They give you 2.5 gigs for $10 a month if you are a voice customer (otherwise its $20). ATT and Verizon offer discounts if you commit to a 2 year data contract.
     
    #49 ggood, Oct 31, 2013
  10. ggood

    ggood Senior Member

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    I have it on my ipad 2 and never used it. I got it because I was convinced the GPS chip might come in handy. I wasn't going to do it again, but this Tmobile deal makes it more attractive. Still on the fence about whether to go whole hog.
     
    #50 ggood, Oct 31, 2013
  11. zhenya

    zhenya Active Member

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    Yep. You can buy the T-mobile iPad from any retailer (I actually think there is just one cellular model now, and they are unlocked so you just use any provider you want) if you just want to get the free data.
     
    #51 zhenya, Oct 31, 2013
  12. zhenya

    zhenya Active Member

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    Yeah, I got it on my iPad1 for that reason, but never really found a use for it, so left it off my iPad 4 and have never missed it. Device is still generally able to find my location quite accurately. Having a free 200Mb would be nice, not sure it's $129 nice though...
     
    #52 zhenya, Oct 31, 2013
  13. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    So tell me if I've got this right: If you buy the cellular version of the iPad, and connect it to T-Mobile, you get 200 MB of data per month free? No strings? How do they make any money? Is this a sort of loss leader, figuring that 200 MB/month is not enough to do anything useful, so you'll upgrade to a paid plan to get more data???

    That actually sounds like a good deal. But not for me:

    I use my iPad almost exclusively in places where there's Wi-Fi. And frequently in places there's no cell coverage. I have GPS in my cars, so I don't need a cellular tablet for the GPS. I gather that cell can be faster than Wi-Fi, but I never watch streaming media while traveling.

    So it's Wi-Fi only for me.

    In a related development, Amazon has announced the Kindle Fire HDX, slightly smaller than the iPad Air, a bit lighter, and with lots more pixels. It uses a forked version of Android, which makes me wonder how compatible it would be with the apps that are important to me. Of course, while traveling the tablet is mostly a web browser and e-reader, and the Fire has a browser, and being a Kindle I can read all my books. But I gather that Apple has more apps than Android, and I don't know anything about compatibility issues with a forked version of Android. I have Shredder Chess on both the Mac and the iPad Mini. I've tried other chess apps, and most are garbage. There's an Android version of Shredder, but would it run on Amazon's version? My old Nokia-800 ran a trimmed-down version of Linux that was problematic, and an altered version of a browser that was annoying as all he11. If I could see and handle a Kindle Fire, I'd probably look at it and consider it. But of course there are no Amazon stores.

    After reading some reviews I think the Fire is a better deal for the money, but the iPad is better if you've got the money to spare. So I think I'll stick with what I know for now.
     
    #53 daniel, Oct 31, 2013
  14. zhenya

    zhenya Active Member

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    Yeah, T-Mobile seems to be using it as a loss-leader to get people to connect to their network in the hopes they'll buy more data. They are the smallest player in the US market, so they have to take risks like this. As a long time AT&T user, it's quite tempting.

    You certainly pay a premium for the iPad, but having used a lot of other tablets, I personally find it well worth it. None of the alternatives come close in day to day ease of use or overall experience. I understand it's a lot of extra money though.
     
    #54 zhenya, Oct 31, 2013
  15. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    If t-mobile has underutilized bandwidth then their cost is zip, and even if a user does not buy more than the free 200 MB/month T-mobile made some money on the sale. The real advantage is introducing people to the T-mobile network: if it works well on the iPad they will consider T-mobile on the phone.
     
    #55 SageBrush, Oct 31, 2013
  16. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    That's good to know. Confirms my feeling, though I have no experience with other tablets to compare with. And I can afford the price.

    Not if, as others have said, you can buy the device anywhere and then connect to T-mobile. But the other reasons make sense: The loss-leader, and introducing customers to their service.

    Some day there will be services I want offered through cellular data channels, but that time is not here yet.
     
    #56 daniel, Oct 31, 2013
  17. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    How much are mobile contracts in the US? Reading the above they sound pretty expensive. I'm paying £17 ($27) per month for a 2 year contract with 500 any network any time mins, 5000 texts and 500 mb and a free Samsung SIII.

    I thought it was a pretty good deal at the time. Do you guys still have to pay to receive calls still?
     
    #57 GrumpyCabbie, Oct 31, 2013
  18. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    ^ We pay for minutes, regardless of whether we make the call or receive it. Same for texts: we pay to send or receive. Of course, this does not apply if you buy an unlimited plan.

    I remember when I lived in Spain, the person making the call paid for it, and the person receiving the call paid nothing.
     
    #58 daniel, Oct 31, 2013
  19. car compulsive

    car compulsive Active Member

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    I have an original iPad, 32GB, with wireless service. I dropped ATT and started tethering through my iPhone about a year ago when I'm away from wi-fi. For me, the Air is the first newer iPad that is worth the upgrade. I'll go wi-fi only and likely stick with 32GB, as I still have plenty of empty memory on my current unit. I'll wait until late November to see if there are any problems with the early units.
     
    #59 car compulsive, Nov 1, 2013
  20. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

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    Let us know if stock at stores is available.
     
    #60 JMD, Nov 1, 2013
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