26
iPad on Contract: The Best 3G Deal?
Category: Free iPad, iPad News
Apple value the kudos of being a top-end manufacturer and might be offended to hear their name mentioned in the same sentence as the word “bargain”.
Or maybe not! The iPad on contract is cheaper 3G technology than Android alternatives, especially the Dell Streak and also Samsung Galaxy Tab.
Apple, cheap? It’s true if the new Android tablet is tied to a 3G data deal, a time-honoured tactic which lowers the basic cost of the device, but tethers the buyer to a pricey two-year wireless data plan.
UK users can now grab an iPad data contract on 3 Network at just £7.50 for 1GB and an amazingly low £15 for a massive 10GB.
How does this compare with the prices across the pond in the USA?
…and what are the alternatives?
Samsung Galaxy Tab
The first Samsung Galaxy Tab models will include both 3G and Wi-Fi. They will be offered by all four major wireless carriers, none of which have announced pricing information at this time. Business watchers expect the actual subsidized units to market for around $300, however.
If you need a Galaxy Tab together with Wi-Fi only, there’s negative and positive news. The good is the fact that Samsung plans to launch a Wi-Fi only design; the bad is the fact that it won’t state when.
Dell’s Steep Streak
Take the Streak, for instance. Having a two-year AT&T contract, Dell’s 5-inch tablet starts at $300. The cheapest alternative is a $55 per month package: 450 voice minutes for $40; and 200MB data for $15. That comes to $1620 for two years of Dell Streak usage: $1320 for your 3G plan; as well as $300 for your tablet.
Don’t want any 3G contract? If that’s the case, the Streak costs $550. Shockingly, that’s $50 more than the actual 16GB (Wi-Fi-only) iPad.
Which would you rather buy? Of course, the iPad and also Dell slates have become different beasts. Perhaps, the Streak is more of a freakishly large smartphone than the usual tablet. It has 2 cameras. The iPad tablet has none, even though that’s likely to change soon. Given a choice, most people would certainly opt for the iPad on contract, with its elegant design and bigger display, over the comparatively clunky Streak, which will set you back more.
To become fair, let’s price the iPad on contract with 3G service. (It is critical to note that you’re not tethered to a long-term contract with the iPad. You can stop AT&T’s 3G service whenever you want.) The 16GB apple iPad with Wi-Fi 3G charges $629 up front, much more than twice the Streak’s price. AT&T charges $15 monthly for 250MB of data. So over couple of years, the least you’d pay for a good iPad on contract with third generation service is $989. (That’s $629 for the system, plus $360 for 24 months of AT&T.)
The Dell Streak costs $631 more to operate over two years than the iPad on contract. Of course, you might cut costs using the Streak as a smartphone too. But with its 5-inch display, the gargantuan Streak is awfully big for a mobile phone.
Given the large number of Google android tablets on the horizon, the particular Wi-Fi-only alternative will almost certainly become a standard option quickly. But for now, Apple’s iPad contract pricing is actually impressively affordable relative to its Android competition. Who would’ve thought that?
While every business is different, it is safe to say that many companies would choose a Wi-Fi-only tablet over a 3rd generation/Wi-Fi model, particularly if the 3G alternative requires a extended-term data contract. Some rural employees such as salespeople might benefit from the third-generation service, but tablet-toting staff in an business office or industrial setting would function equally well with Wi-Fi.
Related posts: