Hello MacCraicers , know these posts have been thin on the ground but just want to point out the odd price (possible saving) situation that is occurring re mobile connectivity that you might choose for the iPad you may have bought in Ireland on launch.
At the moment and I’m taking the base model iPad for the simplest comparison, the 16GB model with just wi-fi retails for €499 while you will pay an extra €100 premium for the 3G model (this pricing differential is the same for the different models in the line).
If you choose to get the Vodafone Micro-SIM ( assuming of course you’ve paid the €100 premium for the pleasure of the 3G model) you have option of paying:
1 day iPad Plan
€3.99 per day
5GB data allowance
30 day iPad plan
€20 per month
500mb data allowance
Remember, like AT&T there are no termination fees for ending the contract after 30 days or a day depending on which plan you choose above.
Now here’s where this gets strange, at the moment Vodafone Ireland are pushing on their site the Vodafone mobile broadband hotspot (Mi-Fi anyone)
for the following tariffs:
Vodafone mobile broadband
€19.90 per month
10GB data allowance
Vodafone mobile broadband unlimited
You can purchase the hardware on Vodafone Ireland’s online store for €39 with the above plan of choice.
So let’s think about this for a second, you can pick up a 16GB wifi iPad €499 + VF mobile broadband hotspot €39 = €538 and for sake of comparison you choose the VF Mobile Broadband package-10GB monthly allowance (€19.90 per mth X 12mths) €238.80 gives a figure €776.80 for total cost of ownership initially.
However, if you decide to pay the premium & plump for a wi-fi+3G model and VF data plan then it works out as follows – 16gb wi-fi+3G €599 + again for comparison take the 30 day iPad plan-5GB allowance (€20 per mth X 12 mths) €240 which gives a figure of €839 for initial total cost of ownership
This means that you can save €62.20 by plumping for the first option of buying the base wi-fi model with Mi-Fi initially and enjoy double the monthly data allowance (10Gb vs 5GB). In 2nd & subsequent years you save only €1.20 per year but still get double the data allowance.
Know which iPad & plan you would choose ? :-)
