May 10, 2010 by Andy Russell
Apple announced last week that they are now accepting pre-orders for the iPad in the UK after having delayed its release for almost a month.
The tablet computer will go on sale from May 28th (hopefully) after having proved exceedingly popular in the US with sales hitting the 1 million mark just last week.
Just like our American counterparts iPad customers in the UK will be able to choose between 2 different models Wi-Fi only or the recently released Wi-Fi and 3G model that allows mobile internet access from wherever you are much like the iPhone.
The iPad will come in three different hardrive capacities much like the iPod Touch in 16gb, 32gb and 64gb giving the user a choice to spend less if they plan to store less on their iPad.
UK prices have been quite a surprise, and not the good kind of surprise as they are a fair bit higher than in the US.
It was predicted that the iPad would retail here for the same amount as it does in the US but instead it will start at £429 compared to the $499 (£355) that the same model sells for in the US. Apple’s excuse for this was “VAT reasons” but a £74 difference just for tax does seem a bit steep.
A lot of prospective iPad customers in the UK have been waiting with baited breath to see how much our major mobile network operators will be charging for 3G data price plans, well the wait is over as this information has also been released.
O2 will charge users £10 per month for 1GB of data use, £15 per month for 3GB of data use, or £2 per day for up to 500MB of data use. Orange will charge £2 per day for up to 200MB of data use, £7.50 per week for up to 1GB of data, £15 per month for up to 3GB of data use, or £25 per month for up to 10GB of data. Vodafone is charging customers £10 for up to 250MB of data per month, or £25 per month for up to 5GB of data use.
If a user is already on one of the above networks with their iPhone they will be able to add the iPad data package of their choice onto their current iPhone bill and will in-turn receive a mini sim-card from the network that allows 3G use.
Many market analysts are predicting the iPad to be just as big a hit here as in the US despite the higher prices, the wait is almost over.
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