iMaxiPad EU Pricing Released.....

BaconZombie

* iPad 16GB + WiFi à 499€
* iPad 32GB + WiFi à 599€
* iPad 64GB + WiFi à 699€
* iPad 16GB + WiFi+3G à 629€
* iPad 32GB + WiFi+3G à 729€
* iPad 64GB + WiFi+3G à 829€

http://www.belgium-iphone.com/2010/01/30/t-mobile-devoile-le-prix-de-lipad-en-europe/

miralize

switch the $ to a € ... clever

alex73

Crazy prices!, I mean its a semi netbook in the end, it will cost 3 times as much with 10th of memory. I'm sure the ipad will be a great device, but like the iphone I won't be queing on day1 to buy an overpriced device that will cost 40% less a year later.

PeakOutput

ye i like it but no way id pay that for it

Sad Professor

The price for the low-end one is very good imo. I wouldn't even look twice at the high end ones.

The iPad is not any kind of netbook though. Trying to place it within an existing market is a mistake. It may appeal to many netbook users but certainly not all of them. I think it will be most attractive to people looking for an around-the-house type device. Something to use to check your email, do some causal browsing, while making breakfast or sitting on the sofa. Laptops are too bulky for stuff like that and iPhones (while great for on the move) are too small. It's not the groundbreaking device the hype machine was making out to be but it will be successful.

Inspector Gadget

As far as I'm concerned, this is genius as far as Apple's concerned, but bloody awful for the typical user.

I mean, this will lock countless more people into the App store, and all that entails. I've lost count of how many developers of many of the most popular and used iPhone apps who've basically thrown in the towel on developing iPhone apps due to Apple's belligerence when it comes to app approval, so I don't see them returning in droves because they've suddenly released a giant iPod touch.

I'll stick with my Macbook, ta muchly, overpriced as it is.
Gadget

J-blk

From the recent Mac pricing, I thought Apple was finally past this crap of just switching the currency symbol on the $ price, but it seems that practice is still alive and well :mad:.

Dorsanty

I understand a bit the idea this is a device that gets picked up and put down around the house, checking e-mails and such. It could easily replace the newspaper or mag that some people take with them into the WC.

But laptops are not too bulky to be left in the sitting room and picked up for a quick wikipedia, e-mail, or other surfing. In fact I've spent the last year with this setup. Now the thing that I believe makes it practical for me is the use of SSD in my MBP which gives me 10 seconds turn on and 3 seconds turn off times for the laptop. This means you don't hummm and haaww about picking it up to do short activities.

So even though I fall into the behaviour category Mr. Jobs wants to sell to, the iPad OS is just too crippled at the moment to make the leap from handheld device to whatever this new class is.

So to be honest I'd recommend people put their money into something which is truly a great bit of tech and if they have a laptop already give it the performance boost that will change your life and get some SSD action. Call it iSSD if it makes you feel better about not sending your money apple's way.

hideous ape

First off I'm no Apple hater...I own a Mini as my media centre and also have an iPod Nano and love it. I'll get an iMac after the next refresh but maybe someone should have stood up to Steve on this one:)

It's not a Mac netbook...ok we get it...unfortunately no matter how many times Apple says that, the iPad is in direct competition with multi-touch tablet netbooks running full Windows 7. The competition will have full multi-tasking, will have a fully functional OS, will have a camera, will have Flash, will have various external ports, etc. So Apple can keep saying that this is in some magical new category all by itself but reality is a bitch.

Lets look at what Apple have highlighted as the iPads main features so far. I've put a star beside features that I consider basic functions which should be expected as standard for this type of device. These basic functions are like Apple trying to use TextEdit or Activity Monitor or Safari as a sales pitch for the next Mac Pro...and folks this is sarcasm so don't get your knickers in a twist:

*Safari - Flash is horrible but its ubiquitous on the net so to pretend it doesn't matter could prove fatal for the iPad. Sure HTML5 is the way forward but by the time that kicks in we will be on iPad 2 and HP Slate 2. No Flash means it's not the best net experience today unless you plan on buying the iPad but leaving it in the box until HTML5 has fully taken over!

*Mail - No way...it can do email are you serious Steve...send and recieve!

*Photos - OMG...I can view photos...KILLER APP.

*Video - A closed system that only plays Apple controlled formats and with a massive 16Gb, 32GB or 64GB I can spend all day syncing...I luv 2 sync, do you!

*YouTube - Ya big deal how about the other 99% of the flash based internet.

*Calender - Out of the park Stevo...I hope it has all the dates in a sequence and in separate years. That would be cool.

*Notes - I can type a few words and re-arrange them and it also has a list of all my notes...this feature was handed down by God herself!

*Home Screen - You mean I can actually move icons around AND change the background too. That alone must be worth €600.

*Spotlight Search - So I can search the vastness of the iPad open file system.

iWork - Genuinely good idea (no sarcasm here).

iBook Store - Again genuinely good idea (no sarcasm here).

Apple may not be selling a multi-touch netbook running OSX but judging by the online reaction so far, the majority of the potential buying public are only interested in a multi-touch netbook running OSX.

So my question to Steve would be...is that really it? Surely there is more hardware details and features been held back for the actual March launch. There has to be more to this iPod Newton...I mean iPad. Are people seriously happy to pay up to €829 for this device when you could just spend €929 for a fully featured Macbook?

Tar.Aldarion

Really surprised by this..usually apple products are overpriced but still good...this is overpriced and ****..unless I'm missing something.

conor.hogan.2

500 euro for the base model with the dongles and case/stand with the student discount is tempting.

I would have to jailbreak it tho - but all in all I will wait for v2 and see what they add and see if the price is cheaper.

hideous ape

Ya this looks like a product to avoid in its first revision and probably best avoided totally until full OSX is on a multi-touch device. I've been waiting for the iPhone to improve to the point where it became worth the cost and for me hopefully the 2010 model will be my next phone. It says a lot when people will only consider Apples latest product only if they can hack it:)

I keep asking myself the same question about the iPad...Am I missing something?

I watched the Keynote waiting for something that never arrived, hell it never even got started. It was like watching a bunch of totally out of touch Grandads with strings and tin cans telling a crowd of people with iPhones that this is the way forward for human communication. I was waiting for Steve to go through the basic features to build up to the killer features but it never happened. In it's present form the iPad is what I would have expected two or three years ago but in 2010 it's just too expensive with too few features.

If what has already been announced is all this device does then it should only be sold in one config for around €399 or €499 at a push and be only competing with the Kindle. Leaving the real nextgen full OS multi-touch devices to fight it out without Apple involved. Apple are in danger of seriously misjudging the public on this one.

The ad campaign could read: iPad - Is that it?

chrislad

I'm humming and hawing about this. I'll get it from the States regardless with those prices. I am considering a Sony eBooker regard as it stands (the touch version) and that's 300e anyways. The 32gb version of this would be fine. It's great that it's unlocked but it uses a sim card that I've never even HEARD of, and I work in the mobile industry, and there are been no soundings of new smaller sim cards that have fallen on my ears.

This will pretty much replace my iPhone if I get it. I use the iPhone for internet, comics and the odd bit of music and games. My dilema is whether I would be best served to wait for the new iPhone that will be out in June or see if OS 4.0 offers multitasking on the iPad. Multitasking would do it for me.

Eliot Rosewater

The iPad strikes me as the stereotypical Mac product taken to the absolute extreme. Its a sleek and shiny product, it looks hip, it does very little and costs a hell of a lot of money. No doubt it will sell well. Mac products usually do due to what appears to be a Cult of Jobs.

Not including flash is just a classic proprietary move. Remove support for a format in the hopes of crushing it, all the while massaging users to your format, which you will then charge loyalties on once you have pigeon holed enough people. This kind of move makes Microsoft look relatively angelic.

The price is astounding. At €500 I could get a decent enough laptop, throw a fast Linux distro on it, and customize it to my liking so as to achieve the same kind of system.

iPad = the Apple marketing team at its best.

conor.hogan.2

Eh - what format are apple trying to move people to as regards to flash?

It isn't only apple that are blocking flash - google is moving from it slowly and firefox mobile stopped it by default recently.

The ipad is jonny ives at his best - jobs didnt woo me over like he usually does but you could see he genuinely loves the product.

projectmayhem

conor.hogan.2 wrote: »

Eh - what format are apple trying to move people to as regards to flash?

It isn't only apple that are blocking flash - google is moving from it slowly and firefox mobile stopped it by default recently.

The ipad is jonny ives at his best - jobs didnt woo me over like he usually does but you could see he genuinely loves the product.

Apple/Firefox/Google etc. are all loving HTML5, which is a stunning platform to move away from, what Jobs today called, the "lazy" option (flash). Having said that, we're a long way away from HTML5 being standardised, especially with most browsers being IE6.

As for the iPad being Ives' best - are you mad? It's just the back of the unibody Macbooks with the front of an iPod Touch. Nothing magical. In fact, I hate the front side. Looks too much like a digital photo frame. Given he went on about how nice the new iMac's were because the screen went "right to the edge" with no black borders, them putting this out with a big ugly black border is baffling.

As for the price, I was kind of ok with the iPad because the US price is actually quite favourable. Swapping out the currency means no sale from me I'm afraid. I'll hang on till an eBook reader I like arrives, or until Apple release iPad2, with all the revisions it needs to make it properly useful. Relying on developers to make the device good is lazy on Apples part. This is by far their most disappointing release to date since I've been on the Apple bandwagon. I wanted to like the iPad - and I do. It genuinely does solve some issues for me and I do see this tech being the future in academic places (for books, etc.) and so on, but not at that ludicrous price for Europe.

Sad Professor

projectmayhem wrote: »

In fact, I hate the front side. Looks too much like a digital photo frame. Given he went on about how nice the new iMac's were because the screen went "right to the edge" with no black borders, them putting this out with a big ugly black border is baffling.

I agree that it doesn't look great. But I think there are practical reasons for the border. Unlike the iPhone you can't hold it by the sides. If the screen went right to the edge your thumb would play havoc with the touchscreen. So there needed to be a big border in order to comfortably hold it.

philiporeilly

J-blk wrote: »

From the recent Mac pricing, I thought Apple was finally past this crap of just switching the currency symbol on the $ price, but it seems that practice is still alive and well :mad:.

Prices listed in the States never include Sales Tax as it varies per state (some have none).

Cheapest iPad $499 (plus Tax)
€360 + 21% VAT = €435.60
plus Paddy Tax = €499

J-blk

philiporeilly wrote: »

Prices listed in the States never include Sales Tax as it varies per state (some have none).

Cheapest iPad $499 (plus Tax)
€360 + 21% VAT = €435.60
plus Paddy Tax = €499

I know that - but for other items (MacBooks, etc) they have been adjusting their prices rather than changing the currency symbol. The price is still high for no good reason. California has the highest US sales tax at 8.25% - so the price of a base spec iPad in the US is at the very most:

$499 + $41 = $540 => €388

Of course, as you posted, our tax is 21% so that makes our equivalent price €435. So where does a difference of €64 come from?!

My point is that simply changing the currency symbol is a bulls**t practice and Apple have stopped doing that with other products so why not with the iPad?

For example, an iPod Touch 32GB is:

$299.00 + $25 (Cali's 8.25% tax) = $324 => €234
$299.00 + $63 (if we estimate tax at the Irish rate) = $362 => €260

So with an estimated tax of 21%, the US price is only €19 higher on the Irish store (€279 on the store) - prices are much closer together (if we consider tax at 21% for the US and IE prices), which is not the case for the iPad if sold here at €499...

chrislad

There could be factors we're not aware of. The Irish Govt could have a tax on laptops or devices with certain features (like the way they increase VRT). Not defending Apple, as this practice disgusts me, but it might not be all them.

Either way, I've decided I'm going to get one. I was just about to get that Sony eBook Reader (Touch Edition), and this seems to be a better option for me. I made a couple of phone calls and I have heard nothing about any Irish operator having the sim card that is compatiable with the iPad, so I'll probably just get the WiFi version, probably 32gb from the States in March/April.

philiporeilly

J-blk wrote: »

........Of course, as you posted, our tax is 21% so that makes our equivalent price €435. So where does a difference of €64 come from?!

There are far many more factors than just Taxes that have to be accounted for. Not defending Apple, but living in a tiny economy makes it far more expensive for any company to do business here.

Our market is tiny, our costs are much higher and it is more expensive to import. I'd love to get the US prices but €64 difference doesnt seem as bad.

projectmayhem

Sad Professor wrote: »

I agree that it doesn't look great. But I think there are practical reasons for the border. Unlike the iPhone you can't hold it by the sides. If the screen went right to the edge your thumb would play havoc with the touchscreen. So there needed to be a big border in order to comfortably hold it.

I realise that but it is a little hicker then most thumbs. The ratio on the older 24" iMacs or the newer Macbook Pro's is a little sleeker imo, and doable.

BaconZombie

I crack was happened......

mloc

Flash on iPad = no reason for an app store = Apple lose loooooads of money.

aidan_walsh

mloc wrote: »

Flash on iPad = no reason for an app store = Apple lose loooooads of money.

I don't buy that. The same can be said for HTML+CSS+Javascript based web apps, and they haven't killed the App Store.

philiporeilly

aidan_walsh wrote: »

I don't buy that. The same can be said for HTML+CSS+Javascript based web apps, and they haven't killed the App Store.

Although I do hate saying that my iPhone cannot view/handle certain websites, I do appreciate the need to move to open standards. Flash (especially on mac) is buggy, memory hogging, crapware.

I believe that the internet should run on non proprietary software, but these are only ideals.

chrislad

BaconZombie wrote: »

I crack was happened......

Wonder what would happen if it got this one....

J-blk

philiporeilly wrote: »

There are far many more factors than just Taxes that have to be accounted for. Not defending Apple, but living in a tiny economy makes it far more expensive for any company to do business here.

Our market is tiny, our costs are much higher and it is more expensive to import. I'd love to get the US prices but €64 difference doesnt seem as bad.

That's still not my point... there could be other factors, yes. But what I was saying is that on other products, iPods, MacBooks, etc there has been at least some adjustment in the € prices downwards (like €279 as opposed to $299 for the above mentioned iPod Touch).

The practice of just taking the $ price and slapping an € symbol on it had died out (I thought) but if the OP is correct, then Apple has brought it back for the iPad. And why exactly should they not be called out on that?

miralize

I dont see wht Adobe cant just make flash less buggy, start rewriting it with Mac users in mind.

whiterebel

philiporeilly wrote: »

There are far many more factors than just Taxes that have to be accounted for. Not defending Apple, but living in a tiny economy makes it far more expensive for any company to do business here.

Our market is tiny, our costs are much higher and it is more expensive to import. I'd love to get the US prices but €64 difference doesnt seem as bad.

It shouldn't be. Apple have its delivery costs down well. Bulk shipped into Europe, Customs cleared in Luxembourg, delivery by courier around Europe from Holland. Ireland would be about the same price as anyone else for delivery. They just seem to see Europe as a big cash cow. No difference on VAT or Duty rates either.