What Could You Buy for the Cost of an iPad?

March 18, 2010 By Rob Enderle

Think twice before plunking down $885 for an iPad and accessories. Rod Enderle rummages through an enticing toy box of hot gadgets you could pick up for less.

As we start to get ready for what is clearly another Apple product feeding frenzy, I thought it would be interesting to remind people about the opportunity cost of an iPad. In other words, what you could do with the same money they will likely end up paying for one. We’ll start with what an iPad is likely to cost you, and then look at some products you could get for the same price.

The Cost of an iPad

Assuming Apple doesn’t immediately reduce the price of this puppy, I’ll go with the published prices. For a video product you need at least 32GB of memory. Since you can’t add 3G after purchase – and I expect most people will want that feature – that brings the initial price to $729. The folks I know that have tried it also say you absolutely want the keyboard for $69, the case for $39 so you don’t crack the screen, the dock for $29, and the camera adapter for an estimated $19. That gives you a total working budget of $885 for the device and all its accessories.

Now let’s go shopping for some of my favorite things.

Toshiba Regza 46XV645U TV

Over at Newegg, they have a Toshiba Regza 120Hz 46-inch LCD TV on sale for $870. I have a smaller version of this TV in my bedroom, and it is stunning. I actually picked up a 46-inch Scepter for my office from Wall Mart a couple of weeks ago for $650 on special which was fine but this Toshiba is clearly better. Top specs with a 50000:1 contrast ratio, 8ms response time, and a 176 degree viewing angle. If you watch a lot of TV you might actually use this more than the iPad. Realize my first 42-inch flat panel was nowhere near this good, and cost nearly $8,000.

Sony DSC-W350

This Sony camera, just out, is one of the most wonderful cameras I’ve ever owned. It has a whopping 14 megapixels, wide-angle lens with 4x optical zoom, 720p HD video capability, and auto everything –including scene and double shot (with separate settings) for questionable lighting. It will even stitch together pictures into a panorama and add music to a slide show for you automatically. It comes in four colors: silver, black, blue, and pink. At $200, you could buy one in each color and have money left over for the memory stick.

Panasonic DMP-B15 Portable Blu-Ray Player

If you are like me, you have a lot of DVDs, an increasing number of Blu-Ray discs, plus a Netflix subscription, but you don’t watch movies on the go because either the discs don’t play on your laptop, or because you don’t want to run down your laptop battery. For $579 at Amazon, you can get this portable Blu-Ray player you can take with you on the road. It has a fabulous 8.9-inch WSVGA display, 7.1-channel lossless audio, and Viera Cast so you can get Amazon Video on Demand, Bloomberg, YouTube and other video services. It is good for three hours, but you’d have money left over for a spare battery, case, and a few movies.

Asus Eee PC 1201N Netbook with Ion Graphics

This is a netbook with a large 12.1-inch screen and a graphics coprocessor. With an estimated five-hour battery life, this product sells around $590, has the full set of netbook features including 2GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive, Windows 7 Home Premium, Bluetooth, built in Webcam, and 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi. You can add an external DVD drive for around $50 and still have over $200 left over to buy one of the Sony cameras above. This product will multi-task, play flash, and while it has only five hours of battery life, it does have a removable and replaceable battery. I priced this on Amazon, but you can find it at a number of locations.

Two Amazon Kindles

You can get the 10-inch Kindle for yourself, and the 6-inch Kindle for your significant other. The total comes to about $750, which leaves you with plenty of change for a nice dinner or about 10 books. The Kindle is a better reader than the iPad, and you can both read at the same time while you’d need to share the iPad or – gasp – buy a second one if you wanted to share. The Kindle comes with lifetime wireless connectivity too, so there is no $30-a-month charge for data. I have the Kindle DX myself, which is similar in size to the iPad, and a number of folks have asked me if it was an iPad.

Wrapping Up

I really think Apple is going to have to lower the price of this product. It is so much more expensive than a fully featured netbook, it seems incredibly overpriced. It is a large iPod, after all, and once the Mac fans run out (they will almost pay anything for an Apple product), the rest of us are likely to be a bit more value-oriented. With the exception of the portable Blu-Ray player, I know I’d use each of the above alternatives more than I’d likely use the iPad. If I could replace my Kindle with it, or my cell phone, or my laptop, then I could justify the price. But right now it isn’t a great reader, can’t do what the laptop does, and even if it could do phone stuff, which it can’t, it is way too big to be a phone. So, rather than ordering the iPad, I bought a new TV (the Scepter I mentioned) and the camera. I just figured it was a better deal.

How about you?

Showing 21 comments

Oliver at 3:40am 16th September 2010 What a thick article ... If you don't want to spend the money in the iPad ... DON'T BUY IT! If you do ... BUY IT AND STOP MOANING ABOUT IT! Nobody is forcing anyone to buy it.
dang at 9:42am 19th March 2010 Skype video chat would be awesome on the iPad IMHO.
sxtal at 7:53am 19th March 2010 The Kindle absolutely works internationally in over 100 countries and counting. This happens quite easily via roaming agreements with many other PTTs abroad. And Whispernet absolutely works and is supported internationally as well, no question. And NO, you don't have to download your entire book collection before travelling!! Whispernet automatically synchronizes your content across all your devices, even other Kindles! And now, with Kindle for Mac, it will synchronize your bookmarks across Apple devices as well (iPod, iPad, iTouch, iPhone, etc.) Not sure where you got your info from, but I'd double-check your source, just a suggestion. I read an article from Apple that they will not support iBookstore outside of the USA; don't know if that's just temporary or if it just wasn't intended to operate that way. Seems that they would eventually have to support this basic type of marketing function in order to compete with Kindle. And the point of the battery life is not that someone sits for two weeks straight! The point is that I don't have to worry about re-charging every night or risk having a dead reader or tabletPC. As I do a reasonable amount of travelling internationally, you have to understand that it's one less thing to have to be worried about, and on a trip of a week or so it's wonderful not to have to pack one more electrical cord. And even if I didn't travel, it would be wonderful to not have to be pre-occupied with always wondering if my device is fully charged. And in regards to downloading, if you go with a limited plan for $15, you'll end up maxing that out in no time. I've tried those before, and it's ALWAYS cheaper (relatively speaking) to go with the unlimited plan. But with Amazon there's absolutely no monthly fee to have access to the content, anywhere, anytime. I really don't want to have to hunt down an available hotspot. It's like a GPS plan; you buy the thing once, and you don't pay month after month just to use it. That's the beauty of Kindle. Of course, the iPad audience might be a totally different demographic altogether. I agree with you, and I keep saying that iPad should be compared to other slate/tabletPCs, not to Kindle. The Kindle is a true eReader, while the iPad addresses different things altogether. I would argue that I do see the Kindle remaining true to its original design, albeit with the normal types of upgrades, bells and whistles, etc. but hopefully not ever trying to be something that its not.
Al at 1:03am 19th March 2010 Totally agree... I have the kindle2 and i love it for reading purposes... I mean... I have to say a positive thing about the iPad (being a MAC fanatic) is they have "Pages" app which lets type different documents and whatnot and it also lets you transfer them to your MAC or PC WORD program if you need to. otherwise... I think with all this technology, you would have thought they would have included a cam on the face of the iPad to make it more interactive with AIM and to record videos... I mean, this is suppose to be a combination of the iPod touch and the MACbook right?? well those would help.
MVROB at 5:08pm 18th March 2010 Your quite wrong with the Apple not working internationally. Do a little more research. It is an unlocked device and supports international 3G bands. You simply buy the 3G model and when traveling abroad you buy a prepaid sim card (micro sim to be exact) and use it while traveling. When done...simply throw the sim away when you get home. The iPad is VERY much designed to be used internationally. I do not believe the the Kindle will work internationally on 3G as its on CDMA. Whispernet is not supported outside the USA. Before travelling you have to download all your content. As for battery life....i dont know anyone that can read for 2 weeks straight. So to me, a battery lasting 2 weeks of use is pointless to me. I usually charge everynight regardless. You also dont have to pay $30 a month to download a book. I am sure the 250mb plan for $15 will download plenty of books. Why not download while at home in wifi.
I guess I just find the authors arguments pointless. To me, the iPad is the perfect device for my casual browsing, emailing, and playing a few games on. I decided to sell the Macbook air, because I hated using it as a couch computer. Too expensive for anything to happen to it with animals and young kids running around the house. Personally I plan on buying two iPads, one for me and the misses. It fits perfectly into our lives. So much so that I am also selling my macbook seeing as I will never use that once my 27" iMac comes in. I am not against netbooks or Ereaders, in fact I have my eyes on a Windows 7 netbook so I can try it out.
Now I just have to figure out if I want the 3G ipads or wifi only. Since I have a Verizon Mifi with an old unlimited plan, I dont see myself ever activating the 3G but I really just want the GPS on it.
I just dont see any reason to compare the kindle to the iPad, they are two totally different devices intended to be used differently. Personally I dont see the kindle lasting much longer in its current form, i am sure they are planning some upgrades to make it suit more people.
Dan Gaul at 1:39pm 18th March 2010 Here is another one that has a video as well. It's for verizon but apparently he has a guide coming out for the AT&T bold.
http://www.tetheringblackberry.com/modem/

You can tether the Iphone as well, but you have to jailbreak it.
Ian Bell at 1:34pm 18th March 2010 Found an article here: http://forums.crackberry.com/showthread.php?t=3...

Sounds sorta shady, don't you think more people would know how to do this?
Dan Gaul at 1:26pm 18th March 2010 The point of 3g on the kindle is you can buy books anywhere. You don't have to be at home.

I'd want the same thing with the iPad, be able to access things online from anywhere.

I wasn't comparing multiple phones and their dataplans, but rather multiple devices that can use the same service.

And you can share a data plan, from any of the carriers, if you buy their data separately. For AT&T, it comes with a 3G USB stick you just plugin to whatever laptop you want to use it on. You actually have a username/phone#/password with it, so technically you can use it across any 3G device that can communicate with AT&T and send the username/phone#/pass through.

You'd think you could do the same thing with the data plan for the iPhone and iPad. Why wouldn't you? It makes perfect sense to me.
Dan Gaul at 1:21pm 18th March 2010 Do a search on google for "how to tether blackberry"
proeger at 1:15pm 18th March 2010 but Kindle has no wi-fi, so the 3G, only for the store, is the only way to buy books. The iPad without 3G (the model I will buy) buys books and does a million other things over wi-fi. Again, no comparison. I don't know why buying data (not a plan, because you don't have to commit to a contract for the iPad) over 3G is shocking; each new phone you get has its own contract and cost for the data, you don't share one data account over multiple phones...

I don't really see your arguments. If you buy 5 blackberies, each will have to have its own account, they don't share...
sxtal at 1:15pm 18th March 2010 I guess what I think of when I think of color is having to see it on a PC-like backlit screen. Not really interested. If it could be displayed on something akin to the eInk screen without backlight and with great contrast it wouldn't be so hard on the eyes after a while. I think the inevitable move is toward color, I just don't want the eReaders to cave in to the hype and take the "quick fix" route and offer it on a backlit screen. And since they seem to address several very different demographics, there will likely always be dedicated eReaders that live alongside slate/tablet PCs. I personally don't think anything is going to be the "killer" of anything.
Ian Bell at 1:13pm 18th March 2010 I would prefer a larger COLOR eBook personally that just does books, magazines and maybe plays MP3s or Pandora (so I can listen to music while I read). I do not need the other junk.
Ian Bell at 1:11pm 18th March 2010 Since when can you tether to a Blackberry? I have a 9700 Bold through AT&T and I can't tether with it.
Dan Gaul at 1:03pm 18th March 2010 You can use a blackberry and tether it to a laptop, etc through USB and use it's 3G for your laptops internet.

However, Blackberry doesn't make a netbook/ereader. I would expect that if you buy a product from the same manufacturer, why can't you use the services together?

Think of it this way... I have Skype. I can use Skype on my computer, my cell phone, and now TVs. I don't have to create a new account for each device, and pay for minutes for each account. My account follows me from device to device.

it should be that way with Apple and AT&T. My 3G data plan that I have to use with the iPhone should follow me with any other device that Apple makes that also has 3G.

Comparing it to the Kindle isn't the same either... You don't pay for the 3G access through the kindel. It's technically free. You can donwload books to your hearts content and not pay a single 3G charge.
proeger at 12:27pm 18th March 2010 You were right on at the end.. that the Kindle and the iPad aren't to be compared, totally different devices.. the iBooks application is only one of hundreds of thousands of applications!

I would question your anti-color, high-density screen position, and your love of the e-ink format, though. Future books, magazines, textbooks, etc. will be more living documents with embedded live data, video, 3-d objects, linking, all within this format that e-ink just doesn't accomodate well.

To get an idea, take a look at one magazine's conversion to an iPad format, watch the videos. I am sorry for the sexy nature of this particular content, but it shows a remarkable use of the technology!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/17/magazi...

Now watch what Penguin books will do with its catalog, for children's books, star-gazing books, anatomy books, etc...
http://paidcontent.co.uk/article/419-first-look...

Sorry, but I am not interested or impressed with a simple e-reader like Kindle, unless it was sub-$100
proeger at 11:50am 18th March 2010 Well, I begin to agree with you.. but you can't use your existing dataplan on your smartphone on your other devices.. and the Kindle doesn't even allow any data beyond purchases...
Ian Bell at 11:45am 18th March 2010 I don't think the comparison is off at all. If I am already paying Apple for 3G service on my iPhone, why they hell should I have to get ANOTHER 3G account to use it on the iPad!? My single account should work for both products. Ridiculous.
sxtal at 11:41am 18th March 2010 Wonderful comparison; I think you hit it right on. I don't own an eReader of any kind, but will be making my decision during the next few months. Long story short, I'm just looking for an eReader, not something that cannot even replace my laptop, my phone, or any other electronic device I already have. And because an eReader can't replace anything I already have, I don't want to pay a lot for one. I love the fact that the eReaders tend to be dedicated to the function they are intended for. By using eInk (I don't need to read my books in multi-colored text) in the product it is a wonderful reading experience; not one that can be duplicated by a back-lit screen. I recently used a friend's eReader and was so stunned by the clarity and contrast. Hard to describe unless you've seen one in person. Of course I've already tried reading on my laptop and it isn't an experience I would want to do for more than 10-15 minutes. OK for quick web browsing, email, etc, but not to be taken seriously for an eReader. I guess for me another very important thing is the battery life. As an example, the KindleDX battery will last up to two weeks without the wireless turned on, and about a week with it running. How can "up to 10 hours" compare with that? It can't. And I don't want to have to pay another $30 bucks per month just to have wireless capability. And I don't want to have to drive around searching for a hotspot, either. I like the fact that Kindle has 3G built-in. At no charge! And since I travel internationally, I need to have access outside the USA, not something that iPad currently supports, nor has Apple given any indication that they will support it in the future, although I believe they will have to in order to compete with the Kindle. I don't hate Apple, I just don't think their product is suited to being an eReader. The real comparison should be between the iPad and the other slate/tablet PCs on the market.
proeger at 11:19am 18th March 2010 What a terrible article! Not well thought out at all.. so many inaccuracies. For example, comparing the 3G connectivity on a Kindle, only used to browse and buy books, to the 3G on an iPad, used for 150,000 + apps to browse the internet, etc. is just ridiculous! The price is incredibly reasonable.

Since you brought up a Kindle, take the high end model, the DX, with 4GB of memory, one function (an e-reader), e-ink screen (no color, video, etc.) and the price is almost the same as the 16GB wi-fi iPad with all its amazing functions. Just a terrible comparison to make....
Ian Bell at 9:08am 18th March 2010 I agree. I would probably go with the 16GB version too and not sure I would use 3G.

Can I take the SIM card from my phone and put it into the iPad though? If so that would be sweet. I did hear a rumor that the iPad would use a different type of SIM card, a smaller one. Not sure how true that would be.
Phil at 8:49am 18th March 2010 Pretty sketchy way of judging the best price. Most other sources I've read said that 3G probably won't be that popular (because buyers will be using iPad mostly at home), and quick polls have said the same thing. Though that's just opinion, I guess.
And 32 GBs isn't the minimum necessary. I have an ipod touch 32GB, with a couple thousand songs, ~60 apps, a few full-length movies- and yet, all my data could fill 16 GBs, with about 6 GBs to spare. I'm not representative, of course, but still, 32 GBs isn't the absolute minimum.
The extras shouldn't be included in the price. They're optional, and are separate products; not part of 'the price of an iPad'.