Verizon Will Sell iPad+MiFi Bundles, Starting Oct 28th

wiredmikey quotes from today's much-anticipated announcement from Apple that Verizon is joining the iPad club, which means that: "iPad will be available at over 2,000 Verizon Wireless Stores nationwide beginning Thursday, October 28. Verizon Wireless will offer three bundles, all featuring an iPad Wi-Fi model and a Verizon MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot, for a suggested retail price of $629.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 16GB + MiFi, $729.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 32GB + MiFi and $829.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 64GB + MiFi. Verizon Wireless is offering a monthly access plan to iPad customers of up to 1GB of data for just $20 a month. In addition, Verizon Wireless will also offer all three iPad Wi-Fi models on a stand-alone basis." Since the Verizon bundles don't seem to offer the kind of subsidy that many phone purchases do, it would make sense to shop around for the same functionality (Wi-Fi iPad + 3G service) from other carriers. For instance, if you live within Sprint's city-centric 3G footprint, and want more than 1GB of data, Virgin Mobile's branded MiFi offers unlimited transfer (within the limit of the network — it's no FiOS, but I've used it with Skype and Google Voice) for $40/month.

Comments

1gb/month

[pilgrim23]

And with the crisp iPad screen I will be able to download/stream all my favorite movies for.... enter bill shock. The cheap up front, soak them on bandwidth American telecom paradigm needs to needs now.

Re:1gb/month

[VoiceInTheDesert]

This is pretty much exactly the case. The iPad is for media...but how much media can you download/stream in 1GB?

Also, I'm going to take this opportunity to once again state how much of a rip off a 64GB media player is for $830. I can buy a very capable laptop with 3G capability for less than that and it will be useful for more than just browsing pictures and watching youtube. Honestly, my Samsung Epic is just as capable as the iPad for most purposes and costs much less while being a useful phone at the same time.

Re:1gb/month

[whisper_jeff]

I can buy a very capable laptop with 3G capability for less than that and it will be useful for more than just browsing pictures and watching youtube.

It really is laughable that you think an iPad is just for browsing pictures and watching youtube. But, hey, feel free to keep utterly missing the point. If you're happy with your Samsung Epic, all the more power to you but, I assure you, there are millions of people out there who are happy with their iPads and I also assure you that the majority of them use them for a lot more than pictures and youtube. It may not be the right product for you - the Samsung Epic may well be that product - but that doesn't mean it isn't the right product for a lot of other people. Millions and millions of other people, in fact.

Re:1gb/month

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm going to take this opportunity to once again state how much of a rip off a laptop is. I can buy a very capable desktop for less and it will be useful for more than just browsing pictures and watching youtube and running basic applications. Honestly, my Dell Inspiron is just as capable as a laptop for most purposes and costs much less while being a useful gaming machine at the same time.

Re:1gb/month

[nine-times]

I can buy a very capable laptop with 3G capability for less than that

which of those laptops has a high-quality 10" screen, is 0.5" thick, and weighs 1.5 lbs?

my Samsung Epic is just as capable as the iPad

Your Samsung Epic has a small screen.

Here's what you have to understand: it's not about raw computing power, and it's not about being able to hack the kernel. The people who bought iPads are interested in usability for certain specific applications. It's a web-browsing appliance, an ebook reader, a document viewer, a picture browser, a giant iPod, and a bunch of other things. Being the right form-factor is essential. If you don't care about the form-factor and usability features, then you aren't its target audience at all.

Re:1gb/month

[whisper_jeff]

Depends on your needs and desires but things like the Marvel app (and the various other comic apps) makes reading comics a pleasure (no, seriously - this is an absolutely fantastic app and I highly recommend it to any comic fan out there) and the various sketching apps makes doing design brainstorming a breeze (and sending those sketches to clients easier than scanning and emailing), to name but two quick things that a laptop fails at. As a media consumption device, laying in bed, it's better than a smart phone for the screen real estate and better than a laptop for it's size and weight. For a pick-up-and-go computing device, it is superior to a laptop, imho. For a _computer_, it is inferior but I didn't buy it to be a computer. I have a desktop for desktop-y work and I have a laptop for laptop-y work. That said, I still regularly use my desktop but, since getting my ipad, I haven't used my laptop at all...

Suffice it to say there are a ton of other uses but I'm at work and don't feel like writing a long post on the subject... :)

Re:1gb/month

[rockout]

While I share your assessment of those three "artists" and their musical "talent", that doesn't mean that those millions of other people are fools. They just don't share your (or my) taste in music. This goes back to the GP post - just because an iPad isn't for you, doesn't mean it can't fit the needs of millions of other people, who may be "fools" in your opinion, but in the end, that's just your opinion, and it would be supremely arrogant to state it as fact.

Re:1gb/month

[rockout]

But again, in music, quality is in the ear of the listener. As for quality and the iPad, the form factor has to count for something - if you've never actually held one and fooled around on it, you should. It fills a hole between smartphone and laptop that no products before it (or currently, as far as I can tell) have filled nearly as well. I don't need one myself, but I had to admire the size, shape and weight of the thing. For a lot of people, it's perfect. Are some people buying it just because it's "cool" and they have money to burn? Probably, but it's ridiculous to dismiss millions of people as falling into that category just because you don't like/need one.

Re:The problem with wifi-only iPad

[AndrewNeo]

Who says wifi is stationary? I think you're missing the point, but so is Apple.

If you're on stationary wifi, then yes, why do you need location services? But if you're on mobile wifi (tethering, MiFi, etc.), you might want to use it as a GPS or the like. Now, if it supported bluetooth GPS pucks (or nowadays, smartphones that will act as bluetooth GPS pucks) then there shouldn't be as much an issue.

Re:Nothing you cannot already get.

[ThermalRunaway]

Exactly, its a band aid for now until an EVDO (or maybe LTE?) iPad is ready.

However, I see this bundle as a net win. With a 3G iPad, you get data on your ipad, and thats it. Unless you jailbreak and use it as a hot spot. If you get the MiFi bundle (which is basically the same cost as an ATT 3G ipad) you get a router that you can connect other devices to besides the iPad. So if you have a laptop and an iPad, you are good on both counts.

Futher, this somewhat future proofs your data setup. You can't swap out the chipset in the iPad, so all those ATT 3G owners will be left out when LTE hits. But if you are using a MiFi... just get a 4G mifi and you are in business.

Re:LAPtop

[Pojut]

I don't think anyone but the most die-hard haters would say the iPad is useless. What they're saying that you're paying more money for the same internal hardware. The form factor is very useful for a variety of things, but when it amounts to a netbook without a keyboard while carrying the possibility of costing twice as much, the price-to-usefulness ratio goes out the window.

I don't care how smooth it runs, I don't care how useful it is...paying up to twice as much for a netbook with half as much hardware doesn't sound like a good deal to me.

What constitutes equivalent?

[dazedNconfuzed]

I could sell you a desktop computer powered by a car battery for even less.

Yes, useful form factor costs extra.

Re:Summary Correction: Sprint's 3g footprint

[timothy]

Well, Sprint says "Nationwide" (Yes, it's coast-to-coast), but their* 3G map looks smaller than Verizon's, based on this map:
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/check-cell-phone-coverage

compared to this one for Verizon's claimed broadband coverage area (you might need to click the radio button / refresh: http://www.verizonwireless.com/wireless-coverage-area-map.shtml)

On the other hand, maybe you're right: This article has high praise for Sprint's network; the Kindle connection really is pretty convincing -- http://www.mobile-broadband-reviews.com/sprint-coverage.html

I've seen (surprising to me!) good connection in PA, NY, WA, and MD, including on Maryland's Eastern Shore, and while in a moving train in PA.

Cheers,

Tim

* I might be wrong to call it "Sprint's" network; this comparison has rough edges, because Virgin might for some reason not have the same footprint, even though they're *using* "the Sprint network."