Is the Apple iPad worth its sticker price?

Summary: Apple's new iPad is no doubt a beautiful, sleek device that promises to place oodles of productivity at your fingertips. But is it worth the price?

Apple's new iPad is no doubt a beautiful, sleek device that promises to place oodles of productivity at your fingertips: web browsing, e-mail, interactive maps, photos, scheduling, TV shows, movies, music and books.

Given enough time, it could replace your paper newspapers, magazines, photo frames, portable DVD players and netbooks, too.

But is the one-stop entertainment shop worth its $499 to $829 price tag? Always mindful of your wallet, ZDNet sister site CBS MoneyWatch did the math to figure out the over/under on Apple's latest creation.

Just how much would you save by giving up all those subscriptions? Read on to find out.

Topics: Apple, iPad, Mobility

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28 comments
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  • nope!

    iHype loses every match with other devices when compared head to head.
    Linux Geek
  • Was the question not asked earlier that given this

    terrible recession how Apple would do? Was not a huge
    amount of the given speculation that Apple would suffer?
    Yet here we are and Apple has not suffered in fact it can be
    said it has thus far thrived correct? There will be plenty of
    people many the same who commented on the earlier
    question I have brought up and they will pretty much make
    the same claims as on that post. Mainly that this Apple
    product is missing key features and it is over priced for
    what it gives you. Using that same tired argument(s) that
    have failed in regards to the Macintosh, iPod and iPhone to
    date. Now I can't say this is going to succeed as of yet I
    simply do not know myself. So I say to you this the
    consumer is KING as it should be and in this the consumer
    will decide not me nor you or the many naysayers who will
    try and answer this question in the negative and make
    their often heard arguments.

    Pagan jim
    James Quinn
  • Neither iPad nor Kindle is (nt)

    ...
    LBiege
  • RE: Is the Apple iPad worth its sticker price?

    It is a hefty price but it really depends on the type of user you are. People today are willing to pay 300 dollars for a netbook which has half the battery life, and half the features, and don't have the backing of the cocoa development community behind it making billions of apps. If you are a business person, on the go and need something to do emails, review documents, check the news, blog, have 100% connectivity all the time without carrying a big bulky laptop then this is perfect I think. For myself, it will be a habit of knowing that I have a high powered system at home and office to do the heavy lifting but the iPad will be my primary communicator for 70% of my day.

    Here's a public opinion poll about the iPad listing the top 10 good and bad things about it. http://www.baduku.com/topics/apple-ipad_187
    namsterdamus
    • Hit the nail on the head

      Who needs a laptop when traveling? The iPad is all one would need.
      Blad_Rnr
      • I would need a netbook because the iPad

        is limited in what I need it to do.

        Can it run Linux? No. Can it run programs? No.

        But you do have to buy everything thru the app store. That is if someone has an app that will do what I need without costing me anything.

        Another Apple money pit. Not for them, for you.
        Ron Bergundy
        • if only EVERYTHING I wanted had not price to it..sigh.

          Basically that is your argument is it not? You want to be free to do as you
          please but that is not what Apple is all about for the main reason I do
          business with Apple is to have the controls on that device and tools I use
          so I know I don't have a project on my hands i have an appliance. Any
          loss in freedom or flexibility is in MOST cases worth it to me to get what
          I want ease of use and reliability. I to use to enjoy the days of old where
          computers were a brave new world but as time went on I grew out of it. I
          understand where you come from but i've been there done that and I'm
          over it.

          Pagan jim
          James Quinn
          • I admire your determination Jim

            But they just don't get it. They didn't get it with the iPhone and they won't get it with the iPad. In a year or so we will be enduring "The iPad Doesn't" commercials. And they will be here cheering this "feature overloaded" iPad wannabe and decrying it's poor sales: "But don't you understand it can do all these great things that Apple's iPad won't let you do!" and "It's cheap, it's open source, you can make one from spare parts in your garage for crying out loud!"
            oncall
          • I am not an Apple fan, but I agree with you ....

            most of the time. I also appreciate the way in which you post your responses, both intellectually and in a polite manner.

            However, the events of the past three days are obviously wearing on you. Why don't you take a step back for a few days and let your blood pressure return to normal before you have a stroke or something.

            Besides, if you know what the person is going to say before you ever open the post, and you know you won't like it, just don't open it. I have already written off a few here that I know will piss me off and just ignore them. I know they are relentless, but with a little willpower you can beat them by NOT giving them the attention they are looking for.

            Not trying to play 'daddy' or anything. Just concerned an up-to-now respected commenter on these blogs will sink to the level of the trolls that inhabit them. You know, that is exactly what they want!

            Have a great weekend, Jim. I am going to enjoy the snow we get so rarely in NC now.
            babyboomer57
      • When traveling...

        "The iPad is all one would need."

        Yup, just carry an iPad in one hand, an optional keyboard in the other hand, an optional camera connection kit in your pocket...

        and don't plan on viewing anything that requires Flash.
        Tom12Tom
        • Nope been doing just fine without flash on my iPhone:P

          Can;t imagine a need for such myself. The iPad comes with a virtual
          keyboard the other is an option get it? Also the camera kit is an option
          as well.. I for one don't see a need for it but it is there if you do. I'm sure
          the case that is made for the iPod has pockets as well:)

          Pagan jim
          James Quinn
    • A netbook has half the features of the iThud? News to us [nt]

      .
      Qbt
      • Another "Cant see the forest for the tree's" Features being the trees:P

        Pagan jim
        James Quinn
  • RE: Is the Apple iPad worth its sticker price?

    I think the 40% margins that Apple had last quarter will be
    decreased with the iPad going forward. My guess is that
    they are not making a lot of money on the $499 model. I
    think they want this to be cheap enough for most people
    to afford and they did so at that price point. I would also
    comment that we heard a lot of the naysayers display the
    same angst about the iPhone when it was announced. Until
    you have it in your hands and play with it, you won't get
    the full impact of this device. Lastly, this device is the
    beginning of the end of computing as we know it. Mark my
    words, touch interfaces will dominate the next ten years,
    while mouse and keyboard PCs will become a niche, at
    least at the consumer level. Look how long it took for
    terminals to go by the wayside. The future is touch and
    Apple will probably dominate the profits, not necessarily
    the units sold. But isn't that what matters?
    Blad_Rnr
  • It costs less than expected because it does less than expected

    So I am not sure why some people think $499 is such a great price. This thing seriously does less than what anyone expected. So of course it is not going to be the $1000 people predicted.
    Qbt
    • Thats a big NO.

      Anyone who has been paying attention over the years knew enough not
      to get caught up in the speculation. So again no. As for what it does
      that is up to the consumer not you nor I. Only time will tell this story so I
      hope you don't mind if I take your opinion to heart:P

      Pagan jim
      James Quinn
      • Really?

        [i]Anyone who has been paying attention over the years knew enough not to get caught up in the speculation.[/i]

        I guess you have been living under a rock or something. Nothing that was being demo'd at CES mattered at the time because "Teh Apple Tablet Is Going To Cometh". Or the endless blog postings here on ZDnet about how this magical device was going to instantly make everything else obsolete.

        [i]So again no. As for what it does that is up to the consumer not you nor I.[/i]

        So neither you nor I are consumers? I am the one that is supposed to be impressed by this piece of "magical" wanna-be tablet device, yet I could not be any less impressed by it. Somehow that doesn't count as a valid reaction to this so-called "Magical" iPad unveiling?

        [i]Only time will tell this story so I hope you don't mind if I take your opinion to heart:P[/i]

        Hey, and I hope you don't mind that I point out, along with many many other people, what a huge disappointment the "Magical" iPad turned out to be.

        So yea, my original point that it sells for much less than anyone expected is because is does much less than anyone expected, still stands.

        But you are welcome to buy one if you really believe in Stevie and his idiotic claims about the iPad.

        And they should seriously change the name to what it ought to have been from the start:

        [b]iPod Touch: Jolly Green Giant Edition[/b]
        Qbt
        • Actually .....

          The CES thing had nothing to do with Apple, and what people thought
          or felt was nor is hardly Apple's fault. I would put it on the shoulders
          of the CES organizers and or the presenters at the show not Apple.

          Yes you and I are consumers but we the two of use will not decide the
          iPads fate weather we purchase one or not. That is up to the over all
          buying population. So our individual choices will over all matter not.
          What will matter to Apple at least is that enough iPads sell to mark it a
          success. It does not have to own the tablet business like it does the
          iPod mind you but more like the iPhone which sells very well and
          makes Apple a large sum of money regularly but the iPhone is not the
          number one seller.. Still a very real solid win for Apple I would say.

          And my point is that you are wrong. If the iPod sells well and makes
          Apple money that is the ONLY determination of it's success not your
          opinion nor the blogs, or critics paid or not. It will be the customer
          and if enough purchase it and they use iTunes and Apples new book
          store that also makes Apple money then it will be a success hey even
          iWorks sales will put money into Apple. So this device will in and of
          itself make Apple a profit. Then the flood gates may very well open up
          for Apple again depending on how many purchase but like the iPhone
          and the Macintosh Apple does not need to win the number one spot in
          sales or market share to still make a good solid PROFIT!

          So once again you are wrong.

          Pagan jim
          James Quinn
        • Patience Daniel son

          Tell you what......there were plenty of "Tablet" choices at CES, with plenty specifications. You may even see some throwing in the kitchen sink in a few months, if I am to follow the trend of the clueless competing with Apple (see iPod, iPhone). Why don't you continue to concentrate on getting one of those "bad boys" instead and check back with Apple's iPad in about a year or two. If you don't get the direction Apple is going then and think it still stinks, then you may very well come to the realization that it was never meant for you. Well hopefully.
          dave95.
          • Just a bit more than Windows 7 Ultimate.

            And it can be used more (on its own) for more than a tree ornament;-)
            Bruizer