back to article Three tots up iPad subsidy

Three has matched Orange's iPad discount, offering today the 16GB 3G-enabled tablet for £199 if you pick it up with a two-year, £25-a-month data contract. That's a better deal than Orange touted last week. You'll cough up £848 in total to Orange, but only £800 to Three, which gives you a monthly data transfer allowance of 15GB …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. gautam
    Paris Hilton

    Here you go again El-Reg

    Please stop calling this a subsidy. Its HP or deferred payment to you and me.

    Subsidy only exists in the mind of dumb pre-christmas shopper who will look at £199 tag and empty his wallet.

    Giving away data hardly costs anything to the network.

    Its a question of degrees.

    "Subsidy" as a term for me would be selling the Ipad at 199 and then letting me choose whatever data plan I desire OR NOT !

    Paris, I dont mind any subsidy on her.

    1. WitchDrAsh
      FAIL

      Wrong

      It is a subsidy, they are subsidising £349 of the iPad for you (In the case of the £200 one), in return they request you guarantee them 24 months of business at £25 a month to obtain that subsidy, it is not unusual to put strings on a subsidy of any description.

      You're getting confused between a credit agreement and the Total Cost of Ownership argument, and the TCO of a 3 iPad plan vs 3 iPad looks like this:

      Subsidised iPad + data plan = £199 + (25 x 24) = £799

      Full price iPad + data plan = £549 + ((15/10) * 15) * 24 = £1089 (the crazy price plan is calc is to up the 10gb to 15gb based on price per meg)

      Even if you went on the rolling contract for the full 24 months

      Full price iPad + data plan (£10 a month) = £909

      On the cheap data plan

      Full price iPad + data plan (£7.50 a month) = £729, but you only get a gig

      If you're planning to get an iPad and use a 3G data connection this is a deal, cause it is a heck of a lot cheaper than the equivilant sim only deal, so yes, a subsidy. (even Orange's deal isn't awful, no where near as good as this one though)

      Yes if you're dumb enough to go "£199 cool, then only £25 for 24 months and I'm never going to use the data plan", you're an idiot and you may as well burn your money in a pit to keep warm, if you're planning to use the data the deal is perfectly good and works out pretty cheap for the overall package, very cheap infact.

    2. Michael Jennings

      These deals are okay

      No real disagreement. It is deferred payment, just like most other mobile phone contracts. The data part is worth something though. Three will give you 15Gb of data a month for about £15 a month with a USB dongle. On that basis, the iPad is costing you an additional 24x10 + 199 = £439, which is not too bad given its retail price is £529.

      Of course, Three will normally give you 25% off the cost of a mobile broadband contract if you ask nicely, so on that basis, the iPad is costing an additional 24x13.75 + 199 = £529, which is exactly the retail price.

      Three will sometimes give you 50% off mobile broadband if you are at the end of a contract and are talking to the customer retention department. This makes the iPad deal look expensive. On the other hand, they might well give you a discount on their iPad deal too. I haven't tried to find out.

      Of course, you may not need 15Gb a month. If not, buying an iPad at retail and getting a cheaper data plan is probably a better idea.

      1. BingBong

        Yep agree

        I have a 2Gb/month usage for £5/month from Three (as a existing customer I got 50% discount) and they will even give you a micro SIM card for free .. that does me fine on my iPad and most people can get a 2% discount off an iPad (through Apple EPP or Student online shops) .. so for the penny pinchers (like me) buy from Apple online and haggle with Three 8-).

        Of course if you want an iPad now then consider that the iPad 2 will come out early next year so if you can wait 6 months (after having waited 6 months since the iPad 1 came out) then hold your fire and get the next generation (thinner, faster, longer life and facetime ready .. or so the rumours have it!).

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    A better idea still, for those not addicted to the iLogo

    Buy a ZTE Blade on Orange PAYG at £99. 80% of interesting iLogo functionality, a quarter of the price, no ongoing commitment, and legitimately unlockable quite soon. Missing only the iLogo itself.

    Resulting savings can be invested in various fields, e.g. beer.

    1. Rebajas
      FAIL

      Title?

      That's a phone isn't it? How is that comparable to an iPad, at any price point?

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I have an Orange San Francisco, ZTE Blade

    No its not a competitor to the Ipad. for a start its 3.2"

    If anything its a viable competitor to one of the Archos mini tablets but with added phone.

    Its a great way to get a feel for Android, but not a genuine ipad botherer.

    Plus if you bought one a month ago with the Amoled screen your onto a winner when you come to ebay it.

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like