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| Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons |
I recently read an article that said the most requested gift by teens and tweens for this holiday season will be a new Apple iPad. And who can blame them? I have owned my iPad2 now for about 6 months and it has become my go to device for everything from reading email to reading the newspaper to shopping. There really does appear to be an app for everything for the iPad.
So the question becomes not if a household will own an iPad, but how a household can get one on the cheap.
There were many discounts for iPads on Black Friday ranging from the 10% off offered in the Apple stores, to $60 off offered by Best Buy to gift cards offered with an iPad purchase by Target and Walmart. But if you missed those discounts you are not totally out of luck. There is one way you can always get a discount on an iPad - buy refurbished.
I bought my iPad2 refurbished in the Refurbished & Clearance Shop in the Apple Online Store for $319 and it came with the same one year warranty that comes with every new iPad. Apple tests and certifies all their Apple refurbished products and iPad models include a brand new battery and outer shell. The iPad will ship from China just like the new iPads and it will come in the classic Apple white box. The only difference is the box will indicate that the unit is refurbished.
NOTE: If you are going to buy a refurbished iPad, buy it from Apple - not some 3rd party seller.
When shopping in the Apple online refurbished store, supplies are limited, but updated frequently so you will need to keep checking until you find something that you like at the price that you like.
If you cannot find the refurbished iPad of your dreams using the Apple online store, then you can also check eBay. Apple recently opened a refurbished product store on eBay. According to the press, this Apple store on ebay was opened on a trial basis for Apple to test the waters of selling their products on eBay to consumers. Buying a refurbished iPad in the eBay Apple Store can also save you not only cash off the retail price but also sales tax. The Apple store on eBay charges taxes only in California, DC, Indiana, Nevada, New Jersey, and Texas - unlike Apple’s official store that collects taxes in all states.
Check out these links:
- REFURBISHED & CLEARANCE SHOP IN THE APPLE ONLINE STORE
- APPLE CERTIFIED REFURBISHED PRODUCT STORE ON EBAY
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| I love my Targus Versavu iPad case because it rotates 360 degrees |
Once you buy an iPad, you need to get a case ASAP since you are protecting a highly used and highly expensive piece of hardware.
After I bought my iPad2, I ordered a $10 case off of eBay. I knew for $10 I shouldn't have expected much - and that is what I got, not much. It was a knock-off of a $70 Targus Versavu iPad case which allows you to rotate the case to stand the iPad both vertical and horizontal. Although the knock-off case protected my iPad, the stitching was sub par and the leather had a foul smell - wonderful.
So I aired out the case and kept in only long enough for me to find the authentic Targus Versavu iPad case on clearance at my local Target - I love that store. If you need a case that can stand your iPad both vertical and horizontal and you can find the real thing at a good price, I highly recommend the Targus Versavu iPad case.
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| The Case-mate Venture Case is an elegant lady |
Be sure to check out the Case-mate website to view their entire line of technology cases. If you are looking for both style and function, you cannot go wrong with Case-mate.
Check out these links-
- CASE-MATE WEBSITE
- CASE-MATE VENTURE CASES ON AMAZON.COM
- TARGUS VERSAVU iPAD CASE ON AMAZON.COM
 | Part of the 2012 Holiday Gift Guide |
Enjoy!
Disclosure: I was spent a complementary Case-mate Venture iPad case for review. I am an Amazon.com affiliate. All opinions are my own.
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