Why The $400 iPad 2 Is Still A Better Tablet Deal Than The New iPad

Prospective tablet buyers may have been holding off on buying a new device until Apple announced the new iPad. Now that we know the iPad 2 is down to $400, here's why it's a better deal.

Besides an attractive screen on the new iPad, and maybe 4G if you can afford it, the new iPad isn't enough of a must-have device to convince people to buy it. Of course, many people just like to have the newest thing, but for most people the $400 iPad 2 is going to look mighty tempting. Nothing else in the $400 price range comes close to the iPad 2, and the $500 new iPad is now a bit of a curiosity because of it.

If people wait a year, will iPad be $400 and a fourth-generation device (iPad 4?) be $500? How much better can Android tablets get in the next year? Apple already owns the tablet market, and there's a reason everyone compares other devices to the iPad, but most people still don't own one, and the new iPad won't change that. Anyone who was even thinking of getting a tablet no doubt balked at the $500 price tag of the iPad 2, and now when they go to shop for tablets, they won't even be able to tell it apart from the new iPad unless it's right next to it.

There are worse problems to have, and Apple does spend millions on marketing their gear, so maybe it won't matter in terms of raw sales numbers. But other tablet makers are catching up, and when newer tablets come out with similar HD displays, what will the $500 iPad have to offer that's different?

Apps could be the difference there, but hardware-wise, the new iPad advances the tablet world only a short way. Especially considering the price. Buy an iPad 2 and you get access to the same apps as on the new iPad plus you save $100. That's what most people will be thinking.

Agree or disagree? Tell us in the comments if you were wowed by the new iPad or if you kind of shrugged when you realized it was just called iPad.