Apple’s second generation iPad is still on the market, outliving both the iPad 3 and 4. For schools looking to purchase tablets the iPad 2 can be a bargain, but be careful, some unscrupulous suppliers are quoting the iPad 2 price without making it clear to the school.
The iPad 2 can be picked up from many retailers for $390 or less
. In the UK I’ve managed to source iPad 2s for as low as £270, a saving of £130 off the cost of the latest model.
Whether or not you consider the cost still to high for what is essentially an iPad without Retina display and a two year old processor, the offer is a tempting one for schools looking to purchase tablets. A £130 per device is not to be sniffed at when purchasing iPads in large numbers and can significantly increase the number of students who can have access to a device.
A problem I have found, however, is that it’s essential when getting quotes from suppliers you specify the iPad model you are looking to purchase. Twice I have heard from schools who have requested a quote from a supplier for a quantity of iPads and have quickly placed an order based on the low price they have received. I have experienced exactly this situation myself. I asked a supplier for a price for 30 iPads and received an extremely competitive quote in return. It was only that the price seemed so unrealistic and I queried it that I found the iPads were second generation devices and not the iPad 4s I was reasonably expecting.
When placing orders for iPads make sure you have a good idea of the purchase price before hand and specify the exact model you want. If I hadn’t queried the supplier I could quite easily have ended up ordering a large quantity of lower spec’ed tablets.
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