Best deal on Ipad Pro 9.7

[t76turbo]

I missed the deal Best Buy had where the Pro was $100 off then add another $100 off with the student discount. Which would have put a space gray 128 gig wifi only at $549 I think.

The student discount of $100 off is still good till the 8th I think. But I was hoping for a little better deal.

Anyone have any better deals out there???? That includes any known places that best buy matches prices with. I already checked Amazon and it has to be shipped from and sold by Amazon for them to match and apparently amazon doesn't have them to sell themselves at this point..

 

[TheRealAlex]

I missed the deal Best Buy had where the Pro was $100 off then add another $100 off with the student discount. Which would have put a space gray 128 gig wifi only at $549 I think.

The student discount of $100 off is still good till the 8th I think. But I was hoping for a little better deal.

Anyone have any better deals out there???? That includes any known places that best buy matches prices with. I already checked Amazon and it has to be shipped from and sold by Amazon for them to match and apparently amazon doesn't have them to sell themselves at this point..

Maybe 20% off using education or corporate discount like my Borther works at a University and they get 20% off for faculty or a major company that does business with Apple maybe a friend or family member works at one of these places.

Or you can see if Verizon has the 32GB LTE model for $529 with a free Apple Pencil included normally this would all cost $829.99 but on a 2 year contract at $30 a month it's basically Free financing. Sprint matched it for me and that's what I got for $529 only $29 more than last years iPad Air 2.

Why anyone bothers with a non LTE model missing cellular no GPS connectivity I don't know.

 

[t76turbo]

I ended up talking to a manager and told him why I missed the sale and asked if they could offer any discounts. They ended up doing the $100 off just like on the sale plus the $100 off for the student discount.

So it all worked out.

 

[TheRealAlex]

I ended up talking to a manager and told him why I missed the sale and asked if they could offer any discounts. They ended up doing the $100 off just like on the sale plus the $100 off for the student discount.

So it all worked out.

Receipt picture or it didn't happen. I am calling BS

 

[Angel841]

Two weeks ago best buy had a sale on the ipad pro 9.7", $125 off any model, for my bestbuy rewards members. Bought a 128gb wifi for 624.99. The 32gb model was $474.99, was tempted to buy it but 32gb is not enough for me.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Why anyone bothers with a non LTE model missing cellular no GPS connectivity I don't know.

Because iPhone tethering.

 

[JohnDG]

Because iPhone tethering.

A legitimate question given that T-Mobile will give you 200MB/mo for life for free. The SIM built into the iPad works with this offer.

Jdg

 

[BeatCrazy]

A legitimate question given that T-Mobile will give you 200MB/mo for life for free. The SIM built into the iPad works with this offer.

Jdg

So pay $129 in hardware costs to get a few hours a month of free LTE, which when the 200MB runs out you just switch over to tethering anyways? I have this free SIM, and still don't see the value of an LTE iPad. Mainly because my iPad leaves the house about 3X a year.

 

[SDColorado]

So pay $129 in hardware costs to get a few hours a month of free LTE, which when the 200MB runs out you just switch over to tethering anyways? I have this free SIM, and still don't see the value of an LTE iPad. Mainly because my iPad leaves the house about 3X a year.

You can always choose a "pay as you go" format of a data block for a 24 hour or 7 block. This is the route I go and It's a cheaper route to go if you don't need data all the time. I just use the free 200mb a month when I am mostly at home, but will purchase a 7 day block if I will be away from home and traveling

 

[BeatCrazy]

You can always choose a "pay as you go" format of a data block for a 24 hour or 7 block. This is the route I go and It's a cheaper route to go if you don't need data all the time. I just use the free 200mb a month when I am mostly at home, but will purchase a 7 day block if I will be away from home and traveling

I still don't know of any math that works out cheaper pay-as-you-go, vs tethering on on existing data plan. Even paying for overages on a standard plan w/tethering is cheaper than PAYG w/TMo 200 MB.

 

[SDColorado]

I still don't know of any math that works out cheaper pay-as-you-go, vs tethering on on existing data plan. Even paying for overages on a standard plan w/tethering is cheaper than PAYG w/TMo 200 MB.

I am not aware that I said it was cheaper than tethering. I was presenting it as an alternative to tethering, when the free T-Mobile 200 MB runs out. If I wasn't clear on that I apologize. For some folks it is a matter of convenience vs cost and for some folks maybe 200 MB is enough. I find PAYG a cheaper alternative to a monthly plan for my own use, others may find a monthly plan the better option.

For you, obviously cellular is not a convenience worth paying for, since you rarely leave the home with your iPad. For folks who do frequently take their iPads away from the home and are often away from an outlet, tethering can be a time consuming annoyance, if you have to connect frequently. It can also place a not insignificant drain on your phones battery.

I tried going the WiFi only route for the first time with the iPad Pro, thinking I would just tether it. One business trip later and I returned/exchanged it for a cellular model. It was worth the try, but it just didn't work out as well I had hoped for my own needs.

 

[BeatCrazy]

I am not aware that I said it was cheaper than tethering.

You can always choose a "pay as you go" format of a data block for a 24 hour or 7 block. This is the route I go and It's a cheaper route to go if you don't need data all the time.

Huh? Anyways. Whatever works out best for your situation. But I still don't know of any math that works out cheaper of LTE + data plan, vs. tethering. Now if you can't deal with the additional iPhone battery drain, that is fine. But it's not cheaper, via any plan that I'm aware of.

 

[B.A.T]

Huh? Anyways. Whatever works out best for your situation. But I still don't know of any math that works out cheaper of LTE + data plan, vs. tethering. Now if you can't deal with the additional iPhone battery drain, that is fine. But it's not cheaper, via any plan that I'm aware of.

Two years ago T-Mobile was selling LTE iPads without the extra $129 charge. No money down it was a hell of a deal. Not sure if they do that any more.

 

[masotime]

Now if you can't deal with the additional iPhone battery drain, that is fine.

This is a bigger deal than it sounds. Constantly tethering is an enormous drain on the iPhone battery, and you'd probably need a portable battery to compensate, which adds to total bulk and reduces portability.

Of course, as you've already observed, this is predicated on how often you bring your iPad with you. When I'm out, an iPad is with me ~70% of the time, so this becomes a more critical factor depending on your usage patterns.

In particular, the iPad mini is a prime candidate for cellular connectivity. It is the most portable iPad, and being an iPad it has extremely long battery life, which also makes it excellent as a fire-and-forget personal hotspot.