What's great about the iPad 2 5pm launch vs the iPad 1 launch...

[HXGuy]

...is that this year you can actually call the stores and see if they got their stock in and how much. On top of that, you can wonder around the store to waste time until a line starts to form.

Last year, with the launch happening when the stores opened, there was no way of knowing if their stock was delivered already. I bought mine from Best Buy last year, and they opened at 10am but FedEx hadn't brought the shipment yet...so it took until around 10:30, waiting in line, until we were able to buy. This year, a bit more research can be done before hand.

 

[Mattstkc]

unless you're buying at an Apple store, in which case they'll be closed until 5 and won't take stupid calls about stock from a zillion people. Then again they probably won't run out either at least until Sunday, but then again, Apple launches are better at Apple stores anyways