apple iphone and ipad

[dwtt]

Anyone know where I can buy an apple ipad and an iphone 4 for less than what the apple store or ATT wants for it? The apple store wants $500 for the ipad with 16gb of memory. If I were to sign up with ATT to get the iphone 4 with 32gb and then cancel the contract after a month, the total cost comes out to $700. I don't want these things, but we wanted to give them as gifts for some friends overseas. Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
.

[whobob]

buy it used

[JDay]

eBay, Craigslist. Although it'll be hard finding an iPhone 4 for less than retail. There's also the issue of it being made to run on AT&T's 3G network, this will limit 3G to AT&T only. What country do they live in, you should be looking for that version iPhone.

[UltraLNW]

Welcome, brother!

Please proceed to Station A, where a Jobsian Acolyte will use the iClipper app on his iPhone4 to shave your head in a ritualistic fashion.

Next, move to Station B, where you will be supplied with a bleached knee-length tunic and white, shiny Birkenstocks.

Finally, proceed to Station C, where an Apple iStore Genius (tm) will provide you with your new iThought bio-OS.

Don't worry about the cost of these items; iThought is a closed system that blocks your need to have (non-Cupertino) material wealth. The iCollective will ensure that you are properly cared for.

[Gryff]

Welcome, brother!

Please proceed to Station A, where a Jobsian Acolyte will use the iClipper app on his iPhone4 to shave your head in a ritualistic fashion.

Next, move to Station B, where you will be supplied with a bleached knee-length tunic and white, shiny Birkenstocks.

Finally, proceed to Station C, where an Apple iStore Genius (tm) will provide you with your new iThought bio-OS.

Don't worry about the cost of these items; iThought is a closed system that blocks your need to have (non-Cupertino) material wealth. The iCollective will ensure that you are properly cared for.

Oh, don't be bitter because Apple makes all the cool technologies commercially successful. Just enjoy the products that those that follow bring to market.

[Bo0tyBandit]

eBay works for me.

[albinorhino1982]

Welcome, brother!

Please proceed to Station A, where a Jobsian Acolyte will use the iClipper app on his iPhone4 to shave your head in a ritualistic fashion.

Next, move to Station B, where you will be supplied with a bleached knee-length tunic and white, shiny Birkenstocks.

Finally, proceed to Station C, where an Apple iStore Genius (tm) will provide you with your new iThought bio-OS.

Don't worry about the cost of these items; iThought is a closed system that blocks your need to have (non-Cupertino) material wealth. The iCollective will ensure that you are properly cared for.

HAHA. Classic.

[hcbr]

Yep it'll have to be ebay or CL for that, apple products just are in hype demand and always will carry that premium.

[Rivers]

You can also check out the refurbished items on the Apple Store. These items change even during the course of the day so if you don't see what you want in the morning, check back a few hours later. Many refurbs are simply returns that had to be repackaged after re-inspection by Apple.

Also look for student/teacher academic discounts and government/business discounts.

[beaster]

Watch out, I hear that iPhones have to be hacked(jailbreak) in order to work on other carriers. And the cost is similar to what the OP stated in the original statement. A little off topic, but Verizon announced the other day that they finally have rights to the iPhone. Not sure when it's rolling out, but could drop the cost of services at least.

[Nose Nuggets]

To answer the OP's question directly; Apple sets the prices of all their products. 99% of the time, if you see a retail outlet (MacMall, for instance) selling a product below Apple MSRP, its an older model. I used to work for an apple reseller, and our cost on them was only like 5-8% bellow the MSRP.

Your options for purchasing an iPhone out of contract and below MSRP are provided above by other posters.

[dwtt]

Thanks for the responses. I'll look on ebay since I don't want to deal with the typical people of craigslist. If it was up to me, I wouldn't buy these things, but it's being bought as a gift for family, so I will have to go along with it.

[6172crew]

The problem with Verizon is it wont be 4g and its stuck on the old CDMA x1 network. On the plus side it looks like they will allow tethering...but to a 1x?

I work for a mobile carrier and we were all hoping for Verizon/Apple to enable 4g but it looks like it wont happen. CDMA and the old Edge network are old school for multi taking or being able to take on what is offered by att 3g.

My company has 4g and CDMA but the phone wont support it yet.

[FreedomIsNotFree]

The Verizon iPhone will use 1X CDMA for voice, 3G EVDO for data. It will also be the first to have the mobile hot spot app. No need to tether.