Are you ready to buy the new iPad? Before you just go out and buy one and get burned by your carrier, let’s compare which service provider gives you the best deal. Comparing the plans available for cost and features will help you make an informed choice, because the 2 carriers are not alike.

Do you want Wi-Fi only or LTE 4G? Your first consideration is how you will be connecting your iPad. Of course the Wi-Fi only is cheaper at $499 compared to the Wi-Fi/LTE 4G at $629. Where are you going to connect? Are you only going to connect at home where you have Wi-Fi or at a hotspot like Starbucks, or are you sometimes on the road where there is no Wi-Fi available? If you think you will need to connect without Wi-Fi then by all means, buy the LTE 4G capable iPad. The convenience of being able to connect wherever you want is worth the extra $130.

Data Plans are not created equal. AT&T’s cheapest data plan for the new iPad is only $15, but you only get 250MB of data. That is a pitiful amount of data, and may not even take care of your email needs. The next tier of data on AT&T is 3 GB for $30. According to an article posted by KT Bradford, gottabemobile, "Pricing for the 4G data plans (which remain month-to-month with no contract required) is the same as pricing for 3G on both carriers. So if you buy the Verizon Wireless model you can do 1GB/month for $20, 2GB @ $30, 5GB @ $50, and 10GB @ $80. This is the same as pricing for other tablets on the carrier except the iPad gets the special 1GB tier."

Do you want to use your new iPad as a mobile hotspot? AT&T’s new iPad only has the mobile hotspot included in the 5G data plan at $50 per month. However, according to 9to5mac, the mobile hotspot feature will not be available for AT&T iPad 3rd gen. Does this mean that the iPad 2 gets the mobile hotspot and the new iPad doesn’t? That sounds bizarre. With Verizon, the mobile hotspot is included in the tablet data plans so customers who sign up any of the data plans will also have access to the mobile hotspot feature.

Which service provider will you go with? For my money, I will choose Verizon. Not only does Verizon offer the data plus the mobile hotspot, but in my rural area, Verizon has the best cell coverage as well. But you decide, and let us know. Meanwhile, once you get your new iPad, there are some great accessories you might just want. You can get a great iPad docking station and really use the video feature. Since the new iPad is Bluetooth compatible, you might want one of the new Bluetooth headsets for making video calls.