The iPad 2 is available now for ordering online and will soon be available in stores. You can get it at 5 PM PST from your local Apple Store, Target, Best Buy, AT&T, Verizon, Walmart around town. There are 18 different configurations to choose from, here I try to help you make the best decision before you buy based on your situation. So, never fear, the Mike Mu Online guide to choosing an iPad 2 is here!

I have no money:

Don't get an iPad 2.

The economy isn't the strongest, and unemployment is still pretty high. Is the iPad 2 really what you should be focusing on?

Yes, it is the best tablet available. Yes, it's almost borderline magical. But you know what's even more magical? Yup, that's right. What you already have now! Heck a lot of us remember when all we had for a tablet was a good old college lined notepad. Whether that's an original iPad, and iTouch, an iPhone, a PC, a Mac, or even a computer running Windows 98. If you got no money, your options are limited - and yet you're still doing just fine. And maybe when you manage to save up some money for one, you'll get the iPad 3, or the version you really wanted!

Get what you can get for free.

There are going to be lots of give-aways in contests, twitter, facebook, blogs and company give-aways. I got my iPad for free by entering a local photo contest. Note that a lot of times, you have to be 18 or older to enter, so if you aren't, get a sponsor!

The makers of invisibleSHIELD regularly give an iPad away every single day. I have a feeling they will continue that tradition for the iPad 2 once more stock comes in.

Beg your best friend or relative to let you have their iPad when they upgrade.

Yes there are lots of people that are buying the iPad for the first time, but there's many more that want to drop their iPad v1 off at discount prices. These same people might not have read this guide and ended up buying the wrong iPad 2 - oh noes! Never fear, ask them to donate their barely used iPad 2 to you in exchange for... (this is where you fill in the blank!).

Make some money!

If you have no money for one, maybe what you should be doing is figuring out some way to make the money to get one. Sell your old iPad! Sell off the junk you don't use anyway.

Money is no object:

Get the iPad 64 GB with Verizon 3G. Why not AT&T? Coverage is horrible on AT&T networks. What use is 3G if you have no coverage? Use your left over money to get accessories -- even accessorize your new iPad with another iPad 64 GB with AT&T 3G as a backup.

That still not good enough for you?

OK, buy a 1st Gen iPad with a grandfathered unlimited 3G from AT&T, and transfer that over to your new iPad 2, AT&T 3G accessory. And then, get a pre-4.2 firmware iPad 1 so that you can still use all the old iDevice accessories that used to work before Apple nerfed it.

Now you have the best of both worlds.

I travel ... a lot! Internationally!:

You must buy an AT&T 3G enabled iPad2. It uses GSM technology which is the most supported standard world-wide. And even if the country you are visiting has CDMA, do you really want to pay Verizon an arm and a leg to use that precious 3G data abroad? (hint: not if you don't like paying several hundred dollars in data roaming charges a week).

So... get the 3G from AT&T. When you're abroad, get a local 3G GSM data card and turn it into a microsim (very carefully) and pop it in. The worst case scenario is that you pay AT&T rates for data roaming and it's actually quite reasonable if you call them up first and ask for that to be activated during your trip.

I like to watch a lot of movies while traveling:

The main thing you want to concern yourself with is getting the 64 GB storage capacity. Secondly, consider the AT&T 3G chip addition for two reasons: It's the fastest 3G when you have coverage, but most importantly, it gives you free AT&T WiFI Hotspot coverage with your monthly subscription.

Streaming on Netflix with AT&T 3G can be a frustrating experience. Doing it on Netflix with Verizon 3G is a frustrating experience. Well, that is of course unless you don't mind a blocky mess of a picture or have poor vision...

I just want to use it at home where I have high speed internet access and home WiFi:

Get the 16 GB WiFi only. No need to waste your money on mobile internet access, and there are some great apps to stream videos and pictures from your computer or online. I tell you a lot about them in my iPad section.

This is my first iPad, I'm not sure what I'd use it for:

OK, you must have some idea... afterall the iPad has been out for a while now. (See how I used the iPad during my first month with it, and while traveling abroad.) The iPad 2 will just do everything a bit faster, slimmer, and with facetime / camera support.

If you are a media heavy user, or think that you might be, don't get the 16 GB. Get at least the 32 GB model. By "heavy media", I'm talking more about movies and videos and music. eBooks don't really take up too much space.

If you've seen the iMovie on iPad demo and are sure you want to do that on your iPad, definitely skip the 16 GB model and do the 32 or 64 GB model.

If you're thinking a lot of music, you should really get an iPod or an iTouch.

If you are one that would be fine carrying a bag or iPad with you everywhere to check email, surf the web, but aren't usually in a cafe or place that has free WiFi, go ahead and add a 3G from AT&T or Verizon. Keep in mind though that a 4G Clear hotspot gives you true unlimited internet access for a monthly rate as low as $25 - that's what I use.

Black or White?

White looks cleaner and seems to go better with the case and the nice clean profile. But it's also more reflective and thus more distracting. Women will probably tend to favor white more than black.

Black is a classic color that is less distracting both for your eyes and in the boardroom. But, it absorbs more heat which could become an issue if you are trying to use it outdoors, and fingerprints will tend to show up more on black in normal use. Scratches will also show up more. (Those that own or used to own a black car know what I'm talking about).

I still don't know what to get:

Well right now, the easy answer is to get whatever is in stock. You can always switch up later (14 day return policy), and they will have a really high resale value until the iPad 3 comes out next year.

Or:

Don't get one yet. Sit it out and figure out what you will want to do with it. Buy an original iPad 1 and play around with it and see if the iPad 2 will make a big enough difference for you to upgrade.

One more thing, very few people have regret getting the 64 GB unit:

Why? It gave them to freedom to not have to pick and choose which apps they can / want to install; it only cost an extra $100 more than the 32 GB model; and they usually figure out that they end up with maybe 20 GB free which means they use about 40 GB of data. Furthermore, you never know what else is coming up next that will gobble up all that new CPU and GPU processing power.

And... very few people actually need all 64 GB (well, on the iPad 1 anyway):

Well, why not? People stream their movies from the cloud! There's Netflix, Hulu, AirVideo, Amazon Video on Demand, Blockbuster, Slingbox, etc to name a few. Yes, I know there's a camera download kit, but really if you actually used that you will find out very quickly that those awesome megapixel cameras with all those pixels take up a LOT of space! 64 GB was never going to fill your needs if you download everything all the time, so why bother with partial downloads? (At least that was the case for me anyway).

But true photographers who want to show their portfolio who have been in business a really long time just might have more to show, or more to shoot and transfer via WiFi. They are probably the only ones that really need the space (from what I can tell). And even then, they can show off their stuff off the cloud too where most of their portfolio is probably already located anyway.

Questions or comments are welcome.