So you have made a decision to to buy an iPad either online or in a shop. What else are you going to need to buy and how much is it going to cost you?
The only things that come in the box are the device itself and a charger. You are definitely going to need a case or cover of some type. My advice is to hold off on buying a case for a few days or so, until you have had the iPad and used it. You can use the box it came in as a reliable but unwieldy case during this temporary period.
Why wait? Well first of all unless you have had a loan of an iPad from someone else, it's worth having it and handling it to get a feel for the form factor. It's also useful to decide how and when you're going to use the iPad as this will probably influence the style of case you will buy and what other bits and pieces you are likely to carry with it.
There are lots of different types of cases or covers that vary widely in design and price. The simplest (and cheapest) are probably the wetsuit type of sleeves made of neoprene or some other padded material. They are designed to transport your iPad and you can't use the device while they are in the sleeve. Other common and popular cases are the portfolio style of case (often leather) which allow you to use the iPad while in the case, and can get quite expensive. Some of these also double as a stand for your iPad, allowing you to view the screen in a near vertical orientation when you are using an external keyboard, or angled at about 15 degrees or so when using the onscreen keyboard. I use the iPad at work and at home, and not when I am out and about, so I just use a sleeve to protect it in my bag. Originally, I used a cloth bag and padded envelope but then someone gave me the neoprene sleeve because they upgraded their case (thanks Mark at eMedia !).
One key consideration is what other things you will need to carry with your iPad. If you are going to use it to deliver lectures (a topic for a future post) you will need to carry the VGA adaptor. It's small, but probably something you don't want rattling around in a bag and scraping off the glass screen. You'll almost certainly want to carry the charger with you from time to time and the same considerations as above apply. And if you buy an external keyboard you may want to transport that along also. If style is important to you and you need people to know you have an iPad, you'll probably want to buy a bag (or if you're male, a murse) that matches your black polo neck and plastic framed glasses. In that case you can probably fit all of the above into the bag along with your iPhone, iTouch, iPod nano, and your digital camera/DVR.
You can get a roundup of just some of the case/sleeve/bag options here http://www.macworld.com/article/147154/2010/03/ipadcasepreview.html
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