Apple issued a press release today announcing that the iPad 3G models will arrive to customers who've pre-ordered them on Friday, April 30th (no special Saturday delivery this time).
The iPad 3G models will also be available from Apple retail stores on the same date at the interesting hour of 5:00 p.m. Good luck to all the Apple employees that have to tell every eager iPad 3G buyer that they have to wait until the clock strikes 5.
The iPad 3G models cost $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB, and a wallet-shredding $829 for 64GB. Data plans cost an additional $14.99 a month for the 250 MB plan, and $29.99 a month for unlimited use.
To 3G or Not To 3G
From my experience, the Apple iPad is severely limited without internet access. A good deal of the apps require internet to work. There are apps for saving web-pages to view offline and other ways to prepare for instances when Wi-Fi isn't available, but if you intend on using the iPad a lot in areas that Wi-Fi isn't available then the 3G model is probably worth the extra $130.