Big W, the Australian department store modelled on Walmart to compete with K-Mart, Target and the high-brow department stores, is offering big savings on the original iPad, now 33% thicker, 90 grams heavier, camera-free and twice-as-slow than the new iPad 2.

Given the still enormous utility of the original iPad, despite the iPad 2 blitzing the original in many respects, some consumers will finally pick up a cheap original iPad as 'late adopters', as the early adopters likely adopt the new iPad 2.

Big W's prices are $200 cheaper across the board over the previous pricing, with the cheapest 16GB Wi-Fi iPad now available for AUD $398, and the most expensive 64GB 3G/Wi-Fi iPad selling for AUD $798.

With the iPad due to get the iOS 4.3 upgrade along with the iPad 2 and late-model iPhone and iPod Touch models, the iPad will still be getting the promise of much faster Safari browsing and the new multi-touch gestures that have been a feature of leaked iOS 4.3 beta videos but which strangely made no appearance, visually or descriptively, during the iPad 2's launch with Steve Jobs.

The news comes courtesy of Lifehacker which has a chart showing the $200 price cut over Big W's already cheaper-than-Apple iPad pricing, and which shows that, despite claims from Ruslan Kogan of Kogan technologies that Apple will eventually dump its third party retail channel, Apple is still using that channel to its advantage to get rid of 'old' stock at a cheaper price while itself heavily promoting the iPad 2 now that it has been officially announced at last.

Whether you already have an iPad, and are even considering upgrading to an iPad 2, the temptation of a cheap original iPad model will surely be very tempting to some who simply want another tablet PC in their lives, whether to keep spouses or kids happy, or to have as a second, fully functional tablet to complement their first.

After all, with the iPad far more useable and user-friendly than most netbooks, and with the cheapest 16GB Wi-Fi iPad now challenging iPod Touch and netbook pricing, the market for old Apple gear is still strong - just as high pricing for the iPhone 3GS on eBay showed despite availability of the iPhone 4.

So, if you've been waiting for iPads to come down in price, the wait has ended, with your only worry being whether the model you want is still in store and in stock at Big W when you go to get it!