How upset should you be at UK iPad pricing?

We never really doubted that we would be paying a UK premium on the US prices of the Apple iPad, but exactly how much more are we shelling out for the newly-priced UK version of the year's most desirable gadget?

First of all, to do a direct comparison is difficult due to tax – with different US states charging a differing amount of sales tax.

But for the sake of this article we're going to assume that you bought your iPad in California – currently the highest sales tax region - and we're even chucking in the additional sales tax which takes the figure up to 10.75 per cent of the cost of the product.

Got that?

So let's look at the cheapest iPad – the 16GB, Wi-Fi only version which is currently priced at $499.

So if you factor in the maximum sales tax of 10.75 per cent then you come to a not-very-even $552.64. So that's pretty much the most you would pay for an iPad in the US.

Now if you convert that to pounds then you get a figure of £377.69.

Which, as you can probably see, is still £51.30 less than you would pay for the same device in the UK.

But, the conversion rates are the Bank of England rates, so you would have to add more if you actually wanted a real currency conversion.

And the other oft-used excuse when tech companies explain the mark-up on their prices is that the cost of running things like retail stores and offices in the UK is much higher, and therefore the overheads increase.

(CORRECTED) Another way to look at the pricing would be to take the VAT off the UK price - which brings it down to £365.11 and convert that, which gives you a price of $536.16, 36 dollars more than the US price.

We're not condoning the pricing (or condemning it), and we're also sure that Apple doesn't lose out by its pricing, but just bear in mind when the bloke in the pub tells you that it's been marked up by £100 on the US price that this isn't strictly true.

And remember, if you think it's a bit steep then the best form of protection is simply not to buy it.