iTunes in Lebanon
 

Hey, I am getting an iPad 2 soon, it will be the first iSomething I get. I already have 3 electronics that have online stores, the PS3, an android phone and a Nokia phone. To be able to buy stuff for PSN I have to get UAE PSN credits from Sony stores and use them to buy games online, the Lebanese CC does not work in the UAE store and there is no Lebanese store.
In my android the market place only offers me free stuff because I am in Lebanon so I can't buy any application!
In the Nokia, I can use my CC to buy stuff from the OVI store!

So my question is how will my experience with iTunes be? From googling it looks like they have a Lebanese store, can I use my CC in it? will I be able to buy anything I want? (Apps - I don't really care about movies or songs) Will there be a delay between the time apps are launched in the US and the time they are launched in Lebanon? If there is no way to buy stuff from the Lebanese store can I connect to the US one? Will I need an American CC to buy stuff from it?

PS: I know I can jailbreak and get everything for free, I do not want to do that so do not suggest it.

Hey Man, I got the solution for u, the US store in itunes features more apps and cheaper ones, sometimes they are sold for free for a limited time, these features are not available on the lebanese store, and yes you need a US credit card to accrss it, the solution is by buying a gift card, I made this site with Sherrif Ice (the member in this forum_: www.onlineicards.com, you can buy Gift cards at a very competitve rate, and redeem them in the US itunes store to grant access to the US store, if you have any questions please let me know

^^ the above solution is good, and i recommend it to get the most of the iTunes store.
However, using the lebanese iTunes store isn't much of a hassle, major CC are accepted, all interesting apps are available but i don't know if the prices are more expensive or no.

Thanks for the answers, I still have a couple of questions:
-Can I use two accounts simultaneously? So for example I use my Lebanese account to buy the apps available in both stores at the same price and my American account to buy stuff that are cheaper in the US Store.
-Will the card sold for 60$ have 50$ in it or will apple also take some money from it? I will be paying 1.2$ for each dollar so is this premium worth it or not?
-Does the Lebanese store offer books?

Yes u can use 2 accounts, bas waj3et rass, I don't advise u
Bas masalan, u can create an account for the itunes on pc, and another account for itunes on the iphone or ipad
Apple won't charge u any extra, the gift card is similar to a prepaid credit card, you pay what u buy, nothing more, nothing less
Itunes lebanon doesn't have books, nor movies and stuff

Thanks! sorry I am asking a lot of questions but I want to have everything figured out before getting the iPad.
-Can you please elaborate on the waj3it rass part? in what way is it a waj3it rass? I know Apple is pretty anal about controlling the stuff you have and that you can't transfer music from an iPod to a PC that's not the original PC the music came from. So does it mean I cannot mix the apps bought from the Lebanese store with the one bought from the US one? I have to have just one of the two installed on the device? (sounds stupid so I hope it's not true!)
-If I buy a card from you will I get the card sent to me or will I just get the code by email? (just to know when to buy it to have it ready when the iPad gets here)
-If in the future I get a iPhone or an iPod or an iWhatever are the apps transferable between the iPad and the other device (if they are compatible with both of them originally of course) or do I have to buy 2 copies of the same apps?

Mbala you can mix accounts, bas for example
If you want to access the US store, you have to sign out of the lebanese store and sign in to the US store and vice versa

The card will be sent by e mail, the code and a scanned image of the card with instructions how to use the gift card, email will be sent in 15-30 minutes when the payment is received (usually 15 minutes)

You can transfer iphone apps to ipad, and ipad apps to iphone, but be aware that some iphone apps do not support the big screen of the ipad, and some ipad apps are made for the ipad and won't work on the iphone

Using your account, you can transfer the apps to any i-device, between iphone and ipod, ipod and ipad, there is no problem with that

Ask whatever you want, no problem :)

Thanks for the answers! I'm getting the iPad next month and after reading the answers here and googling a bit, buying from you seems like the best option so I guess I'll buy a card next month!

Where are you getting your iPad 2 from?

From the US, it's available at Virgin bass if anyone is interested for 1050$ for the 16GB version!

Since you are getting it from the US, have you considered the BlackBerry PlayBook or the Motorola Xoom instead?
I myself would recommend the BlackBerry PlayBook for you. A much more superior user experience.

Reviews of the Motorola Xoom agree that the software still needs polishing, I also have an android phone and as stated in my first post the android marketplace experience in Lebanon is very crappy! In addition to that the iPad already has a lot of interesting apps that I want and those are not yet developed for the Xoom or will never be developed to it.
I know you did not mention it but I also tried the Galaxy Tab and I have to say the experience was really bad pinch to zoom is really slow for example and that's a seriously simple feature that everyone managed to implement correctly already!
I saw some videos of the Playbook, while it looks interesting it didn't manage to convince me to buy it as it doesn't offer anything special + it's not even released yet.
The only other Tab I might consider buying is the HP one but this isn't coming before summer.
Note that my first reaction to the iPad 1 was that I would never buy it, apps and trying it + the need of a simple good device for casual browsing the net and reading stuff convinced me to buy it. I was actually considering buying a Kindle in its place and if the reading experience it offers is not great I might still get an e-Reader I guess.

I agree with you with the Galaxy tab... I consider it a complete failure and was released way too soon user experience is really low.
As for the Xoom, software definitely needs polishing, but this all happens in a software push. If you are looking for a 10" tablets I would recommend the Xoom as it will offer more features and power than iPad.

PlayBook... It will be officially released in 8 days. For me this is the tablet I will be picking for the following reasons. Processing and memory power, portability (7" and 400g), QNX OS, true multitasking, micro hdmi and the ability to have a presenter mode, and finally the ability to bridge it to my BlackBerry.
I agree with you that you still didn't get the chance to try it which explains a lot, but after having my hands on the device for 2 days it completely erased my doubts.

How did you get to try it for two days? Anyways I can see how this device has an advantage for you, I just don't share the same priorities you have, the screen size does not annoy me, I don't really need the multitasking since I won't do anything productive on the device (I will use it to "consume" info not "produce", I will still use my laptop for that). The new iPad also has a dongle that adds HDMI capabilities but I doubt I will use it, I have my PS and a WD TV Live to watch shows and movies from and while I might use it to do some presentations at work or university I'll probably be needing the VGA adapter and not the HDMI one. Finally I do not have nor am I planning to get a BB so that's also something I won't use!

I personally think that the 2 companies who might have a chance to offer something good against the iPad are HP and BB since they will be in control of the software and the Hardware but you cannot deny that it is apple that is currently leading while others are still copying...

I got to test the pre-release version as part of my work. Anyway at this point although the official release days is not till the 19th, but most of the electronic stores in North America are having demo sessions about the playbook. I do understand that iPad also has a dongle that adds HDMI capability, but again that is something you will need to buy on top of your $550 iPad instead of having it built in.

I personally think that nothing will compete with iPad nor with the PlayBook. Once the PlayBook is released, iPad will shift to the regular consumer, while BB will have the business users (governmental agencies, organizations and so on) plus a fairly shares of the regular consumer.