So, after almost two hours of being sat at my computer and frequently repeating process of attempting to order an iPad 2 in the early hours of this morning, I finally manged to order one...actually I ordered two.

The UK Apple store - and stores elsewhere, according to plenty of angry German Twitter noise - was not ready for last night. So many different error screens ('Oops' is not a cute error when you've seen it 50 odd times), sticking over £2000 worth of iPads and covers in my basket after my purchase failed, 'We'll Be Back Shortly' appearing on my account settings by about 1:30, all of these things were giving me such a headache as I was engaged in a ridiculous battle to try and order an iPad 2 as they became available online.

Eventually, my order got through, although I was starting to get skeptical about the estimated dispatch dates offered online, I guess we'll see how that plays out. After wearily waking this morning after significantly less sleep than I had expected, I open my email inbox to find TWO order confirmations. It seems that one of my much earlier attempts to order must have gotten through, not that they'd been able to inform me with the constant stream of errors.

Naturally, I went back onto the UK store and attempted to view my orders but it would appear that they're still fairly clogged up. After a few attempts, I went over to the US store and managed to log in first time. I cancelled my duplicate order (the one I didn't have a reference number for) and I'm now sitting tight to see what happens next.

This has been one of my worst experiences of buying online ever. The last time I had to reattempt to purchase something this much was when I laboured to purchase Glastonbury tickets a few years ago. Their resources definitely weren't up to the task, I expected as much difficulty as I had. With Apple, I thought it might have been easier.

Rant over. Strangely, I want an iPad 2 less after this.

Anyone else had difficulty getting hold of one?