My friend had one, it wasn't much difference between the first one. I don't really like Apple that much, you are just so.. locked, or so to say if you don't want to jailbreak it. However if you have an iTunes account with actual paid stuff on it, i'd say why not. If you take an interest in new apps and games you'll like it since its almost always developers for iOS that break through at first and the games later get ported to Android. Fruit Ninja, Temple Run, etc.
It also depends on how much freedom you want with it. However you'll find that both Android and Apple can suit your needs just fine. Myself, i would have gotten Android because of the versatility of the tablets. You can either get a monster one with awesome hardware or just small/discrete one like the Galaxy Tab. If you're in for customization go with an Android with the possibility of ROMs and widgets.
I don't really know the price of iPad 2 right now, since the reveal of iPad 3.
Apple laptops are not necessary, they are just overpriced as hell for the kind of hardware they come with.