You could trim off the excess plastics off a regular SIM card to fit in the iPad. However it’ll be a $300 fee at most carriers to replace it should you decide to use it in a phone instead.
Vibo, Taiwan Mobile and Chunghwa Telecom all offer “prepaid” 3G internet service, although each one does it differently.
Vibo offers a 1-, 3- or 5-day pass for NT$99, $249, or $399 respectively. Unlimited data transfer during the period. To get this, you would sign up for a prepaid line and whenever you want to use the internet, you would have to call their automated ordering system FROM the prepaid service line and make a purchase. Now this last bit seems to be quite a headache, and as far as I know there is NO WAY to circumvent this. Therefore, unless the iPad has built-in phone capabilities like the iPhone this option is basically moot since after you trim the SIM card there’s no easy way to “untrim” it, so to speak, so you can put it back inside a 3G capable phone to make the purchase.
Here’s additional pricing information should you need it: vibo.com.tw/CWS/Consumer_03_07,.html
Taiwan Mobile offers a similar service with pricing closely matching Vibo’s. Theirs is called “catch internet by the day” and while their website does not explicitly mention it, this by-the-day internet service does work on prepaid accounts and the balance is deducted from the balance you maintain on your prepaid line. Also, you apparently CAN order the service over the internet (there is a website interface for it) or call CS to process the purchase (YMMV, as when I called them up and asked the CS rep did ask me if I wanted to get the pass right then on the phone, but since I didn’t go through with it I had no way of telling if it was indeed doable on the phone.)
They’ll send you a text notification and notify you that the service has been enabled and when it is set to expire, so the iPad would need to have the ability to receive text messages for you to see if the service is turned on. Be forewarned, however, that Taiwan Mobile DOES ALSO charge for internet on a per-kilobyte basis so unless you get the notification that the unlimited internet pass is turned on YOU WILL BE CHARGED BY THE KILOBYTE, and their rate works out to be $46 per megabyte of data so downloading a song off the iTunes store will cost you $200-$300 in data transfer fees alone.
Here’s additional pricing information should you need it: catch.net.tw/gprs/gprs_day.jsp
Lastly, there’s Chunghwa Telecom. I am actually unsure if you are able to purchase unlimited internet with their prepaid service, but they do have a pay-by-the-day service (3G行動上網日租型) where you can buy 3 days of service for $250 or 7 days of service for $450. However, it appears that to get this multiday pass you will actually have to go to a CHT service branch and get a SIM card which is activated at the counter and deactivated when your pass expires each time you need the service, so it’s a bit impractical for iPad users seeing how you would actually have to step into a branch, take a number, sign up for service and trim the SIM when you get home each time you’re in Taipei.
emome.net/channel?chid=423 is the site you want to look at if you do want to go through this route.
