IPad – Is it possible to purchase the OEM USB sync cable

I believe the lack of accessories may be due to the power requirements of the iPad.

The iPad comes with a 10 watt charger while most iPhone chargers are only 1 watt. According to this article lower wattage chargers will work, they will just be slower.

http://m.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/04/ipad-battery-charging/

You can host your own calendar (CalDAV) and contact (CardDAV) server using Mac OS Server ‘Leopard’ or Server ‘Snow Leopard.’ These will sync over the Internet to iCal and Address Book on your Macs, and to your iOS devices.

If you don’t want to get an expensive Mac Mini Server you could go with using an old retired notebook or even a virtual machine with a Linux installation. The open source project DAViCal will provide you with both CalDAV and CardDAV services.

I am personally using an installation of DAViCal too keep my Macs and iOS devices in sync using a older machine I have at home as the server. I would recommend this solution as you remain in control of your own data. Getting it up and running requires some work, but you would be able to congratulate yourself with the accomplishment. There are step-by-step tutorials for setting up both Linux and the DAViCAL software available.