rockhillmanor wrote: I am on the road full time and do 'all' my finances on line with a laptop via a broadband connection.
Ipads are ONLY wifi capable.
Depends on which iPad one gets. There is an iPad model with no cellular connection and their are iPad models with cellular connection. The Verizon version of the New iPad has these cellular protocols.
Quote: If you want one that has the usb ports for mobile broadband internet access you have to buy the one that costs $500.00 plus. I can buy laptops with 100X the memory and is secure internet capable all day long for that kind of money. So for me it's a NO on the ipad.
None of the iPads have a USB port. All of them can use USB via a dock connector to USB adapter cable.
Quote: The ipad is nothing more than a large Iphone, and I already have one of those.
There are apps unique to the iPad and many iPhone apps have been enhanced to take advantage of the larger "real estate" of the iPad.Tom
Thank you for clarifying the capabilities! Best Buy needs YOU as an employee! I have spent countless trips to computer stores inquiring about what the ipad can do getting different answers each time.
I do have a question though.
If you buy the more expensive Ipad that has the cellular connection.
You HAVE to use that connection AND pay a monthly fee to the provider right?
Don't get me wrong I would love to have that new little toy but here is my problem with it:
I already have a sprint mobile broadband I use on my laptop. From my understanding the IPad as it is designed now will not accept my usb mobile broadband. So I would have to pay for 'their' installed cellular connection. I don't want to have to pay for 2 separate internet providers every month, just to add the new IPad to my stash of new electronics!
"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned,
so as to have the life that is waiting for us".
I have both (and more). It is all about what you do with a computer. Tablets and smart phones of various sizes (there are Android and Windows devices in addition to your Apple choices) go so far, larger computers go further.
I like the iPad from my easy chair for social networking, getting to IMDB, Wikipedia, some local news stations. I occasionally use it for watching movies when I have fast, free WiFi, but that is not something I would do over its 3G connection. The e-mail facilities are useful for going through the mail, but I find I have to set things aside that need printing, saving, or extensive answers, to handle again on the laptop or desktop.
I also have an iPod Touch that I use for the same tasks as the iPad (which I bought for my wife to use for email and Facebook when she got too weak to hold a laptop). I use the Touch a lot more than the iPad because it fits in my pocket, so it is the music player, movie player, camera, and map storage that is always with me, in addition to being a portable Internet device.
But my laptop (and desktop) computers get used for a lot of other things like managing my music, video and photo libraries, spread sheets to catalog and analyze the lists and technical information I obsessively collect, document creation, photo editing, video editing, and DVD creation.
There are also tablet choices in sizes between the iPod Touch/iPhone/Droid etc and the iPad and it's 10 inch competitors. Some people find the 4 inch most useful because it is the largest thing they can pocket, and some find the 7 inch devices more useful than iPad because they better fit purses and the are wide-screen (which the iPad is not, not yet).
rockhillmanor wrote: I am on the road full time and do 'all' my finances on line with a laptop via a broadband connection.
Ipads are ONLY wifi capable.
Depends on which iPad one gets. There is an iPad model with no cellular connection and their are iPad models with cellular connection. The Verizon version of the New iPad has these cellular protocols.
Quote: If you want one that has the usb ports for mobile broadband internet access you have to buy the one that costs $500.00 plus. I can buy laptops with 100X the memory and is secure internet capable all day long for that kind of money. So for me it's a NO on the ipad.
None of the iPads have a USB port. All of them can use USB via a dock connector to USB adapter cable.
Quote: The ipad is nothing more than a large Iphone, and I already have one of those.
There are apps unique to the iPad and many iPhone apps have been enhanced to take advantage of the larger "real estate" of the iPad.Tom
Thank you for clarifying the capabilities! Best Buy needs YOU as an employee! I have spent countless trips to computer stores inquiring about what the ipad can do getting different answers each time.
I do have a question though.
If you buy the more expensive Ipad that has the cellular connection.
You HAVE to use that connection AND pay a monthly fee to the provider right?
Don't get me wrong I would love to have that new little toy but here is my problem with it:
I already have a sprint mobile broadband I use on my laptop. From my understanding the IPad as it is designed now will not accept my usb mobile broadband. So I would have to pay for 'their' installed cellular connection. I don't want to have to pay for 2 separate internet providers every month, just to add the new IPad to my stash of new electronics!
If you buy an iPad 3G from/for AT&T, you don't have to buy a data plan and you don't have to use the 3G. WiFi works as well as on an iPad with WiFi only. I am not sure what are the options with other providers.
If you want to use 3G, you can buy a data plan in the months you need it. I buy the minimum iPad plan ($15 a month) and turn on the 3G only when I really need to, i.e. I need a connection and can't find "free" WiFi. Most of the time the 3G hardware is turned off, the battery lasts longer that way.
rockhillmanor wrote: Thank you for clarifying the capabilities! Best Buy needs YOU as an employee! I have spent countless trips to computer stores inquiring about what the ipad can do getting different answers each time.
I do have a question though.
If you buy the more expensive Ipad that has the cellular connection.
You HAVE to use that connection AND pay a monthly fee to the provider right?
Don't get me wrong I would love to have that new little toy but here is my problem with it:
I already have a sprint mobile broadband I use on my laptop. From my understanding the IPad as it is designed now will not accept my usb mobile broadband. So I would have to pay for 'their' installed cellular connection. I don't want to have to pay for 2 separate internet providers every month, just to add the new IPad to my stash of new electronics!
If possible, you should go to an Apple store to discuss Apple products. The sales people there are knowledgeable and don't try to sell you anything, except they will offer you AppleCare if you buy a product that can be covered.
As tatest states, if you have the iPad with cellular, you do not have to activate it. And you can activate it on a month-to-month basis. One reason for getting the more expensive model and not activating it is to get GPS, which is not on the non-cellular iPads.
As you describe your USSB Sprint mobile broadband, I don't think you can use it directly with the iPad. However, purchase a router for the USB modem and both your laptop and an iPad can connect, at the same time.
Now that the subject has been brought up, GPS on i-devices (and probably most phones) is "assisted" so that it works a lot better when the phone is turned on.
Better (mostly marine and high-end recreational) GPS receivers will search out a dozen or more satellites, even as it decides which three or four to use, or how to average the information from a large constellation. GPS receivers in phones don't have this many channels, work with the minimum number, and can take time to find the right ones. "Assisted" by the cellular network, they work from network location and time to figure out which satellites are where, to more quickly work with satellite timing information.
Point is, if your phone/pad has cellular, and you want to use GPS features, for best performance turn the phone/pad on and let it find towers, even if you aren't using it for data.
I use an older 710m Dell laptop with big hard drive/DVD player for movies, photo storage, financial management, whatever, Skype and internet browsing via wi-fi AND an iPod touch for quick e-mail, Skype calls, and some browsing via wi-fi. For internet access I use a T-mobile 4G hotspot "mifi" unit (~150$ to purchase) and cheap no contract internet passes (7 or 30 day passes) which I purchase when needed. The mifi unit will always connect to T-mobile website, even if pass expired, allowing me to "re-up" my account on the fly.
Current T-mobile no contract pass pricing:
1.5GB 1-month pass for $25
3.5GB 1-month pass for $35
5GB 1-month pass for $50
300MB 7-day pass for $15
See no reason to get an iPad, given the range of functionality I currently have. The mi-fi unit is the key to it all. I can stream movies to the laptop, or iPod touch, either of which I can hook up to the HD TV. It is light & portable with decent battery life, so I can be in/around the RV with it inside somewhere safe charging via a standard micro B USB cable or put it in my pocket and ramble around with it.
Wendy
Owned and trained by Cocoa, Mikey and the Ollie-man - all with great recalls
2008 Roadtrek RS Adventurous - recall x 3
2009 Honda Sport Fit - no recall
Stowaway2 on swingaway tow frame - no recall
2002 Honda Odyssey EXL - now with a recall!
Lately when I travel, I bring along a smartphone, netbook and tablet. The phone gets used the most as it has the most functionality. I use it as a GPS, listen to music via Pandora while underway, make phone calls, lookup info on the 'net, etc...
The phone even has unlimited 4G and an HDMI output so that I can hook it up to my TV and watch Netflix videos.
Second most used is my netbook. I use it to check email, surf the web, plan route for the next day, keep data in spreadsheets, etc...
Least used is the tablet. It's mostly a toy to play with when I have some extra time. It's not nearly as portable as the smartphone (nor as capable) and even though it's as portable as the netbook, it's not as powerful (netbook has a better keyboard and more storage space, too).
Watching movies on a tablet (or the netbook) is more or less a novelty to me. I can watch a 5 minute YouTube video or something like that but I could never watch a full-length movie on that little screen, that's what TVs are for.
If I had to leave something behind it would be the tablet.
* This post was
edited 05/31/12 06:43am by strollin *
On our last day of a three week tour of Scotland and Ireland. All we have is an iPod and iPad 3. I have a bluetooth GPS and free navigation apps. Never had a problem driving any back roads. I had a few movies on it, worked out great. Did all our banking, email, travel diary on it, travel books, city maps. Even took some great pics and videos with it. This is the only way to travel light, it's always with us in a camera bag, the ten hour battery is perfect.
The only thing I missed was Photoshop, the apps aren't there yet but getting better.
Watching a movie on the iPad retina display a foot off my nose is like a 50 inch across the room only shaper , clearer
An iPad is actually a lot more expensive than a laptop. Kit out a New iPad with its various connectors and 64GB of RAM and you are at $926. Then add in a case and extra keypad and you are well over $1000.
I bought a Lenovo Thinkpad netbook for $450 that has 3 USB ports, SDHC flash card port, 1GB Ethernet port, WiFi, Bluetooth, 250GB hard drive, 11" display, and dedicated graphics card, and HDMI audio and video port (great for hooking the laptop up to a large TV). The Lenovo has support through IBM in Atlanta so it is on par with Apple support and both are head and shoulder above every other computer company.
The Lenovo by virtue of its multiple USB ports can be used with our Verizon wireless service and a USB EV-DO or LTE modem. This makes it possible to use the same modem for our home network and on the road.
With the iPad you need to preselect whether to use AT&T or Verizon and you cannot change later from one carrier to another. No such problems with the netbook where I use a free USB modem from Millenicom to access Verizon's network and I save 20% on my monthly charges and have larger data cap allowance.
For my use the worst part of the iPad is Apple's insistence on forcing users to conform to DRM with iTunes for all file management. Want to simply move pictures from your home computer to the iPad - well it is not going to be easy or fast.
Where the iPad is useful is in doing a quick check on gasbuddy.com for the next fuel stop or using yelp.com to find a restaurant in the next town without having to take the time to boot up a laptop. We saw travelers in Germany using them on the train to get the news or check weather or train schedules and they were taken along with a laptop, not instead of one for the most part.
wintersun wrote: An iPad is actually a lot more expensive than a laptop. Kit out a New iPad with its various connectors and 64GB of RAM and you are at $926. Then add in a case and extra keypad and you are well over $1000. ...
At that cost, the iPad costs more than my phone, netbook and tablet combined. But, to make it a fair comparison, you'd have to add the cost of a phone to the iPad cost so the price difference would be even greater.
I can buy laptops with 100X the memory and is secure internet capable all day long for that kind of money. So for me it's a NO on the ipad.
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