OT-Ipads (again)

[sjbraun]

Trying to decide on wifi only or wifi + 3G.
I won't use 3G often, just for travel. As I uderstand it, I can purchase access (data) by the onth through Verizon, so will only pay for 3G service when I need it.

Also, for use primarily as an internet surfing device, is 16mg enough?
I don't have a need to load the sucker with thousands of songs. At most, I would expect to load a focused playlist when traveling.

Any thoughts from those who have made these decisions already?


Thanks

[rice rocket]

The data plans are unreasonably priced IMHO.

Do you have Wifi tethering on your smartphone?

Also, 16GB is plenty.

[1happygirl]

At least 32 GB and 3G. You'll get somewhere without wifi, need to make/see/do a transaction online and not have access..
Trust me. Uggghhhh. Yeah I've been there. VZW will send you a text if you get close to GB limit so u can up yr plan for that month. Then change to back down the next month. I think 5 GB is $50.00 (and 23% cell taxes or so). 80 GB is highest available plan and next one up.

YMMV. Just my opinion but have been a lot of places that I wished I'd had the service. Just sayin'

OPPS Posted just as RR posted so these are my thoughts.. RR knows his stuff on technology. I defer to others, but all of it is expensive. I do agree with RR but if you are gonna do it and don't plan as well/are in school or business where you get projects, etc sprung on you at last min or in odd places, go with wifi AND 3G. No going back on the 3G. I don't know if you can tether an IPad, then you don't have access of phone? I don't have a smartphone but friends I have used, the phone is so small you would not wanna do some transactions/projects on the phone. Nt that I've thought about it.hahahahhah

pps don't think there is but <$100 difference btw the 16 GB model and the 32GB model. So you are getting double the storage for cheap. I like apps, so I would fill up a 16 gb.

[JMerring]

32gb, wifi only for me. not once have i thought to myself i'd like more memory or 3g. 99.9% of the time when i need to use the pad with a connection to the internets, i'm somewhere i can get it (home, work, starbucks, etc.). on those rare occasions when i've known i'll need access to the internets but wouldn't have it, i've used the tethering option on my phone.

[MadRocketSci]

640k should be enough for anybody...

but since i'm nobody, i have the 32gb version. I usually have a few lectures from Stanford I-university on the ipad...

[Cinci Jim]

I bought the 64 so I could load movies if I wanted for trips to Japan (Detroit to Nagoya is a LONG flight) but I find I like to watch movies & TV on it. I now get most of my TV thru it via Hulu or iTunes or Netflix.

Having the 64GB means I don't have space issues at all.

[rugbysecondrow]

If you are used to having mobile 3g on your phone, then you will miss in on your tablet. I have a wifi only device and it is OK, but having that extra dimension would be great. I would go for the 3g and as much memory as you can. Movies, music, photos etc eat up space and i woudl rather have too much than too little.

[rice rocket]

Paul, what phone do you have? Almost all smartphones have Wifi hotspot/tethering now. You can pay extra for it, or root your phone and activate it yourself. I chose the latter because I'm a nerd, but you can fork up the extra $20/month and get it that way too. It's very very hard to reach your data cap on your smartphone, so why not put it to better use? If you have Sprint, then no caps at all. :banana:

[rugbysecondrow]

Paul, what phone do you have? Almost all smartphones have Wifi hotspot/tethering now. You can pay extra for it, or root your phone and activate it yourself. I chose the latter because I'm a nerd, but you can fork up the extra $20/month and get it that way too. It's very very hard to reach your data cap on your smartphone, so why not put it to better use? If you have Sprint, then no caps at all. :banana:

I have an Iphone 4 so not sure if tethering is an option. The price difference is pretty substantial though. I might check out these as a less expensive, but functional option.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/ipad

[Tony Edwards]

I bought myself a 32GB wifi, my dad a 32GB 3G, and my mom a 16GB wifi, because I felt those were the right cost-benefit choices for us.

To me the memory issue favors buying a larger-storage unit if a) you intend to store and view a lot of music or particularly video, b) you intend to use it for storage of large volumes of pictures during a long trip (the iPad is great for that), or c) you are a gamer, since those tend to be the apps that take up the most space. If I had it to do over I'd probably buy myself a 64GB unit, but that's me.

The 3G is, I think, worthwhile if you are a traveler - my dad brought his iPad when he walked 1,000 miles in France and Spain on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela and loved it, but it would also be useful for domestic travel or for use in the car. It is true that many smartphones now have tethering, but this is itself costly and for some people it may make more sense to buy data a la carte from AT&T or Verizon directly on the iPad itself.

The word on the streets (which may or may not be reliable) is that the iPad 5 will come out in November. The major feature that is presently lacking is a Retina display like the one on the iPhone 4 - this is a huge benefit and one at least potentially worth waiting for.

[slowandsteady]

32gb, wifi only for me. not once have i thought to myself i'd like more memory or 3g. 99.9% of the time when i need to use the pad with a connection to the internets, i'm somewhere i can get it (home, work, starbucks, etc.). on those rare occasions when i've known i'll need access to the internets but wouldn't have it, i've used the tethering option on my phone.

Yep - same here! Works a charm.

[Ray]

The word on the streets (which may or may not be reliable) is that the iPad 5 will come out in November.
iPad 5 or iPhone 5? iPhone I know about but jumping from 2 to 5 on the iPad doesn't make a lot of sense

-Ray

[tuxbailey]

16GB Wifi and I find that it is plenty. But I use it primary in the house (make that my daughter.)

I do like it very much as an internet surfing device and it is very good for watching netflix movies.

I have the iPhone 4 but I am too cheap to buy the tethering service. Jailbreaking did cross my mind a few times.

[benb]

I've got an iPhone 4 and an Asus Transformer (Android Tablet/Netbook) I got my wife an iPad2.. not much difference between them on these questions.

We bought both the tablets with only 16GB of memory and wifi.

I have tethering turned on my iPhone.. it seems to work fine and I don't need a separate account. I'm on AT&T, turning on tethering doubles your data cap.

Personally I don't find the tablet terribly useful for either music or camera.. if you've got a smartphone that is better for both those uses.. since I carry my music around on my iPhone I see no real reason to put it on the tablet as well.

The other thing is videos.. they suck up lots of space. Netflix erases that need, but you can't run netflix out on the road, it will chew through your data plan very quickly. (AFAIK it's about 1GB per movie, AT&Ts smartphone plan is only 2GB!)

So for movies if you want to carry them you're going to want more space. (I just stick a memory card in my tablet)

edit: The front facing cameras on tablets are great for video chat.. I meant they are not real useful for much other then that.

[Tony Edwards]

iPad 5 or iPhone 5? iPhone I know about but jumping from 2 to 5 on the iPad doesn't make a lot of sense

-Ray

Touche - I was talking and typing at the same time. The word is that the iPad 3 will come out not long after the iPhone 5, which should be announced and released anytime now.

[jlwdm]

I have the iPad2 with wifi and 3G but i do not use the 3G. Instead I have a mobile hot spot.

Jeff

[tuxbailey]

Slight diversion since we are talking about Apple/ATT products.

I have a limited data plan (2 GB/month) and I don't get why they would charge extra for tethering. I don't need the 4GB/month but having a mobile hot spot is convenient.

I am perfectly willing to pay the $10 per extra GB of usage each if I have the need... I can see the need to not allow this feature for those who has grandfathered the unlimited plan but it is kind of limiting for new users.

[rice rocket]

You should jailbreak your phone.

[Dekonick]

Well, only 'real' power users use an ipad... or so I am told. If you must live in a restricted world (apple) I strongly suggest that you get 3g if you travel much... otherwise I say hold off for a few months and wait for windows 8 (for non power users I guess) and a real platform that can actually do business... Intel is launching x86 procs that are energy efficient and combined with windows 8 will make apple re-think their approach to tablets. Imagine the simple use of a tablet, and the ability to use a full operating system... and RUN real software... like office, photoshop, etc...

I have been drooling the past few days after the unveiling of windows 8. It appears that Redmond has finally produced a product that will compete...nay... overtake and decimate the tablet market. Google is probably :crap: right now...

[tuxbailey]

You should jailbreak your phone.

I have seriously thought about it. I haven't done it yet because the iPad stays home almost all the time..

[rustychisel]

Well, only 'real' power users use an ipad... or so I am told. If you must live in a restricted world (apple) I strongly suggest that you get 3g if you travel much... otherwise I say hold off for a few months and wait for windows 8 (for non power users I guess) and a real platform that can actually do business... Intel is launching x86 procs that are energy efficient and combined with windows 8 will make apple re-think their approach to tablets. Imagine the simple use of a tablet, and the ability to use a full operating system... and RUN real software... like office, photoshop, etc...

I have been drooling the past few days after the unveiling of windows 8. It appears that Redmond has finally produced a product that will compete...nay... overtake and decimate the tablet market. Google is probably :crap: right now...

You have drunk their coolaid, haven't you?

We were just discussing Metro, such as it will be known, in the office just now. Now they're stripped back the entire MS architecture and rebuilt for their new chipset, I predict things will work fine in the OS/software department, and they may even avoid a lawsuit against patent infringement, but after about 6 months the tablets will start cooking batteries and CPUs due to the demands upon them. Seems logical. :fight:

[dlbracey]

I tend to buy new apple products as soon as they come out and sell them just before or just after the new models come out and then buy the new model. This strategy keeps me in the latest technology and keeps my overall costs down, the $50 or so depreciation over the year of owning and using the product is cheaper then buying a second one from scratch.

Typically, especially with iPhones, you can resell them for almost what you paid for them and sometimes more, this is because the people buying them jailbreak and unlock the phones for use with other providers and in other countries and are able to resell them for a premium. The same applies for iPads with 3G, but not for iPads with wifi only.

My research has shown that the 32GB 3G iPad has the lowest depreciation percentage followed by the 16GB 3G. My wife and I have both found that 16GB is sufficient though we both occasionally bump up against the limit when preparing for vacation, etc.

[Ray]

I recently got a 64gb without 3g. I actually bought one with 3g but was about halfway out of the mall when I realized that I was gonna use the 3g sooooo rarely that it was just a waste of $130, so I went back and exchanged it. And on the rare occasion I need it, I have an iphone, so I'm covered. That said, if I was commuting into Philly on the train for an hour each way every day, then the 3g would have been a no-brainer. Or if I traveled extensively. But neither apply, so I saw no point. Although the point about resale makes some sense - hadn't thought of that. I went with big memory because when I do travel I take a LOT of photographs and usually shoot raw, so the files aren't small. Being able to fit 2-3 16 gb SD cards worth of files on the ipad for backup, viewing, and initial processing on a few (anyone messed with snapseed yet? - brilliant!) is one of my primary purposes. So more capacity was a bigger deal to me than 3g. This is my first tablet though, so if I made the wrong call, I'll chalk it up to education and get it right the next time.

-Ray

[1happygirl]

Ray,

How do you get the photos from your camera to your iPad while on vacation without another computer?
Just curious. I looked up SnapSeed. Seems like those are the ones taken with and on your iPad already, right?




Thanks for the info

[mike p]

I thought apple made an adapter so you could download direct from your camera? Who knows for sure?

[Tony Edwards]

I thought apple made an adapter so you could download direct from your camera? Who knows for sure?

They do. It's a two-part kit that comes with a dongle to allow you to plug in a USB cable to the camera (this also allows limited use of some USB devices - not sure whether that went away with iOS updates, though), as well as an SD card reader. Both plug into the iPod dock connector.

When you plug in the camera or SD card it automatically prompts you to upload your pictures. They are uploaded in full size, in their native format (I believe it even supports RAW), so that next time you plug the iPad into your computer it syncs them through iPhoto or your Windows photo app of choice.

I think this is one of the best uses of the iPad - you can take that day's shots and view them instantly in large format, and even create a nice animated slideshow.

[JMerring]

snip

ray - how does snapseed do with raw editing and conversion? for reference, i have tried working with nikon's software and it is so clumsy and slow that, as much as i like the idea of shooting raw, i have thus far found it to be too much of a pita.

[mike p]

Thanks Tony!

Mike

[Ray]

Yeah, its easy enough to get photos from the camera onto the ipad. And if the raw fiels are a format that Apple supports on its Macs, they'll open on the ipad too. They go into the photo library, raw or jpeg, and you can view them in the photo app. And then you can open the and work on them in snapseed or any number of other photo apps.

I've only been playing with Snapseed for a little while and it seems pretty powerful and very intuitive. And I've seen work that others have done with it that's very impressive. I'm not sure I'd want to do finished work with it - you still maintain the original raw file that you can work on back at your computer later. But for a quick and dirty, particularly for B&W conversions or going after some really funky look, its pretty good. And if you like the looks you can get from it, maybe that would be your finished version. But it is easy to work with for sure. With raw or jpeg as a starting point.

-Ray

[Hard Fit]

I think it depends on how you want to use the iPad. I ride a bus to work every day and surf the Internet during the ride. I don't have a phone that can tether. 3G worked best for me. I use 3G on the bus and wi-fi at home or work. I have the 16G and still have 9G left. For just plain e-mail and browsing I use a little over half a gig per month. I don't store music and just have a few books, a few simple games, and travel apps. I think some of the heavy graphical games can take some space.

[bigmatt]

I have seriously thought about it. I haven't done it yet because the iPad stays home almost all the time..

Do it. I am jailbreaking a coworkers Ipod touch as I type this. Well technically I have it jailbroken already, I am currently installing some tweaks and apps now. I could not live with a Jailbroken IOS device after having used them for over a year now. Iphone 4, Ipad 1 (64gb wifi only), Ipt 4, and even an apple TV 2 all jailbroken.