Advice wanted ASAP please

[brunodjkj]

Hi all, I've just purchased iPad 3 wifi 64 gig

My question is ( because store told me I can take it back within 14 days to upgrade)

Am I better to get the 64 gig 4 g?

I know we don't have that in the uk, I also have iPhone 4 ( not 4s) and can set up tethering so connect that way, but am I better paying the extra £100 getting a unlocked iPad where I can put a sim card in it? 1. For re-selling at a later day. 2. Does anyone know what download speeds are like? 3. Would I be able to connect to the net via a windows laptop using my iPad as a hotspot, presuming I go for the 4g version.


I look forward to your replies..

Paul

 

[f4780y]

It doesn't sound like you would be better off to me.

1) You can tether to your phone if you want a connection when you are out and about.
2) Resale value of Wifi iPads has tended to be better than 3G from what I understand.
3) Download speeds are standard 3G in the UK, so the same you will experience on your phone. Nothing special in other words.
4) No UK carriers currently offer tethering on the iPad from what I understand, although you can hack it on there if you jailbreak. However, there is no jailbreak available for iPad3 yet.
5) It's really unclear when 4G will be rolled out, and when it does, whether the iPad3 will be good to go... It's a bit of a gamble. 4G really is only for the States at the moment.

The only other thing not mentioned is GPS. Only the 4G model has a real GPS in it. If that's important to you, you may want to consider that.

So all in all it doesn't sound to me like you should go for the 4G option. The choice however is entirely yours! This is not a recommendation!

 

[zphone]

Just want to add - getting a 4G connection that you have no intention on using, just so you can get a 'better resale value' at a later date is a false economy. You will never get extra money back that you paid to add more memory or 4g. Indeed the wifi models hold their value best. Only get it if you intend to use it.

 

[AQ_OC]

Just want to add - getting a 4G connection that you have no intention on using, just so you can get a 'better resale value' at a later date is a false economy. You will never get extra money back that you paid to add more memory or 4g. Indeed the wifi models hold their value best. Only get it if you intend to use it.

No, you probably won't recover your money...but the 4G models do command a greater resale value (not necessarily % wise, but $$ wise they do) and with the 4G model you get the GPS chip which can give you a lot of good use during the time you have your iPad. So you get the better usage from GPS plus a few (maybe even $30 more than wifi) after 1 year. So you have to ask if that 1 year of GPS use is worth $100 and if the occasional (or more, depending on who you are) use of 4G is worth $100. All it takes is a few weekend trips or vacation and the 4G will definitely paid for itself over renting wifi in a hotel (plus you get better security on 4G than on hotel wifi).

 

[AQ_OC]

Hi all, I've just purchased iPad 3 wifi 64 gig

My question is ( because store told me I can take it back within 14 days to upgrade)

Am I better to get the 64 gig 4 g?

I know we don't have that in the uk, I also have iPhone 4 ( not 4s) and can set up tethering so connect that way, but am I better paying the extra £100 getting a unlocked iPad where I can put a sim card in it? 1. For re-selling at a later day. 2. Does anyone know what download speeds are like? 3. Would I be able to connect to the net via a windows laptop using my iPad as a hotspot, presuming I go for the 4g version.


I look forward to your replies..

Paul

I pre-ordered a 64 GB wifi model. Then the same day I got that one I went to Best Buy and got the 4G model. I'm taking my wifi model back tomorrow and keeping the 4G model.

1) I sold my iPad 2 Wifi model on Amazon for $414. The 3G models were selling for about $30 more. So don't expect to get your $130 back after a year.

2) The 4G model has the gps chip. I find that very useful. I use it for Navigation and it works way better than a phone, though I do use the phone too. I use the iPad for Nav when I have time to plan a trip. I use the phone during those times when I need quick and dirty navigation aid. But looking at a tiny phone screen for gps is almost dangerous. Using an iPad, when you have planned ahead, is a wonderful experience. And with the 4G model and stored maps, you don't need to use the 4G data for maps. So then you can use it for traffic data instead...much more useful.

3) I was on a trip to a conference and stayed in a Sheridan in Chicago. They wanted $15/night for internet. Two nights of that pays for 1-month of 4G. LTE is fast, too, likely much faster than the hotels wifi!! Having internet on an iPad on a trip is way better than having it on a tiny phone screen.

4) I have wifi at home and at work. Then I have LTE in between. At home, I get about 30Mbps down, 5 Mbps up. At work I get 15-25 Mbps down, 15-25 Mbps up. LTE is much more variable, and depends on where you are. I've seen from 5-20 Mbps down, to 5-20 Mbps up. But no matter what, in Verizon, 4G is WAY WAY faster than 3G here. Don't know how this would be in the UK, though, so you'll need to get some testing there.

5) Turn off the screen and use the LTE iPad for hotspot. 5 devices. 25 hours of use if you keep the screen off. I saw these numbers just today. Try to get that from a phone. You'll need to be plugged in to make the phone hotspot truly useful.

So, you may not recover the extra money you spend, but the iPad will fetch a bit more $$ and you can get a lot more use from the 4G model than from the Wifi model. If you never use any of those features I listed, then get the wifi. But if you will, I think it will definitely be worth the extra $100 you spend.

 

[zphone]

No, you probably won't recover your money...but the 4G models do command a greater resale value (not necessarily % wise, but $$ wise they do) and with the 4G model you get the GPS chip which can give you a lot of good use during the time you have your iPad. So you get the better usage from GPS plus a few (maybe even $30 more than wifi) after 1 year. So you have to ask if that 1 year of GPS use is worth $100 and if the occasional (or more, depending on who you are) use of 4G is worth $100. All it takes is a few weekend trips or vacation and the 4G will definitely paid for itself over renting wifi in a hotel (plus you get better security on 4G than on hotel wifi).

No doubt it's occasionally good to have gps and 4g
However I could not justify it on account of my company pays the cell bill which has unlimited tethering, and I have a Garmin gps which works way way better than the standard iPad maps for actual navigating.

 

[AQ_OC]

No doubt it's occasionally good to have gps and 4g
However I could not justify it on account of my company pays the cell bill which has unlimited tethering, and I have a Garmin gps which works way way better than the standard iPad maps for actual navigating.

I can understand that...I have a Garmin too though and mine doesn't work any better than Navigon, but the iPad's screen is way better than the Garmin's.

 

[Webalistic]

I went for the 3g(4g) model again. Not because I use mobile data on a daily basis, but I tend to buy a prepaid data sim whenever I'm abroad for work or holiday. Saves searching for free hotspots and hopping from one hotspot to another.
Sure I could do the same for my phone and tether, but then I'd have a different phone number every time which makes you hard to reach. (data rates abroad are astronomical for providers over here)
Example: I paid €12,- for 4Gb in Iceland. With my own provider data use abroad would cost me €3,5- per Mb (€9,90 ouside EU and they limit use to €60,- nowadays after lots of people had huge bills after their holidays). So after 10mb it pays off to get a local prepaid data sim. So without the cost limit, using 500mb would cost me € 1750,- I could go on holiday for that! ;-)

Anyway, having the 3g option works well for me.

 

[Lunar]

I would agree with the other replies, 3G is useful if you have a need for it. My previous iPad 1 was the 64gb 3g model, and the 3g only got used a few times when on holiday, so I too was tempted to just go with the wifi version.

The wife and I are retired pensioners, also in the UK, we moved out in the sticks of Herefordshire when we retired, the thing is because we are retired we do tend to have quite a lot of holidays, usually 8 or 9 a year with quite a few short breaks too, so the 3G is useful for that, and for times when our main net connection goes down.
I just use a T-Mobile PAYG sim, which can also use the Orange network, it costs £2 for 24hrs £7 for 1 week or £15 per month, though they often have deals, at the moment you buy 2 days for £4 and get 1 day free. So you simply top it up as & when needed, so ideal for us.

AYK in the UK the iPad3 3G is £100 more, so if money is of some concern I would suggest you stick with the wifi version, but in my case, I figured as it's something you can't obviously add later, and it's just 1 tank of fuel in my car, or the price of a good evening & meal out with the wife, then even though I only use the 3G occasionally it's likely worth having again.

I don't agree that both the wifi and 3g have the same second hand value, if you look at SH ebay sales of iPads you will notice that 3G models are generally more expensive, though you likely won't recover the £100 premium when new. TBH £100 really isn't a lot of money these days, AIS it's 1 tank of fuel...lol, IMO if you think you will use the 3G then change it, or as suggested you can always tether to your phone.. so probably less important. Only you can decide, when I went into the Apple store in Birmingham on release day I too considered getting just the wifi version myself this time, but walked out with the 4G version for the above reasons.

Speeds on 3G in the UK as you know are not good at all, I get about 2 bars signal strength on T-Mobile at my home location, but if i switch to Orange it's full strength, but strangely I've not noticed any difference in speeds, both are still on slow side, at about 700kbps, so a big drop when compared to my 18mb net connection, but it works, and better than nothing for times when away from home, and of course with a PAYG sim, for us it does the job and is cheap.

Re. Tethering devices to the Ipad3. That is currently not possible, I've not seen any option for it anyway.. though may be wrong, as I often are..lol

Personally, if your current iPad3 is 100% faultless..ie no bad pixels, or small light leakage issues, and you can tether ok to your phone, I doubt I would be thinking of changing it now, especially as one would think the wifi version probably has better battery life, but it's your choice... it's that 2 weeks grace...lol it makes it too easy...lol

 

[AQ_OC]

I doubt I would be thinking of changing it now, especially as one would think the wifi version probably has better battery life, but it's your choice.

If you turn off the cellular antenna, I would bet battery life is very similar on both models.

 

[Lunar]

If you turn off the cellular antenna, I would bet battery life is very similar on both models.

One would like to think so, and certainly hope thats the case, but I suspect there will likely be some components drawing a little current, even when not used, but AYS when off, shouldn't make much difference.

 

[brunodjkj]

Thanks for the info guys, I have 2 days left to make up my mind, one point that has stuck out, is the fact I do travel abroad a lot, so I assume laying out the extra £100 will be worth it in the long run, as I know only too well the cost of using a device abroad especially when you can find a hotspot.

 

[Gabriel1]

Thanks for the info guys, I have 2 days left to make up my mind, one point that has stuck out, is the fact I do travel abroad a lot, so I assume laying out the extra £100 will be worth it in the long run, as I know only too well the cost of using a device abroad especially when you can find a hotspot.

You could just get a myfi unit to provide you with your own mobile hotspot. I use one with my iPad 2, if you get an unlocked myfi you can put a local PAYG sim in wherever you are.

The Archangel

 

[brunodjkj]

I've tried tethering via my phone but it's really slow, what's myfi?

 

[Gabriel1]

I've tried tethering via my phone but it's really slow, what's myfi?

It's a small device that takes an incoming 3G signal and then converts it to a wifi hotspot for up to 5 devices. You can get them on contract or PAYG.

You might find your current data provider has them.

The Archangel