Should I get the AT&T or Verizon iPad 2?

[NyCrAzY]

Okay, I need some opinions guys.

This is going to be my first iPad and wanted to know which carrier will offer better service?

I'm currently a Verizon Wireless subscriber via Droid X (yeah ... Android, lol) and they've offered me outstanding service!

Also, what do you think will have better resell value? Since AT&T is GSM and uses a SIM card, it'll be convenient for people who travel overseas, right? Unlike CDMA where most likely you have to roam.

Which version will you guys be getting and why? Thanks!

Oh yeah, one more question. I have no clue how much data I'm going to use on my iPad. I'm a pretty heavy 3G browser on my Droid X ...

So would the 1gb plan on VZW or the 2gb on AT&T be enough? I'm 10 days into my billing cycle and have over 100mb of data used already. Thanks!

 

[H335]

ATT = NO ACTIVATION FEE.
VERIZON = $35?

You decide. =)

 

[H335]

Also.. Iphone 4 speeds are faster on ATT.. there was an article on CNN Tech. That being said, ATT is faster with data but Verizon is more reliable with coverage. You decide? Also depends on the activation fee!

 

[tweeter]

I've gone back and forth on this ever since the iPad2 was announced. I do love Verizon, the coverage and service have always been great, but the activation charge is a killer for me.

On the other hand, with AT&T, I'm luck to get one bar on my Kindle2, even tho according their map I should be fine. People come to my house, and their cell phones don't work but my Droid (verizon) does.

Even wifi at my house is iffy at best. I finally hooked a cable to my laptop, because i couldn't hold a signal. My android tablet seldom holds the signal for more than a few minutes (but works great at other places). I've gone thru 3 routers, and the problem remains.

I'm hoping to be able to tether my iPad to my droid (or find someone who can)...so the 3G would be more or less a backup if I needed it on a trip or something.

The big Verizon store in town is always full....the AT&T might have maybe 5 cars in front of it......what to do, what to do, what to do?

 

[Wolfpuppies3]

AT&T has much faster data service

that will also be available to you throughout Europe should that need arise. Not so with Verizon's CDMA service. Who cares about AT&T's telephone service on an iPad? To me, the iPad is all about data, email, web, etc. AT&T is my choice as it was on my iPad1.

 

[melsnel]

No Verizon Activation fee after all....I think

I have talked to three different people at Verizon and got 3 different answers - all initially told me that there WAS a $35 activation fee each time you activated or REactivated the 3g service. I finally asked the last woman that I talked to to please look it up in her computer and tell me exactly what it said. As it turns out, for the IPad, if you sign up from your device and pre-pay with a credit or debit card, there is NO activation fee. I think I will call my local Verizon store and confirm that, but that is the latest info. I hope she is right because I really prefer Verizon due to their more reliable coverage.

 

[tweeter]

Melsnel, that would be awesome! No activation fee would make it a no-brainer. How you could sign up from your iPad if you had no service where you were? Wonder if you could sign up from you phone?

 

[Chriztofor]

Neither. Most places have free wifi. free wi-fi hotspots wifi cafes coffee shops hotels airports RV Parks For places that don't have free Wi-Fi, you are betting off paying for it then shelling out the extra $130 to get 3g. Just my 2 cents.

 

[madhatter61]

Okay, I need some opinions guys.

This is going to be my first iPad and wanted to know which carrier will offer better service?

I'm currently a Verizon Wireless subscriber via Droid X (yeah ... Android, lol) and they've offered me outstanding service!

Also, what do you think will have better resell value? Since AT&T is GSM and uses a SIM card, it'll be convenient for people who travel overseas, right? Unlike CDMA where most likely you have to roam.

Which version will you guys be getting and why? Thanks!

Oh yeah, one more question. I have no clue how much data I'm going to use on my iPad. I'm a pretty heavy 3G browser on my Droid X ...

So would the 1gb plan on VZW or the 2gb on AT&T be enough? I'm 10 days into my billing cycle and have over 100mb of data used already. Thanks!

Just a hint of which data plan could work for you. I have a Verizon Novatel 2200 wireless router. $50/mo for 5GB cap. This month after two weeks I am at 4.1 GB. I won't pay for extra so I have to curb my usage. I don't generally stream or download movies either... just internet stuff. I have been uploading quite a bit lately.

This is real world.

 

[madhatter61]

Also.. Iphone 4 speeds are faster on ATT.. there was an article on CNN Tech. That being said, ATT is faster with data but Verizon is more reliable with coverage. You decide? Also depends on the activation fee!

ATT is great if where you live and operate were their service is available. I can't get either ATT or Sprint at home. Verizon works great.

The activation fee is a one time expense ... it is the monthly fee that adds up... month after month.

Realize that iPad only offer 3G, not 4G at the moment... for either ATT or verizon. Who knows what LTE will bring (from what I have heard it is GSM technology)... time will tell.

 

[Chriztofor]

Neither. Most places have free wifi. free wi-fi hotspots wifi cafes coffee shops hotels airports RV Parks For places that don't have free Wi-Fi, you are betting off paying for it then shelling out the extra $130 to get 3g. Just my 2 cents.

I forgot the monthly fee! The 3g versions don't even make sense anymore.

 

[tweeter]

Neither. Most places have free wifi. free wi-fi hotspots wifi cafes coffee shops hotels airports RV Parks For places that don't have free Wi-Fi, you are betting off paying for it then shelling out the extra $130 to get 3g. Just my 2 cents.

I forgot the monthly fee! The 3g versions don't even make sense anymore.

But the 3G has the GPS, right? Or am I wrong on that?

@Chriztofor, it all depends on where you live. My little town (and I use that term loosely) has no stop lights, not even a blinking light. Our downtown consists of the post office and a kinda thrift shop place. We do have some stop signs Out on the highway outside of town, we have a combo gas station/grocery/car wash/restaurant (reservations not required). Our town hall is a used double-wide!

We're not that far from civilization, but even that's not much to brag about

 

[Chriztofor]

Neither. Most places have free wifi. free wi-fi hotspots wifi cafes coffee shops hotels airports RV Parks For places that don't have free Wi-Fi, you are betting off paying for it then shelling out the extra $130 to get 3g. Just my 2 cents.

I forgot the monthly fee! The 3g versions don't even make sense anymore.

But the 3G has the GPS, right? Or am I wrong on that?

@Chriztofor, it all depends on where you live. My little town (and I use that term loosely) has no stop lights, not even a blinking light. Our downtown consists of the post office and a kinda thrift shop place. We do have some stop signs Out on the highway outside of town, we have a combo gas station/grocery/car wash/restaurant (reservations not required). Our town hall is a used double-wide!

We're not that far from civilization, but even that's not much to brag about

Naturally, I was speaking generally. Looks like you NEED it. As for the "city-slickers" I still don't get it.

 

[dmaul1114]

Naturally, I was speaking generally. Looks like you NEED it. As for the "city-slickers" I still don't get it.

Yeah, I live in a major city, so I don't need the 3G.

If it wasn't $130 extra and only $50 or something I might would get it to have the option of buying a single month of access when traveling as that would some times be cheaper than then $10-15 a night WiFi in business hotels (I don't always have money in my travel budgets to get re-imbursed for the internet cost).

But for $130 extra, no way. The 3G Kindle is only $50 more than the WiFi only one and that includes free 3G access!!!

 

[dkons]

There is no usable system of free wifi

What? I live in New York City. There is no usable free wifi generally. Am I going to go online (where? from my apartment only?) on my ipad to find a place with free wifi and only go to places with free wifi because my ipad doesn't have 3G? I'm going to change my plans for my device? Really? After paying over $500 for something? Really? Until cities developed wide area free public broadband, wifi only doesn't work.