iPad 2 - Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi + 3G

Whitehawk

Hey all looking at getting ipad 2 32gb but cant make mind up on should i spend the extra 120e on the extra 3g.... im thinking NO!! but wanted to see what someone else thinks!?!
(btw this is my first ipad!)

Bigcheeze

If you are mainly using it at home and have home wifi and a smart phone that allows you to set up a hot spot, I'd stick with the wifi model. I bought the first ipad 3g version but that was before my iphone could set up a hotspot.

ironclaw

Pretty much what Bigcheeze said.

Using it at home with broadband > Wifi Only

Using it out and about (Without a smart phone capable of being a hotspot) > Wifi & 3G

There is very little reason to buy the 3G one in my opinion. Hotspot features on smart phones is going to become more widespread in the coming years so I can see the 3G version being blended into the one model with 3G as standard, just as a back up technology.

!MAVERICK!

Just get the Wi-fi version with the larger HD, The 3G one will be too expensive and video streams from youtube are mostly in low quality. Depends on the network really.

But if I were to pick one id just go for the Wi-fi version

Nonoperational

I have a wifi only and just use personal hotspot on my iPhone. Most phones these days have a similar option, no need for 3g in the iPad itself!

Whitehawk

Ya im deffo thinking now of just the wifi but may just up the extra 100e in to getting the larger HD!
cheer for all the feed back

Hobbes

Got the wifi one.

I own an iPad1 with 3G and it really doesn't get that much use on the 3G to warrant spending the cash for a 3G one.

I have an iPhone so the hotspot works with the iPad2.

Austin1

gpf101 wrote: »

I have a wifi only and just use personal hotspot on my iPhone. Most phones these days have a similar option, no need for 3g in the iPad itself!

Be careful with the above set-up if you're a Vodafone customer. Many people assume that they can use their 3G broadband data allowance from their Iphone for this but they cannot!

If you don't avail of Vodafone's tethering add-on to surf the net on your Ipad this way, they charge an absolute fortune - other Boardies have created a massive sh1tstorm about this on the thread below:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056199191

blorg

Apart from that there is the issue that personal hotspot features are quite hard on phone battery life.

On the other hand with the 3G iPad I am presuming you would need another SIM and have to pay for data used there seperately, rather than being able to bundle it together which would likely be cheaper.

Finally I read that the WiFi-only iPad also lacks a GPS, in case that would be useful for you (I can certainly imagine mapping would be nicer on the bigger screen.) EDIT: apparently it can get GPS info from the phone over WiFi, it just doesn't update as quickly.

whiterebel

blorg wrote: »

Apart from that there is the issue that personal hotspot features are quite hard on phone battery life.

On the other hand with the 3G iPad I am presuming you would need another SIM and have to pay for data used there seperately, rather than being able to bundle it together which would likely be cheaper.

Finally I read that the WiFi-only iPad also lacks a GPS, in case that would be useful for you (I can certainly imagine mapping would be nicer on the bigger screen.) EDIT: apparently it can get GPS info from the phone over WiFi, it just doesn't update as quickly.

Yes, it eats the battery.......And it is really, really slow to update the GPS, I was trying to do it this morning, and it took forever in D4 with a very good 3G signal.

gzoladz

Wifi for all the reasons listed above. The main one in my opinion being that with the 3g you do not get the full internet service due to some apps limitations, but you do if you connect to a hotspot created by your phone (or if you jailbreak, but this seems to be far away from reality now...)