Early Battery Tests Between Wi-Fi and 3G iPad

[mdriftmeyer]

I kind of figured this would happen with the iPad. All the hype about unlimited 3G connections. The problem is... no apps are going to work over 3G that use any vast amount of bandwidth. I was hoping to get a 3G iPad, I have a WiFi now. I was going to get the unlimited plan and basically use the iPad as a MBP light.

I can tell you this with almost certainty... you will *never* see iPhone tethering now. AT&T probably was close, but once the iPad was a realization... you won't see it. AT&T would rather you have two subscriptions.

Please Verizon.... please Apple. Give us alternatives, if not for just competition with iPhone plan pricing.

AT&T has over 14,000 hot spot zones in their network for Wifi.

http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=13540

Other than being stuck in a Park or off a highway I sure as hell don't expect anyone driving and using their iPad at the same time, but someone will eventually do it.

I'd never bother with the 3G model. Wifi for me all the way.

I've got a phone for 3G.

 

[furi0usbee]

Even at 15$ extra for tethering, that's still a lot of money to be made over a long period of time.

Yes, $15 would be fair... but companies aren't fair, they are greedy. If they offered $15 tethering, I'd be the first back here to eat my words.

 

[furi0usbee]

Other than being stuck in a Park or off a highway I sure as hell don't expect anyone driving and using their iPad at the same time, but someone will eventually do it.

Unless you want to shut the kids up and let them stream some movies in the backseat.

 

[varchar]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.4 Mobile/7D11 Safari/531.21.10)

It's really not a true test since an average user will not be refreshing as indicated in this test. I decided to do the test on my own by using the iPad 3G throughout the day today. On an off web surfing, played video for about 1 HR and a few other average things. It lasted 9.5 hrs for me

 

[Mr. Zorg]

It's really not a true test since an average user will not be refreshing as indicated in this test. I decided to do the test on my own by using the iPad 3G throughout the day today. On an off web surfing, played video for about 1 HR and a few other average things. It lasted 9.5 hrs for me

You're right, it's a worst case test. I think they even said as much. I don't think they were complaining, that's quite impressive.

 

[shervieux]

Other than being stuck in a Park or off a highway I sure as hell don't expect anyone driving and using their iPad at the same time, but someone will eventually do it.

Well, most of the time (when my wife is driving), I am using my iphone - so I probably be using my ipad. While I try to leech off of unlocked wifi where I can find it, the truth of the matter is, there ares still a lot of places that charge for wifi. Some are expensive. the camground where my mother-in-law has her RV charges a $3 setup fee and $30 for 3 days for wifi internet. It is slow (almost as bad as dial up) and it disconnects often. The go by 3 24-hour days and not how much you use it to add up to 3-days worth.

A lot of hotels and airports charge for wifi.

 

[broncopde]

Wirelessly posted (iPod touch: Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

That's amazing battery life. But one has to remember that it has a giant battery. Maybe too large a battery because it's a bit on the heavy side, but that kind of battery life is unheard of. Six months ago no one would have predicted this kind of battery life.

I, for one, greatly appreciate it weighing a slight bit more rather than having a shorter battery life. And Apple seems to agree.

 

[akacaj]

If you tether iPad to a jailbroken iPhone using the app MiWi, you get full quality Netflix, the ABC player app works, Youtube plays great HD and you can download any app from the app store.

I keep telling my wife that those fake louie baton bags accomplish the same thing but she still make me spend the money and buy her the real deal. Some people just want to do the right thing!

Some just don't want to deal with the hassle. Some don't have iPhone 3G's and some have iPhone 3Gs with firmware 3.1.3 that is not yet jail-breakable. Some may trade their iPhone in for a regular phone and use the iPad to surf the net. Some just don't know how to jailbreak. Some don't know what jailbreak means. Some have more money than the know what to do with....

 

[shervieux]

AT&T has over 14,000 hot spot zones in their network for Wifi.

http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=13540
.

eh hem..... for those who do not have an iphone


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Smartphone customers with selected AT&T Wireless Devices and 3G data rate plans including the Smartphone $30 or higher rate plans (excludes Smartphone Enterprise 4MB plans). Qualifying Wi-Fi enabled Smartphone are listed at http://www.att.com/getwifi

All Apple iPhone customers include AT&T Wi-Fi Basic service.

 

[shervieux]

Looking for free wifi?

This website tries to keep up with all the free wifi hot spots, and offers state-by-state listings.....


http://www.wififreespot.com/

 

[Xtremehkr]

the iPad achieved 8 hours and 38 minutes of continuous reloading and displaying -- 22 minutes shy of Apple’s estimate.​

No one continuously reloads for nearly 9 hours. I wish these tests were more realistically applied and resembled what 9 hours of use might actually entail.

 

[furi0usbee]

I wish these tests were more realistically applied and resembled what 9 hours of use might actually entail.​

Well, my first day with my iPad (WiFi), I played games, checked email, browsed the web, watched YouTube. I basically did everything one could do, and I did it for a solid 10.5 hours before my iPad battery was empty. I couldn't put it down that first day. I doubt I could do that again with the 3G, as it's nothing I don't already have, sans the 3G.

It's hard to have a standard battery test, as everyone does things differently. What percentage of 10 hours is used to email, watch video, browse the web, play games, etc. if you could come up with a pie chart of the top 10 things you can do, then figure out the percentages, someone could then do those things and that could be a realistic measure of battery life.​

 

[ivladster]

Wow, that screen shot of the downgraded YouTube video is brutal. Basically useless over 3G, it would appear.

I wouldn't jump on that wagon yet.
at&t is working on some new stuff this summer. I am sure the network will improve.

At least all iPad's chips are capable of running at great speeds.

 

[DetroitBORG]

Using two iPads side by side, I was able to do a WiFi vs 3G performance test of may apps. 3G performance in my area seems to be quite good. Take a look!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoLg03aIq_E

 

[kresh]

I know the haters are going to hate anyway, but I think 9 hours on 3G is phenomenal. That battery life is twice what I thought it would be when the rumors about Apple's new tablet started floating around.

Kudos Apple!

 

[BeyondtheTech]

One would think that with the remaining room inside the iPad 3G as discovered by the iFixIt teardown in just the previous news article, they could have compensated by implementing a slightly larger battery. I'm sure many would have accepted a 10% increase in weight for the same amount of battery life as the Wi-Fi version.

 

[Xtremehkr]

Well, my first day with my iPad (WiFi), I played games, checked email, browsed the web, watched YouTube. I basically did everything one could do, and I did it for a solid 10.5 hours before my iPad battery was empty. I couldn't put it down that first day. I doubt I could do that again with the 3G, as it's nothing I don't already have, sans the 3G.

It's hard to have a standard battery test, as everyone does things differently. What percentage of 10 hours is used to email, watch video, browse the web, play games, etc. if you could come up with a pie chart of the top 10 things you can do, then figure out the percentages, someone could then do those things and that could be a realistic measure of battery life.

That's closer to what I would think heavy usage would get. Load a page, then read it. Then check an app like Mail which is less CPU intensive. Maybe play a game for a while. Have lunch. Check mail, load some pages and read them.

When you think about all of the distractions in life, and other interruptions, it's a rare occasion when you can use a single piece of equipment for 9 hours straight.

Perhaps the author wasn't being clear in what he wrote, but it made it sound like they didn't even leave time to read the pages they loaded, they just continuously loaded pages for nearly 9 hours. No one will use an iPad in that manner.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Eight and a half hours is still impressive...

I agree... and most folks probably won't use 3G 100% of the time. I know I won't

 

[Xtremehkr]

AT&T and their data plan.

One thing I've found in my iPhone experience is that for the majority of the time I am using it, it's not relying on 3G.

When I am at home, my iPhone automatically connects to my time machine. No 3G use.

Then I drive to one of the places I spend most of my day at, which has wi-fi throughout the entire property. No 3G usage.

When the day is done, I use the AGPS to get to whatever mtb trail I am riding that day, limited 3G use.

When I think about the money I am required to pay each month for my iPhone contract, I am more than a little disappointed to realize that I am being dragged over the coals. I rarely ever use the 3G network because most places I go provide free wi-fi. Wi-fi is so much faster than 3G it's made me dread the rare occasion that I need to rely on 3G.

AT&T is making a killing off of having sole rights to the iPhone and providing a crappy network.

 

[Scottsdale]

Tethering will happen, remember that there's over 500K iPads WiFi sold that AT&T would love to bring over to 3g by providing tethering plans for the iPhone. The question is when, not if.

I agree. AT&T will charge the same $30 for 3G tethering so of course they will bring it when they can. It seems obvious to me that AT&T got something BIG for giving up $30 unlimited 3G for Steve's Grandiose iPad! I bet they get the iPhone for another year, exclusively. That price is just too low.

 

[pistolero]

I can't see AT&T charging $30 more per month for iPhone tethering. They can get away with $30.00 for a new device. They'd more than likely only be able to charge say $20 more for tethering, and they would cap that at 5GB probably.

5GB cap is getting smaller when it comes to casual browsing and emailing. Today I activated the 3G service in my iPad and in only a few hours of just browsing I got 100 mb of data transfer!!. In a laptop I can imagine usage would be even higher

 

[phpmaven]

AT&T has over 14,000 hot spot zones in their network for Wifi.

http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=13540

Other than being stuck in a Park or off a highway I sure as hell don't expect anyone driving and using their iPad at the same time, but someone will eventually do it.

I'd never bother with the 3G model. Wifi for me all the way.

I've got a phone for 3G.

I used to sing the same song until I ran into a couple of situations when I couldn't get wifi and ended up using the shrimpy screen on my iPhone. Maybe it's just me, but after a couple of those situations and the fact that I use the iPad way more than I ever imagined. I sold my wifi and picked up a 3G yesterday.

 

[ThisIsNotMe]

Funny, I get unlimited internet on my iPhone and connect my MacBook Pro to it via either bluetooth or wifi.

The only reason I will get getting the 3G model is the GPS and I will not be activating the cellular portion of the device.

 

[4nNtt]

My guess is that battery life depends on signal strength. If I leave my iPhone sitting somewhere with one bar, the standby time goes to nothing...

 

[4nNtt]

I agree. AT&T will charge the same $30 for 3G tethering so of course they will bring it when they can. It seems obvious to me that AT&T got something BIG for giving up $30 unlimited 3G for Steve's Grandiose iPad! I bet they get the iPhone for another year, exclusively. That price is just too low.

I think it would make sense. Hopefully if they do it they also transmit the gps information to get accurate location information to the tethered device.