Whoa..This is really bad. I'm a wi-fi'er and would be really pissed right now. Zinio magazines are around 30mb in size. So this means, if I was on vacation somwhere with no wi-fi and wanted to download a magazine, I couldn' over AT&T. Just wow...
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iPad 3G chock full of AT&T restrictions!
- Thread starter kirchnrd
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Oddly enough, if you were on vacation, it wouldn't be AT&T anyways, and with their roaming charges, you should be thanking them for blocking it
Oddly enough, if you were on vacation, it wouldn't be AT&T anyways, and with their roaming charges, you should be thanking them for blocking it
What could this possibly mean?
The iPad 3G have a huge ugly mole and it's full of restrictions.
Wifi only for the win PERIOD!!!!
To spend an additional 130 + 30 a month= insane.
If you guys like wasting money so much my pockets would be more then glad to give you some revolutionary and magical pocket lint.
But did nobody expect the restrictions to happen?
I'm sure netflix is no no on 3G
iPhone mywi +iPad is awesome. Mywi alone is worth a jailbreak. Who doesn't mind not paying more?
Wifi only for the win PERIOD!!!!
To spend an additional 130 + 30 a month= insane.
If you guys like wasting money so much my pockets would be more then glad to give you some revolutionary and magical pocket lint.
But did nobody expect the restrictions to happen?
I'm sure netflix is no no on 3G
iPhone mywi +iPad is awesome. Mywi alone is worth a jailbreak. Who doesn't mind not paying more?
You weren't the only one. With all the complaints about the AT&T network with iPhones, adding media heavy content devices like the iPad was certainly not going to help the bandwidth issues. I actually was expecting this, and mainly got the 3G for the same things Chip did.
You do realize that people who live in the USA actually take vacations in the USA, right? So yeah, chances are he will be on AT&T on vacation and won't be paying roaming charges.
Of course that's possible, but maybe lighten up a little. It was meant in good fun, hence the at the end of it. I think the speed issue seems to vary hugely from region to region. As I posted earlier, the iPad 3g speeds here in Houston are great.
iPad 3g - 2.37mbps download
iPad tethered through miwi - 1.97mbps download
iPad tethered verizon mifi - 1.72mbps download
iPad through wifi - 2.5mbps download
at the end of it. I think the speed issue seems to vary hugely from region to region. As I posted earlier, the iPad 3g speeds here in Houston are great. iPad 3g - 2.37mbps download
iPad tethered through miwi - 1.97mbps download
iPad tethered verizon mifi - 1.72mbps download
iPad through wifi - 2.5mbps download
And that the vast majority of Americans have never left the country, and would never be outside of AT&T coverage. I realize now that cheekyjeremy is not an American, and might not understand that we tend to vacation in other states, not other countries. Should have known by the use of "cheeky".
cheekyjeremy said:Of course that's possible, but maybe lighten up a little. It was meant in good fun, hence the
iPad 3g - 2.37mbps download
iPad tethered through miwi - 1.97mbps download
iPad tethered verizon mifi - 1.72mbps download
iPad through wifi - 2.5mbps download
Wow, 3G in Texas is too good.
But let me get this straight. Even with these kind of speeds over 3G, you would still not be able to download anything over 10 mb? That just seems annoying...
iPad with 3G can do wireless too... The only thing people lose by getting the iPad with 3G is $130, which many will gladly give up for the added convenience of data anywhere.
Putting down people who got the 3G version just to make yourself feel better about your decision is childish at best.
I used 3G all day today on my iPad and it worked great. 3G is very good here in Bloomington, IL. Pages loaded up very fast! I was shocked.
If WiFi only works for you.. then great! Many people here need and want the added convenience of 3G access. It's as simple as that. This pissing match between 3G and WiFi versions is getting ridiculous.
WTF would you want to download a 30mb file on 3G!? Use common sense. 3G doesn't mean "like wifi"
People thinking they could get HD quality video off a 3G network need a reality check.
My Mac pro with 12GB of ram on a 32mbps connection has hiccups playing 720p YouTube videos. What do you expect on and iPad on 3G service?!?
So ABC player doesn't work off 3G... Blasphemy. A month ago, you didn't even know ABC player existed.
Stop complaining and enjoy life.
People thinking they could get HD quality video off a 3G network need a reality check.
My Mac pro with 12GB of ram on a 32mbps connection has hiccups playing 720p YouTube videos. What do you expect on and iPad on 3G service?!?
So ABC player doesn't work off 3G... Blasphemy. A month ago, you didn't even know ABC player existed.
Stop complaining and enjoy life.
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; 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)
You have just said what I was thinking but didn't know how to put into words, good post.
me2000 said:
You have just said what I was thinking but didn't know how to put into words, good post.
Thanks.
I got the 3G version because there have been many times when I've needed Internet access but no WiFi available. It's as simple as that.
If someone can get by without needing 3G, than more power to them.. they save some money.
But many people want that added convenience because they find themselves in situations with no WiFi.
$130 is nothing, it's the combined $490 in additional cost that makes getting a 3G somewhat illogical.
Depends on your circumstances. I for example am in a different city 300 days per year, and with that a different hotel every night. $10 per day hotel internet seems really expensive when compared to $30 per month
I can fully justify the premium price for the 3G iPad. One must remember, however, that 3G technology is going to be more restrictive than WIFI, and it's not a WIFI replacement, rather a compliment. Here's my experience so far along with further reasons why it made sense to me to get the 3G:
- Air Video works great! It takes longer for a movie to start, but once it does, the video quality is actually very good. I have my entire DVD collection on my iMac and I can watch them on my iPad in the car or wherever I am.
- Netflix reduces the quality of the videos over 3G but it's still very watchable. You can't expect the same quality of streaming video over 3G as you get over wifi, restrictions notwithstanding. However, Netflix too is very watchable and will be nice to have when WIFI is not available.
- Browsing the web is nearly as fast on 3G as it is on WIFI, at least in my area (Quad Cities IL/IA). The only difference really is a bit more latency. This is alone is a good reason to choose the 3G version for someone who needs web browsing on the go.
- Having a GPS chip means you can use any application with location-based services, even when not on WIFI. The most obvious use will be maps and turn by turn, but there are also other types of applications that use location services. You may get location services with the WIFI version, but ONLY when you are on WIFI - there is no GPS chip on the WIFI version.
- Battery life is stellar on the iPad, even with 3G service, so it makes more sense than using another device (tethering or 3G cards). If you have an iPhone, you have to pay $30/mp for data service on that, so why pay another $60/mo for something like MIFI unless you plan on using it with more than just the iPhone and iPad? Tethering would be great, but at least the ipad's data plan has no cap.
- It makes no sense why the ABC app is restricted to WIFI when other streaming apps are not (Netflix, Air Video). My only guess is that ABC did not implement an adaptive streaming feature that will adjust the quality based on congestion. I believe that is one requirement for streaming apps over AT&T's 3G network, so perhaps they will release an update for the app if they are able to meet those requirements?
- All in all, most of the so-called "restrictions" you guys mentioned are not so much restrictions by Apple or AT&T but rather simple differences between WIFI and 3G data service in general. I believe the advantages of having 3G access when you NEED is definitely good reason to go for the 3G iPad, especially considering you get a GPS chip as well, and NO contract to sign. Over time, the extra $130 will be moot.
- Air Video works great! It takes longer for a movie to start, but once it does, the video quality is actually very good. I have my entire DVD collection on my iMac and I can watch them on my iPad in the car or wherever I am.
- Netflix reduces the quality of the videos over 3G but it's still very watchable. You can't expect the same quality of streaming video over 3G as you get over wifi, restrictions notwithstanding. However, Netflix too is very watchable and will be nice to have when WIFI is not available.
- Browsing the web is nearly as fast on 3G as it is on WIFI, at least in my area (Quad Cities IL/IA). The only difference really is a bit more latency. This is alone is a good reason to choose the 3G version for someone who needs web browsing on the go.
- Having a GPS chip means you can use any application with location-based services, even when not on WIFI. The most obvious use will be maps and turn by turn, but there are also other types of applications that use location services. You may get location services with the WIFI version, but ONLY when you are on WIFI - there is no GPS chip on the WIFI version.
- Battery life is stellar on the iPad, even with 3G service, so it makes more sense than using another device (tethering or 3G cards). If you have an iPhone, you have to pay $30/mp for data service on that, so why pay another $60/mo for something like MIFI unless you plan on using it with more than just the iPhone and iPad? Tethering would be great, but at least the ipad's data plan has no cap.
- It makes no sense why the ABC app is restricted to WIFI when other streaming apps are not (Netflix, Air Video). My only guess is that ABC did not implement an adaptive streaming feature that will adjust the quality based on congestion. I believe that is one requirement for streaming apps over AT&T's 3G network, so perhaps they will release an update for the app if they are able to meet those requirements?
- All in all, most of the so-called "restrictions" you guys mentioned are not so much restrictions by Apple or AT&T but rather simple differences between WIFI and 3G data service in general. I believe the advantages of having 3G access when you NEED is definitely good reason to go for the 3G iPad, especially considering you get a GPS chip as well, and NO contract to sign. Over time, the extra $130 will be moot.
Little doubt the 3G iPad is worth it for me. I am glad there are restrictions as some would stay on 3G all the time, even when wifi was available just so they thought they were getting their moneys worth! LOL!
I will use wifi were possible and 3G when I need it and the unlimited plan is well worth it to me.
I will use wifi were possible and 3G when I need it and the unlimited plan is well worth it to me.
After reading the thread, I find that people that really didn't need the 3G, seem to have bought it to watch videos and download movies. That is pretty unrealistic.
The average person can get by with a wifi model. Business types, travelers, and people outside the city away from the comfort of wifi are a few of the people that would benefit from the "always connected" 3G.
The wifi only people do look pretty ridiculous saying that they are happy that they didn't spend x amount of extra money. Paired with the people that bought a 3g to watch netflix and download movies, the theory of the wifi people actually stands. Netflix, abc, and movie downloading are not great experiences over 3G. If you bought an iPad for that, you should have saved your money and bought a wifi only version.
I do realize that there are people out there that make more dough than I do, and can afford to buy whatever they want. This fact makes arguing that someone "wasted" their money kind of pointless. To some, spending an extra $150 for the top model isn't an issue.
The average person can get by with a wifi model. Business types, travelers, and people outside the city away from the comfort of wifi are a few of the people that would benefit from the "always connected" 3G.
The wifi only people do look pretty ridiculous saying that they are happy that they didn't spend x amount of extra money. Paired with the people that bought a 3g to watch netflix and download movies, the theory of the wifi people actually stands. Netflix, abc, and movie downloading are not great experiences over 3G. If you bought an iPad for that, you should have saved your money and bought a wifi only version.
I do realize that there are people out there that make more dough than I do, and can afford to buy whatever they want. This fact makes arguing that someone "wasted" their money kind of pointless. To some, spending an extra $150 for the top model isn't an issue.
cheekyjeremy said:Of course that's possible, but maybe lighten up a little. It was meant in good fun, hence the
iPad 3g - 2.37mbps download
iPad tethered through miwi - 1.97mbps download
iPad tethered verizon mifi - 1.72mbps download
iPad through wifi - 2.5mbps download
iPad through Sprint 4G Overdrive - 5.2mbps download (Portland, OR)