New to SIMs, Int'l travel, att vs verizon

[paparuski]

Dear All,
I'm new to the world of SIM cards so any help would be appreciated.

I travel extensively on an international basis. Currently own wifi only ipad.

I will buy a new ipad2 and will go for the 3g for convenience (even if in usa).

My questions:
1) is Verizon or ATT better at International travel for IPAD 3g use?

2) or if both are too expensive to use internationally (like att on my iphone), if I plan to get a foreign SIM to use in various countries, which is the better ipad.

Thanks!

D

 

[rcp27]

Dear All,
I'm new to the world of SIM cards so any help would be appreciated.

I travel extensively on an international basis. Currently own wifi only ipad.

I will buy a new ipad2 and will go for the 3g for convenience (even if in usa).

My questions:
1) is Verizon or ATT better at International travel for IPAD 3g use?

Almost certainly AT&T. Verizon uses CDMA, which is not used outside of North America and China. AT&T uses GSM, which is used pretty much everywhere.

2) or if both are too expensive to use internationally (like att on my iphone), if I plan to get a foreign SIM to use in various countries, which is the better ipad.

GSM (ie AT&T) without a doubt. In every country where there is a CDMA network there is also a GSM network. There are lots of places (for example all of Europe) where there is no CDMA network, so a Verizon (CDMA) iPad could not be used (except as WiFi only).

 

[deeddawg]

Almost certainly AT&T. Verizon uses CDMA, which is not used outside of North America and China and India. AT&T uses GSM, which is used pretty much everywhere.

Fixed that for you. I believe they're the 2nd largest CDMA market after the US.

To the OP: definitely GSM if travelling abroad. With GSM you can buy a local SIM and use that (though there may be some wonkyness with activating) thereby avoiding a huge data roaming bill. With CDMA, you're pretty much stuck. CDMA does not use a SIM, that's only GSM (and thus the AT&T version ipad)

 

[ucfgrad93]

For international travel you are definitely going to want the at&t version. There is no CDMA, which is what Verizon uses, coverage in Europe.

 

[0007776]

go with AT&T for international travel, CDMA is a little more widespread than most people are telling you, but it's still not very widespread and you will be stuck paying roaming fees so you would be better off with a local sim card.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Of course no confirmation whether the ATT iPad2 is carrier locked or not? Apple was fast to note the original iPad was unlocked but no mention of it Wed, not even a 1 sec. throw away line.

 

[0007776]

Of course no confirmation whether the ATT iPad2 is carrier locked or not? Apple was fast to note the original iPad was unlocked but no mention of it Wed, not even a 1 sec. throw away line.

I'm pretty sure it will be, there's no reason for them to suddenly go and lock it. But if they did then they probably would have wanted to mention it so that people wouldn't buy one and then get upset.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I'm pretty sure it will be, there's no reason for them to suddenly go and lock it. But if they did then they probably would have wanted to mention it so that people wouldn't buy one and then get upset.

Sure, but this is Apple. They only toot the horn of good news and bury "distracting" facts in small print of some obscure White Paper. Recall the whole SATA II bus speed cripple issue w/ the 13" Mid 2009 MBP. So I don't take anything for granted. Just because something seems logical doesn't mean it makes AppleSense. Buyers have zero reason to be upset if it turns out to be locked b/c Apple never claimed it was unlocked. They said it works w/ ATT. (And very good reason to lock it is b/c that's how ATT wants it or they don't offer a data plan for it).

 

[poloponies]

Sure, but this is Apple. They only toot the horn of good news and bury "distracting" facts in small print of some obscure White Paper. Recall the whole SATA II bus speed cripple issue w/ the 13" Mid 2009 MBP. So I don't take anything for granted. Just because something seems logical doesn't mean it makes AppleSense. Buyers have zero reason to be upset if it turns out to be locked b/c Apple never claimed it was unlocked. They said it works w/ ATT. (And very good reason to lock it is b/c that's how ATT wants it or they don't offer a data plan for it).

I suspect the "pick a carrier" talk was to placate the wireless companies. Now that they have a Verizon option AT&T probably wanted an equal time/equal prominence mention.