# Reviews of the 3G iPad?



## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

I'm holding off going down to the Apple store to buy my 64g Wi-Fi + 3G iPad until I see some reviews by those who got them yesterday.  Any glitches with the 3G feature?  I know I'm being too cautious but Apple doesn't have a great return policy.  So, I'm depending on you 'experts'.  I've gotten a wealth of information from KB in the past, so I'm sticking with a good thing.  

Please post your comments as soon as you can.  I'm just itching to go buy mine!!!


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## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

I'll be able to comment on the 3G features later today. So far I've only had to use the wifi at home. I'm going to my cousins house this afternoon and I think she only has wired connections. I'm dying to use the 3G, but I want to do it in a real life situation, not just use it to use it.


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## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

Well, I don't have the iPad yet.  Went to two Apple Stores today and they're sold out.  None came in today.  Have to check again Monday.  One of the stores had a reserve list and they will hold one for me and email me when it's in.  So, you have plenty of time to play with it and let me know.


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## jaspertyler (Feb 13, 2009)

Like mine a lot.  I have had no problems with it.  I used 3G last night at olive garden and it worked fine.  I love knowing I will always be connected . I had a wifi one but returned it for 3 g... This is the perfect gadget for me.  I love it (currently laying in bed typing this on iPad)


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## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

jaspertyler said:


> Like mine a lot. I have had no problems with it. I used 3G last night at olive garden and it worked fine. I love knowing I will always be connected . I had a wifi one but returned it for 3 g... This is the perfect gadget for me. I love it (currently laying in bed typing this on iPad)


Good to hear. Glad you're enjoying it. We travel a lot (long trips in the car). I like the idea of being connected all the time.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Being connected all the time is indeed VERY useful.  My Palm Pre "smart phone" has an internet connection, and I had something similar on two similar Treo smart phones.  I use it routinely at home, and extensively when I travel.  It is so convenient to be able to look up a phone number, or search the web for a store or restaurant address that is nearby, find a manufacturer website if I'm having trouble with a product, or even just to pass the time waiting in line!  Since I had it on my phone, I felt I couldn't justify the added expense (both initial and monthly fee) for a 3G iPad, but I think you guys will love yours if you carry it with you regularly (or just when you travel).


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## Rasputina (May 6, 2009)

We drove 800 miles today with my 3G, other than being bumped to edge network part of the time an losing signal in the hinterlands no problems. The gps worked great


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

The Hooded Claw said:


> Being connected all the time is indeed VERY useful. My Palm Pre "smart phone" has an internet connection, and I had something similar on two similar Treo smart phones. I use it routinely at home, and extensively when I travel. It is so convenient to be able to look up a phone number, or search the web for a store or restaurant address that is nearby, find a manufacturer website if I'm having trouble with a product, or even just to pass the time waiting in line! Since I had it on my phone, I felt I couldn't justify the added expense (both initial and monthly fee) for a 3G iPad, but I think you guys will love yours if you carry it with you regularly (or just when you travel).


For me it was the opposite. I have a bare bones cellphone without a data plan. I use a iPod touch and almost always have wifi access. Now if i am traveling and need access I can add it easily on my 3G plan but I'm not paying 30-40 dollars every month


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## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

My only new comment is to put in airplane mode when at home on your wifi.  Mine tried to connect 3G twice, so I turned it off.  At least when on cheaper plan.  I don't know how much data I will use so started with the $14.99 plan.


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## KindleChickie (Oct 24, 2009)

I have had mine since Friday and have taken the last two days to go all over and check it out.  Here is my take for what it is worth...

The 3G is good.  I have loved having the extra freedom to eat lunch/dinner where I would like without having to consider which cafe/eatery has wifi.  The speed has been moderately good to pretty poor.  Sometimes it is so slow I gave up and switched to my Kindle to read.  

I much prefer my Kindle for reading.  The iPad has glass in front of the screen and there is an issue with depth perception for me.  Looking thru the front glass to see the words was not good imho.  There is also an issue with glare.  It isnt noticable in my home or in places with low lighting or lights that are high in the ceiling.  But in places with bright lights like a the Apple store with the glass front, you will notice the reflections.

Gaming for me is also not as good as I was hoping.  With a laptop, most of the movement comes at the wrists to use the mouse.  With the ipad, I feel most of the movement in my shoulder.  I have to move my whole arm to play something like Plants v Zombies.  I cant see my playing for more than 30 min at a time, where as with the laptop I could sit for over an hour with no noticable discomfort.

Where the iPad excells is in media consumption.  I love the netflix app and have even watched a few minutes of a movie on the 3G connection.  Surfing the internet is also a pleasure.  Music videos are nice too, I just wish the iTunes store had a better selection for those of us who are over 25.   Weather channel and NPR apps are really nice.  I am a news junkie so I have all the news related apps, of which most were free.

All in all I am pleased with the device.  I intended for it to replace my laptop as my daily carry and it will do an excellent job in that.  I cant see me reading a novel on it or playing games for over 30 minutes in one setting.  Netflix is fabu, but there are so few times I have a solid 2 hr block of time to sit and watch a movie, I probably wont be getting much use of it.

Two things I wish I could do with it are play yahoo game and watch my soap operas.  I wish they would put young and restless daily episodes on iTunes.  I tevo them now but rarely get to watch them.  I think if I had them on a portable device where I could watch them segments at time I might be able to keep up.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Kindlechickie, the ABC app has several soaps available, though not Young and Restless.

I'm astounded that Netflix works over 3G, I'll bet ATT loses a lot of bandwidth to that!


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## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

Jesslyn said:


> My only new comment is to put in airplane mode when at home on your wifi. Mine tried to connect 3G twice, so I turned it off. At least when on cheaper plan. I don't know how much data I will use so started with the $14.99 plan.


Good suggestion, Jesslyn. That's the plan I'm going to try in the beginning also. I'll just initiate it before I have to go on a trip.

How does one initiate it? Do you have to go online and buy it and is it easy to cancel online after the month is over?


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## GinnyB (Dec 19, 2009)

My 3G arrived Friday. It's flawless, but I'm ignorant. I feel like there's a learning curve and I haven't made the curve yet, but oh I love it!

I do not intend to use the 3G unless I travel. I have a blackberry and will use that, plus my car is wired and that's a help for some issues. I'll hold off on buying more access until/unless I need it, but it's great to know it's there! Also, I may get sick of the BB screen and it's limited display. I haven't decided.

I actually LOVE reading on my iPad! I finally got my case last night so now I can lug it around. (I had given my pre-ordered case to my son for his WiFi version and so he gave me his late-arrivin case once my3G arrived. So now it's going with me. 

I really like that we can buy the 3G connection as needed. Great idea!


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## rho (Feb 12, 2009)

Can anyone who has read on their iTouch compare it to the iPad screen wise (other than size of course) - I am thinking it will be the same - I don't mind reading on my iTouch at all - in fact i alternate between that and my Kindle quite often -


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

I stood in line for not too long late Friday afternoon at an Apple Store.  I got 64g 3G.  (I often enough don't get the "big one" and later wish I had.)  

I like it.  Haven't signed up for 3G yet, but I will.  Got the Apple case for it.  Plan on getting the WaterField Exo case for iPad while inserted in Apple case.  I think Apple case is a good minimal case.  I don't like holding a naked iPad.  

I haven't read on it at length yet.  I've been reading in some samples.  Haven't read in the sun.  Imagine there would be glare.  I don't know if it would effect ease of reading in "glare conditions", but you can quickly and easily adjust brightness of screen while actually in a book.  When you exit book, it goes back to brightness that was set in Settings.  

I'm not too fussy and purdy easily entertained.  Apple makes it fun to read on the iPad.  I like my K1 and will still read on it, but it already has the look of an old-fashioned, out-dated reader.

From the on-line iPad manual, "iBooks and the iBookstore are not available in all languages and locations."  Is it the iPad or just iBooks that isn't available out of the U.S.?  Does this mean iBooks isn't available all over the U.S.?

Questions?


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## lynninva (Feb 7, 2009)

I'm still learning how to take full advantage of my 3G iPad, but I will say that I am already enjoying the news apps & have been amazed at how beautiful the pictures display.

I came across a feature on CNET.com that shows the differences between the 3G and wifi only iPads. I was surprised when I saw the picture explaining the tool included to eject the SIM card. I completely overlooked that when I opened the little packet with the startup card. (Although I was trying to figure out what the picture was supposed to represent.)










The link to the feature is: http://news.cnet.com/2300-17938_105-10003297.html?s=0&o=10003297&tag=mncol;page

On the chance that someone else might be as clueless as me, I thought I would post this here.


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## corkyb (Apr 25, 2009)

I did the exact same thing.


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## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

DD said:


> Good suggestion, Jesslyn. That's the plan I'm going to try in the beginning also. I'll just initiate it before I have to go on a trip.
> 
> How does one initiate it? Do you have to go online and buy it and is it easy to cancel online after the month is over?


You initiate the 3G within Settings in the Cellular Data section on the iPad. Since it also gives you a 'phone number', I tried to access that account online, but it doesn't work. It requires a LOT of typing, bleh. 
The reason that I turn off my 3G is that when the iPad goes to sleep it may disconnect from wifi service. At my job, I have to 'accept' the certificate again by going to any website before the wireless is re-enabled. In that situation, if I were to go to an app or other utility that uses wifi, the wifi would still be disabled and the 3G would be used needlessly. Since I've started out with the cheaper plan, that's not a good idea, although it would be fine with the Unlimited plan.
Another thing that is not immediately obvious. _If you use up all your data on the cheaper plan, you CANNOT just pay an additional $15 to upgrade to unlimited. You have to pay the entire $29.99 for the upgrade to unlimited._


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## Eeyore (Jul 16, 2009)

Sandpiper said:


> From the on-line iPad manual, "iBooks and the iBookstore are not available in all languages and locations." Is it the iPad or just iBooks that isn't available out of the U.S.? Does this mean iBooks isn't available all over the U.S.?
> 
> Questions?


Sandpiper, the iPad (both versions) is currently not available for sale outside of the US. Pre-orders begin May 7th (I think) for the EU, Canada and Great Britain. iBooks is only here in the US ( not even for our neighbors in Canada.) Apple faces the same problems Amazon does with copyright laws, VAT fees, author and publisher restrictions, etc. Until that is set up, no books can be sold over the iBooks platform outside of the US.

Best Wishes!


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## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

lynninva said:


> I'm still learning how to take full advantage of my 3G iPad, but I will say that I am already enjoying the news apps & have been amazed at how beautiful the pictures display.
> 
> I came across a feature on CNET.com that shows the differences between the 3G and wifi only iPads. I was surprised when I saw the picture explaining the tool included to eject the SIM card. I completely overlooked that when I opened the little packet with the startup card. (Although I was trying to figure out what the picture was supposed to represent.)
> 
> ...


Very informative. Thank you, lynninva.


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