IPad + cellular?

paulcardoza wrote:
Hmmmm...... I touch my laptop once per month, to scan & file bills and important documents. Other than that, my iPad does whatever

There is an app for that!

we use our phones as a hot spot when we travel...keeps the wife up and talking and something for her to do...she likes checking out pintrest of camping.....and it is a nice big GPS as well....Get the biggest iPad you can afford. Ours is the 64G model

MontanaCamper wrote:
we use our phones as a hot spot when we travel...keeps the wife up and talking and something for her to do...she likes checking out pintrest of camping.....and it is a nice big GPS as well....Get the biggest iPad you can afford. Ours is the 64G model

You need a raise... mines a 128 :)
I argued hard with Best Buy when they said they didn't exist.

SCVJeff wrote:

MontanaCamper wrote:
we use our phones as a hot spot when we travel...keeps the wife up and talking and something for her to do...she likes checking out pintrest of camping.....and it is a nice big GPS as well....Get the biggest iPad you can afford. Ours is the 64G model

You need a raise... mines a 128 :)
I argued hard with Best Buy when they said they didn't exist.

HAHA, true...but its for the wife...I use a laptop with a 500G HD, its a mini, still great.

I am thinking about getting an iPad with cellular to use for navigation. How is the coverage in the western states, western canada and Alaska?

SoonDockin wrote:
I am thinking about getting an iPad with cellular to use for navigation. How is the coverage in the western states, western canada and Alaska?

That all depends on the app you install, dozens to choose from.
For a quick look do a google search on 'iPad maps'

Definitely consider Verizon. We traveled out west with some friends last year. We had Verizon, they had AT&T. Their service got turned off after using just a fraction of their regular monthly data plan. When they called AT&T to find out why, they were told that if they read their contract they would see that although they may have a data plan with 6 GB data, if they roamed off the AT&T towers, they were limited to only 200 Mb. Any additional usage would turn off their service.

I was shocked to learn of that so I immediately called Verizon. They assured me that Verizon did not do what AT&T did. We continued to have service throughout the trip without interruption.

No matter which carrier you choose, call them and ask how they handle "data roaming" which may be handled much differently than "voice roaming".

There were a few places where we didn't have service and a lot of places where we only had 3G service.

Thanks for that suggestion.

I have an AT&T iPhone with untethereable unlimited data. I was thinking an iPad on Verizon looked best since their month to month data plans cost less. I plan a trip to Alaska and just want to have the best chance at connecting.

SoonDockin wrote:
I am thinking about getting an iPad with cellular to use for navigation. How is the coverage in the western states, western canada and Alaska?

I use an iPad for navigation. I have Verizon coverage with it. You can navigate without ceullular whatsoever if you use an app like GoPilot or TomTom since they get by with the GPS only very well. For instance I used TomTom exclusively going to Alaska and back through Canada where I never had cellular. TomTom and GoPilot and a few others have their own map database so you are not dependent on cellular to pick them up.

On the Interstates and major routes Verizon and AT&T seem to work well out west which means you could get by with many of the cellular dependent apps like Google Maps or Apple Maps. In Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan this last spring I got by mostly all the time with Apple Maps since rarely did I go outside cellular coverage and even when weak, the maps of the area were already drawn and the GPS still tracked you.

The bottom line is you have a wide choice to choose from free and paid for. You'll settle in with what you like best. I often use 2 or 3 just for route planning as they can vary in their suggestions.

As for which to get, I have AT&T iPhones and as I said Verizon iPad. I would suggest Verizon. I think they have a better cell service plan for the iPad. At least they did at the time I chose and just the opposite for my iPhones.

And just to be clear, you don't have to sign up for a cell plan to use the TomTom app I mentioned. You just need the GPS chipset that comes with cellular capable iPads.

Nice, that's likely the way I will go. I'll be in Canada for two weeks, so I'll have to go through withdrawls on my netflix watching.