3G impressions after a few days traveling

[lespaul85]

I'm sitting here at Disney world with my iPad 3G and must say I'm thoroughly impressed. I got it Friday as most new owners have and did a little wifi messing around. Certainly was impressed off the bat by that, but saturday morning I was off to the airport and activated my 3G service and have not seen an access point since that then.
For some odd reason my service seems far better on the iPad than the iPhone. Download speeds for online video via safari is good, netflix is totally impressive, abc app is a pain of course since it's wifi only but it's a great app regardless. YouTube is a bit of a Joke with it's downscaling but oh well... My apps have downloaded quick and my web surfing has been quite snappy. Im plenty used to the speed on the iPhone so im pleasantly surprised at the 3G speeds on this.
Anyone who thinks this is just a big iPhone is sorely mistaken. I can sit and use this thing all night whereas the iPhone is just a tool for when i need it. The iPhone has it's uses and the iPad has it's uses and to me I think they intersect less than I expected, in a good way. This (from the aspect of a traveller) is a great asset and will continue to be a constant travel companion.

 

[ZBoater]

+1

I have a Verizon Droid (ditched my iPhone 3GS 2 months ago), a Sprint Blackberry (work), and a iPad 3G. I've been banging away at my iPad ever since I got it and am very impressed. I still prefer Android and will jump ship the second a decent Android tablet is released, but between now and then i am enjoying this one a lot.

 

[Travisimo]

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. The family and I are going to Disneyworld next week and we'll be taking two ipad's - my wife's wifi modek and my 3G. I also have the camera connection kit, so we plan on looking at photos on the iPad when we go back to the hotel each night.

Is 3G pretty ubiquitous around Orlando? Here in the quad cities (IA/IL border), 3G is superb! I was out and about the last couple of days around town with my 3G iPad and 3G worked great. While my wife was in the store shopping for clothes, the kids and I watched a quick show on Netflix and the video quality was quite good - not HD, but very good SD. I also took the iPad to church with me Saturday night and used the Bible app - so much handier than carrier a printed Bible.

Anyway, looking forward to using it at Disneyworld as well. What apps did you use the most while you were there?

 

[TraceyS/FL]

What's funny is that i was at epcot on Friday while my iPad was sitting lonely waiting for me!

Enjoy your trip, and I'm happy to hear it works well there!!

To the person asking about 3G, this is my first AT&T product, so I can't answer, except to say that I have never encountered anyone complaining about lack of service in lines. Lots of iPhone usage going on in them!

Enjoy your trip too - this local appreciates all the tourists. But in admit to liking the lighter traffic right now too..... Lol!

 

[sakanagai]

...
For some odd reason my service seems far better on the iPad than the iPhone. Download speeds for online video via safari is good, netflix is totally impressive, abc app is a pain of course since it's wifi only but it's a great app regardless.
...

I 've had similar experiences with my iPad 3G this first weekend away from home. I did notice that the WWAN was able to get a strong signal in places where my phone had some difficulty, though the speed was about the same. The reason is likely due to the antenna placement. There are two 3G antennas, one routed to the window on the back and the other connected to the display's bezel. The latter suggests that the entire bezel serves as an antenna.

I haven't spent much time with the ABC app, but I must concur that Netflix streaming exceeded all expectations. Certainly not the quality of streaming at home (WiFi or LAN on a desktop browser on a game console), but it runs smoothly, with a few compression artifacts, and quality that remains more than just "watchable". Tears through bandwidth, though.

 

[0101001]

+1

I have a Verizon Droid (ditched my iPhone 3GS 2 months ago), a Sprint Blackberry (work), and a iPad 3G. I've been banging away at my iPad ever since I got it and am very impressed. I still prefer Android and will jump ship the second a decent Android tablet is released, but between now and then i am enjoying this one a lot.

Droid is incredible I sold my iPhone and have not looked back.