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Anyone already air-traveled with an iPad?

Been using it for about 4 weeks. In houston airport now waiting for my flight. Not paying for wifi, using my jail broken iPhone and the MyWi app to get free tethered 3G Internet to my iPad, wirelessly. And by the way, it is faster than most hotel and airport wifi since it is not a shared connection.

Lots of comments and questions from travelers, hotel staff, etc.

Fits nicely in the magazine holder in the plane seat.

Battey is great. Just need a good hardshell or firmish cover for the thing. Macally bookstand by report seems a bit soft and i'd be worried if something landed on top of my ipad while it was in the xray security belt or if it was in my carry on and someone put something on top of my bag.
 
Just flew from Portland, OR to Boston and back with one layover each way. The iPad was simply amazing! I don't know why I took anything else with me to be honest. This thing makes a great travel companion.

I have the Apple case and while a lot of people seem to hate it, I love it. It especially came in handy on the plane. I felt it protected the ipad enough (I'm very carful with my gadgets anyway but the case helps ensure I won't scratch the heck out of it), kept it quite slim (I stored the ipad in the magazine seat pocket) and I was able to put the device in a few different positions for watching video comfortably.

When going through security, I left the ipad in my carry on (backpack) and they didn't mind at all.

On the flight out to Boston I didn't pay much attention to battery life. Not because I didn't care, but because I had just purchased the device the day of the flight (Apple store just happened to get some stock in) and I didn't have time to fully charge it before leaving. Regardless, I got several hours worth of use out of it and it could have easily lasted for several more hours based on the battery level indicator.

On the flight back, I started with a full battery so I was able to closely watch the life. I watched several hours worth of video (little better than 4 hours - 2 full movies), browsed the internet and send email (using in flight gogo), read part of a book, and played some games/used some apps. I ended up using the ipad for just under 6 hours total and when I put it away during descent, the battery showed 68% left. I am confident I could have gotten 15 hours of usage from a single charge. That's incredible.
 
HiRez said:
How will you configure it on site? I also have an old AEX that I would like to use for travel with the iPad but it seems unlikely it would just work with no configuration (and would be frustrating if it required it).
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Sorry for the late reply.

I first plugged my AEX into the Time Capsule LAN port and did the configuration AirPort Utility. I set it up just like a standalone access point with 'create a wireless network' mode, created a new network name, and 802.11g only. Don't forget to turn on WPA2 encryption.

Arrived at the hotel, I connected the AEX to the hotel wired network. My iPhone 3GS and iPad wifi instantly recogized the SSID. It seem like both devices were sharing the same IP address, so the hotel didn't aware that I was using a wireless router. ;)
 
I would just leave it on the seat. If it is stolen, then you know that there are a limited number of people on the plane that would have taken it.
 
I've flown with mine. Great experience, especially w/ WiFi now available. I left mine in my seat pocket. It's not like it wouldn't be obvious if someone took it or hard to find them.
 
I flew from Boston to Buffalo with mine and while I didn't get to use it much, something funny happened on my way home through Buffalo security.

The TSA worker asked i owned my bag as it passed through the scanner. When I said yes she said that she needed to open it up because they knew it wasn't a notebook but couldn't ID it.

As she walked off with it I informed her that it was an iPad and thought it was fine to leave in my carry-on. After pulling it out of the bag I reached over and slid the slider to unlock and she was blown away. She asked if she could show it to her co-worker working the scanner and I obliged.

Naturally (thankfully) her co- worker was paying strict attention to the luggage passing thru the scanner so it took a few minutes for her to show it off. That left me standing there for a *bit* longer than usual, so my companions doubled back because they were worried something was wrong.

The lady seemed to love it until finding out there was no way of watching the Sabres game (it was the day of the first playoff game vs the B's and I never knew Buffalo was a city full of hockey fanatics). She then blew it off and said she'd consider it when she could watch her hockey games.

Man, I like this machine but this was painful to type out :)
 
Took my WiFi on two coast-to-coast flights. TSA didn't blink at it as it was in my laptop bag. MBP was removed and in the tray. but not a word about the iPad in the bag, either time (IAD, SFO).

On the planes, in the back of the seat, when not in use. Bose headset for listening worked great!

At the hotel, I paid for its own WiFi, which was a bit pricey for the crappy 1 Mb. Next time will take the 3G and probably get more bandwidth for 1/10 the cost! :)
 
The TSA at SeaTac International Airport asked me to take out the iPad and put it on their plastic tray.

I did leave it on my seat with the Beats Studio headphone and covered with my jacket tho.
 
Another +1 for the Airport Express. I've been using on for hotels with lousy WiFi reception for several years (lots of them still have hardwire run to the room). Just create a Profile to create a network using DHCP and your golden. Enable WPA to keep it locked down. Other than that a stellar experience all around.
 
flycats said:
The lady seemed to love it until finding out there was no way of watching the Sabres game (it was the day of the first playoff game vs the B's and I never knew Buffalo was a city full of hockey fanatics). She then blew it off and said she'd consider it when she could watch her hockey games.

Man, I like this machine but this was painful to type out :)
Click to expand...

Shoulda told her about Slingplayer, that'd have been a good way for her to watch hockey. ;)
 
I'm traveling to Europe in a couple of weeks, and plan to take only the wifi ipad. The airport express is a good idea, discussed with my brother this week, who is a long-time mac geek. Got a good handle on how to use it, and having it along will let me rest easy, knowing that I can easily turn a wired-only setup into a wifi hotspot, and i'm golden.
 
I left it on the seat and it was there when I got back...no surprise there.

Also, DFW nor BWI TSA said a word about leaving the iPad in my Timbuk2 bag.
 
Atken said:
I have the Apple case and while a lot of people seem to hate it, I love it. It especially came in handy on the plane. I felt it protected the ipad enough (I'm very carful with my gadgets anyway but the case helps ensure I won't scratch the heck out of it), kept it quite slim (I stored the ipad in the magazine seat pocket) and I was able to put the device in a few different positions for watching video comfortably.
Click to expand...

I was hesitant to pick up an Apple case, but ended up going for it as I wanted to have something until I find my 'perfect' case - and it's only $40. As it turns out, I've grown quite fond of it. I'm shocked that no other case manufacturers have yet copied Apple's design. Having the ability to angle the iPad for fast typing or easy video watching is great. Visually, it's not the most attractive, but it's not bad either. It hugs the iPad tight, and the material feels very nice.
 
I have been traveling with mine for 2 weeks. I use it mostly for movie watching in flight and surfing back in my hotel.

I watched avatar while flying and loved it. This thing is great, looking forward to increased functionality.
 
Sleazy E said:
No plane travel yet with it for me but i will be going on an 8 day cruise in two weeks. Can't wait to chill on my balcony overlooking the water and reading a book on my iPad.
Click to expand...

Now THAT does sound nice! Maybe we will even see a photo or two?
 
ttate90303 said:
Another +1 for the Airport Express. I've been using on for hotels with lousy WiFi reception for several years (lots of them still have hardwire run to the room). Just create a Profile to create a network using DHCP and your golden. Enable WPA to keep it locked down. Other than that a stellar experience all around.
Click to expand...

Have to dig mine out here and set one up for that :)

Do you have a link that gives step by step instructions on that?

Not a dunce here on tech.. but help is always good... :)
 
I've been traveling with mine for several weeks. I put it in a plastic tray every time fort screening and nobody commented on it except once in Houston (asked me how I liked it). It attracts flight attendants like flies. :D I watch videos, read, play games and so on for hours and hours and the bettery always has power to spare.

I've never had an issue connecting with it at the free wifi in hotels. Speed was decent--no faster or slower than my Win 7 laptop.

I've flown to Japan in the past (14 hours from where I live) and carried books and magazines to read. Next time I will just bring the iPad. I am hoping by then I can get travel guides on it too.
 
murphyrulez said:
I flew from Detroit to Oklahoma city yesterday on Delta. Only a 2 hour flight so no bathroom breaks for me. I left my MBP at home, and it was a nice change to not have to pull my laptop out of my backpack to pass security. I watched a tv show on the plane and played a little Harbor Master HD... Of course when i got to the hotel they only had wired internet in the room so i was hosed. Figures.
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I'm seriously thinking about getting an airport express so that if i have a wired connection somewhere, i can use that to make wireless.
 
pooryou said:
Airport Express is a handy travel companion for situations like this. Of course, there is no Airport Utility for the iPad...but I think if it's already set up correctly you should be able to just plug it in.
Click to expand...

I carry an Airport Express in my luggage. I have a MacBook air so some hotels force me to use it. I never have to open the utility. Flawless
 
EldoInTheWeeds said:
I've been traveling with mine for several weeks. I put it in a plastic tray every time fort screening and nobody commented on it except once in Houston (asked me how I liked it). It attracts flight attendants like flies. :D I watch videos, read, play games and so on for hours and hours and the bettery always has power to spare.

I've never had an issue connecting with it at the free wifi in hotels. Speed was decent--no faster or slower than my Win 7 laptop.

I've flown to Japan in the past (14 hours from where I live) and carried books and magazines to read. Next time I will just bring the iPad. I am hoping by then I can get travel guides on it too.
Click to expand...

LOL

Good to hear when I start to travel again that the iPad is the perfect companion... though never been on that long of a flight yet :eek:
 
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