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Question: Anyone think it's dangerous to travel internationally with ipad?

P

~Phi

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 13, 2007
160
0
chicago
Hi all,

I'll be traveling to the Caribbean and South America shortly. I plan to bring my iPad to use while traveling and as a substitute for my macbook.

My question - How would/do you treat your iPad while out of the country? I know the areas I'm going to stay are not very affluent, so I'm a bit concerned about being robbed if I take it out at a local coffee shop or restaurant. I've been robbed in the Caribbean before and it sucks.

I'm wondering if I should just use it in the hotel room and keep it in the safe while I'm out. However, bringing it to breakfast and reading a ibooks on the beach sounds fantastic.

I appreciate any recommendations.
 
Use it just like you would your laptop. Don't be an idiot, and you'll be fine.
 
Maybe I don't understand your question, but it all sounds like common sense to me.
 
If your staying at a nice resort I'd say you should be fine within that property. Bringing it out in the streets of the cities your going to probably isn't the best idea for the iPad or any valuable items. Use good judgement and you'll be fine.
 
I just travelled from Detroit, MI to Chennai, India 2 days ago. I took 3 flights, 2 of them over 10 hours long, and brought both my iPad and my Macbook with me.

The iPad is worth it for the plane trip alone. So much better to use than a laptop. Same goes while waiting in terminals and lounges at the airport. Absolutely fantastic. I flew in economy one leg of the tour (Detroit- Newark, Newark - Brussels) and business the next (Brussels - Chennai). Even in the EXTREMELY cramped domestic flight, the ipad was an absolute joy to use. It was soo good that I chose the iPad over my MB when I had an entire economy row equivalent of space in business class.

I brought the Macbook to do serious work while i'm here (i'll be in India for 2 months, can't do all the work on the iPad). My iPad has not left my backpack since arriving home in India simply because I have preferred my Macbook (Wifi signals are not that strong in my house). I don't plan on taking the iPad with me out in public just because I don't see why i would need it. My iPod is a much better option for the quick news checkup when i'm inside a wifi zone.
HOWEVER, I wouldn't MIND taking the iPad out to a coffee shop or something, its just that I baby it too much to take it out anywhere (even in the states). I'm too paranoid.

I would take the iPad for the in flight experience alone. But take the MB too.
 
The rarity of the iPad there will make it more of a target I would think. If they were available, perhaps a DoDo case would be a good thing, to make it look like a writing notebook.

http://www.dodocase.com/

I was in Mexico a few months ago and did not pull out my iPad out FWIW.
 
You should be completely safe to use it within the hotel, beach and the resort.

I have visited the carribean twice. Dominican republic. The hotels are all in resort which has armed police on patrol. Its quite safe, but once you go outside... No way! For tourists its quite scary out there unless your with tour operatives on a bus or something.

So basically use ur ipad on the plane, airport and in the hotel, beach and resort. Thats it. However...with the screen on the ipad i imagine it would be hopeless to try use it out in the beach! Lol. Plus it may be to hot for the ipad to operate. Its usually 30-40*C Im not sure 100% but i think the opearting temperature of the ipad is 0-35*C

And i guess its a no brainer but i hope your taking your ipad on the plane as hand luggage! Your ipad will be damaged most likely in ur main baggage :) I was dumb enough to do this with an expensive digital camera on my first holiday. Oops! Lol

Hope you enjoy your travels :)
 
Cricketman said:
I just travelled from Detroit, MI to Chennai, India 2 days ago. I took 3 flights, 2 of them over 10 hours long, and brought both my iPad and my Macbook with me.

The iPad is worth it for the plane trip alone. So much better to use than a laptop. Same goes while waiting in terminals and lounges at the airport. Absolutely fantastic. I flew in economy one leg of the tour (Detroit- Newark, Newark - Brussels) and business the next (Brussels - Chennai). Even in the EXTREMELY cramped domestic flight, the ipad was an absolute joy to use. It was soo good that I chose the iPad over my MB when I had an entire economy row equivalent of space in business class.

I brought the Macbook to do serious work while i'm here (i'll be in India for 2 months, can't do all the work on the iPad). My iPad has not left my backpack since arriving home in India simply because I have preferred my Macbook (Wifi signals are not that strong in my house). I don't plan on taking the iPad with me out in public just because I don't see why i would need it. My iPod is a much better option for the quick news checkup when i'm inside a wifi zone.
HOWEVER, I wouldn't MIND taking the iPad out to a coffee shop or something, its just that I baby it too much to take it out anywhere (even in the states). I'm too paranoid.

I would take the iPad for the in flight experience alone. But take the MB too.
Click to expand...

Now am going to think I should take both to Bali with me in September! Am buying the ipad to take instead of the MB but thinking that MB would still be good for transferring photos. :confused:
 
My focus for a foreign trip would be security on the device. Like-

Set up a passcode to turn it on.

Enable "Find my iPad" in MobileMe, but make sure Push is turned on for Fetch New Data.

Also you can remotely send a message to it if "lost" so the person using it sees the message. If that does not work, you can basically disable it remotely.
 
As THX1139 noted, at home or abroad common sense should always guide you. If you're in a place where you'd feel uncomfortable opening your wallet in public or using an expensive digital camera, then those rules would apply regardless of where you are on the planet. I take lots of stuff with me "internationally" but that term applies equally to Mumbai, Mexico City or London. So it's really hard to set a "general rule for international travel." Best to use your head.
 
I'd be more worried about travelling to Chicago with one. Or, indeed, with anything.

I stayed in a hotel there once with a body-shaped bloodstain on the carpet. Seriously.
 
Cricketman said:
I just travelled from Detroit, MI to Chennai, India 2 days ago. I took 3 flights, 2 of them over 10 hours long, and brought both my iPad and my Macbook with me.

The iPad is worth it for the plane trip alone. So much better to use than a laptop. Same goes while waiting in terminals and lounges at the airport. Absolutely fantastic. I flew in economy one leg of the tour (Detroit- Newark, Newark - Brussels) and business the next (Brussels - Chennai). Even in the EXTREMELY cramped domestic flight, the ipad was an absolute joy to use. It was soo good that I chose the iPad over my MB when I had an entire economy row equivalent of space in business class.

I brought the Macbook to do serious work while i'm here (i'll be in India for 2 months, can't do all the work on the iPad). My iPad has not left my backpack since arriving home in India simply because I have preferred my Macbook (Wifi signals are not that strong in my house). I don't plan on taking the iPad with me out in public just because I don't see why i would need it. My iPod is a much better option for the quick news checkup when i'm inside a wifi zone.
HOWEVER, I wouldn't MIND taking the iPad out to a coffee shop or something, its just that I baby it too much to take it out anywhere (even in the states). I'm too paranoid.

I would take the iPad for the in flight experience alone. But take the MB too.
Click to expand...

I think the problem here is that OP is going to places where security is not great. I recently went to Canada and the US and I've been to places where I was worried about my camcorder, my iPhone, other phone and my camera; letting alone my money and passports.

To OP:

Any trip can be made a nightmare if your thoughts are around your personal safety and losing your expensive belongings.

Trust me, just get some paperbacks, some notes, a good travel guide and maybe not even your iPhone or iPod Touch and enjoy your holiday. Possessions can really own you, take control! Spend more time discovering the destination, you can always spend time with your gadgets at home.
 
Seamaster said:
I'd be more worried about travelling to Chicago with one. Or, indeed, with anything.

I stayed in a hotel there once with a body-shaped bloodstain on the carpet. Seriously.
Click to expand...

As a Chicago resident who uses the iPad on a twice-daily train commute, I can assure you that public spaces are less threatening than our hotel rooms.
 
Depends on your surroundings. You'd be nuts to leave even a cheap Nokia on a restaurant table in Madrid, there are gangs of thieves who run through such places grabbing anything they can and dashing away. On the other hand if you're in the lobby of a Four Seasons, no problem.
 
Quote--I think the problem here is that OP is going to places where security is not great. I recently went to Canada and the US and I've been to places where I was worried about my camcorder, my iPhone, other phone and my camera; letting alone my money and passports.

To OP:

Any trip can be made a nightmare if your thoughts are around your personal safety and losing your expensive belongings.

Trust me, just get some paperbacks, some notes, a good travel guide and maybe not even your iPhone or iPod Touch and enjoy your holiday. Possessions can really own you, take control! Spend more time discovering the destination, you can always spend time with your gadgets at home.

Couldn't agree more-got robbed on the street in Barcelona and thank gosh I did not take my iPhone-we lost everything except passports that we left in hotel. TRAVEL LIGHT AND ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE!

In the big cities I would go into an Apple store to access my email and answer messages. Real simple.
 
Thanks for all the replies everyone! After reading all your posts, I'll probably just use my ipad on the flights and in my hotel room. As tempting as it might be to take out the ipad while waiting at a restaurant, I'll just leave it in the hotel safe.

Traveling in foreign countries is always unpredictable and the ipad is definitely eye catching, so It's probably in my best interest to not take it out in public places where the ipad isn't yet available.

It was at a Ritz Carleton hotel when we got robbed. The resort was phenomenal, but apparently the staff that day really wanted nice sunglasses, digital cameras and other cool stuff that was left out in the hotel room.

Anyway, looking forward to my trip and can't wait to take my first trip with the ipad.
 
Right, because people in foreign countries cannot be trusted. :rolleyes:

I find this thread offensive, but that's just me.

Leave it at home if you feel that way. It's irreplaceable after all.
 
Hard to pick the iPad as a dangerous travel device. It's not exactly the most expensive device in the world. Don't people use other devices and/or laptops in those locations? Plus, you'll be carrying your iPad, not just leaving it alone while you walk away. The iPad is that small for a reason. Because it's so easy to pick up an tote, you never really need to leave it behind. Just anywhere, when I don't have the iPad at home, I carry that with me like one of those programs in the movie TRON keep their Discs with them.

Sorry to hear about your stuff getting stolen; but that kind of stuff, the way you described it, happens right at home. Best thing to do is not to leave expensive things out, willy nilly. Even in the nicest of hotels, I tend to put away my laptops and such, when I'm to leave the room. Packed away, nobody can guess where you might have said stuff. And people are generally not going to ransack your entire luggage and belongings looking for something that *might* not even be there in the first place.

Still, do what you feel safe doing. Using the iPad in the hotel room is one thing, just remember to put it away when you leave. Seriously, it's hard enough finding an iPad between a few sheets of paper in a suitcase, if you don't know where it is already.
 
Just got back from SF to Tokyo to Okinawa to Seoul and back in a week. No issues. Worked with WiFi about as well internationally as anywhere else. The IPad was definitely my best friend on the road.
 
Just got back from trip to Greece with Ipad. Never took it outside the hotel (or saw the need to). A few others at the hotel pool (and on the plane) were reading Ipads/kindles. It is the perfect device for an international flight. One nice feature of the Ipad is it fits in the hotel safe (contra my laptop).
 
DNAppleGold said:
Just got back from SF to Tokyo to Okinawa to Seoul and back in a week. No issues. Worked with WiFi about as well internationally as anywhere else. The IPad was definitely my best friend on the road.
Click to expand...

Of all the places you went, SF was the most dangerous by a factor of about 10000.

I'm heading to Europe tomorrow morning, 6th international trip with iPad. No one has ever bothered me with it (unless you count a small mob of schoolgirls in Japan who all crowded around for a look).
 
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