Hi Robin, Daniel and Alex
Thankyou all very much for your very helpful suggestions regarding
maintaining email contact while in Europe.
Daniel, you say I can buy and install a local sim card into the ipad?
That sounds great, and does it mean it can be used as a phone, and as
a 'laptop' to do my emails? Does it have the Mail application on
there, and if so could I transfer my Mail 'inbox' etc from my laptop
onto the ipad so that I would then have an uninterrupted mail trail,
and could refer to previous emails if need be?
If not how would email work on the ipad?
I had thought of using Westnet's web mail while away, but like you
said am limited to internet cafes and having access to another
computer. I could set up the web mail to store all incoming and
outgoing messages until I get back, then access them through Mail so I
would have that continuous thread I spoke of?
Robin and Alex your advice on the phone is greatly appreciated, as I
had thought of using a phone (would like an iphone) but agree that
telstra's roaming is not that good, and expensive.
If like Daniel says I could put a Sim in the ipad and use Mail I would
be laughing.
I will have to think about everything a little more and do some
investigating
Kind regards and thanks heaps
Chris
PS is there any likelihood of upgrades to any of apple's gear by
September, ie another big media event?
On 26/06/2010, at 5:14 PM, Robin Belford wrote:
Just got back from a month in France.
All hotels I stayed in, in many parts of the country, had free
internet connectivity, mostly WiFi, in all rooms.
Telstra Roaming had issues with congested networks in Paris, i.e.
every day from noon to 6 pm my iPhone would have no service, fine
every where else in the country. (Telstra have had no sensible or
intelligent comment on this issue.)
If you have an iPad take that otherwise if you have the fortitude
and the space, take your laptop, a laptop is the most convenient
option for managing your photos, posting to web sites, etc.
Don't plan on buying an iPad in France unless you want to pay more,
as they are more expensive there than here.
If your phone is unlocked you can easily get a prepaid SIM from
Orange or an other carrier in France, there are three carriers.
You can buy an unlocked iPhone 4 in France right now.
hope this helps.
regards,
Robin
On 26/06/2010, at 1:18 PM, Daniel Kerr wrote:
Um. Not entirely correct I'm afraid. Not all iPhones are sold
"unlocked" by
default. If you buy the iPhone on contract then some of the phone
companies
lock them to their network, and you have to pay to get it "unlocked".
Certainly if you buy the iPhone outright from some places, then yes
it is
unlocked for any network. But you have to make sure before you buy
it.
The iPad is unlocked for any network.
If you're mostly looking at the email point of view Chris, then I
think
you'd be fine with an iPad. It will handle your email perfectly and
they
work very well. And you'll find you use it more and more for lots
of other
things as well.
Either the WiFi model would be fine (depending on situations) or if
you
wanted to cover all your bases then the WiFi+3G would be better.
That way,
as other have said previously and here also, you can buy a local
SIM to keep
your costings down. If you're in a hotel or café (or anywhere) that
has
WiFi, then that's always your best option as it will be a lot
cheaper. But
if you're out and about and wanted to just double check something,
or send
an urgent reply then you know you've got the 3G to cover that as
well.
They are very lightweight and compact, yet the larger screen makes
it much
easier for emails etc. The iPhone is good, but for some things, the
iPad is
just that much better.
Your other option also, if you're watching your costings, is to
just use
webmail. Most hotels (or internet cafés) should have computers that
you can
use for a little cost, then log into your webmail to check emails
and reply.
Yes, you don't have the convenience to do it when you want to (or
as private
or back in your hotel room etc), but it's one less cost. So that
can be an
option as well. And sometimes easier as you then spend more time on
your
"holiday" and less time always "just wanting to check that one last
time for
an email". (Or maybe that's just the work-a-holic in me,...) :o)
(Besides,..remind me again,..what's this thing you call
a,...um....a...holiday?) :o))
Hope that helps.
Kind Regards
Daniel
On 26/6/10 1:04 PM, "Alexander Hartner" <[email protected]> wrote:
You are in luck. iPad and iPhones in Australia are sold unlocked,
so you can
always get a local sim card with some data on and use that then
the expensive
hotel wifi.
Really depend how many emails you got to send / receive. The
iPhone is great
for on the road, but not ideal for daily work. The iPad and the
Air are
better, but obviously much larger. While traveling you might be
tempted to
take some photos, again here the iPhone is very nice. The iPhone 4
is already
available in Europe and should be coming out in July (maybe. who
knows) here
as well.
Definitely go with a local sim card as it's cheaper and also works
outside the
hotel.
Alex
On 26 Jun 2010, at 12:49, Chris Burton wrote:
Good afternoon muggers
We are heading to France and Italy for a first time holiday in
September with
some friends, all of whom have never been there. Should be great
however...
I am worried that I wont be able to keep up with work commitments
back in Oz
via email over there, and would like some advice from some seasoned
travellers about how I can best do that, by either taking a light
weight mac
laptop (Air), or perhaps an iphone or ipad?
At the moment I use Mail on a macbook pro (10.5.8) but am not
sure if an ipad
would allow me to use that software? Im thinking I will need
something light
to carry around, and not be an obvious target for those pesky
thieves ie an
iphone or ipad or possibly the Air? Or just take my trusty
MacBook Pro and
use in hotels when ever I have internet.
I see from some previous posts there are pros and cons with using
a phone
overseas. Some recommend actually buying a local Simm card to put
in the
phone.
I just dont know which would be the most convenient and effective
way to
proceed on this.
Thanks for any suggestions and kind regards to all.
Chris
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