Hi Tim, Can give a little more detail about taking a photo of a safari website by holding down the button and power switch. Does that only work with iPad2? I can,t get it to work on my iPad1.
Thanks Lloyd On 26/10/2011, at 10:08 PM, Tim Law <[email protected]> wrote: > I've most often seen questions about travelling with iPad and iPhones, so > thought I'd send the group my recent experience which may help someone from > asking the question over again. > > I have just spent a month travelling France, Switzerland, Austria and > Germany. Most of the time we were in France and Germany. > In Australia I have a data plan with Telstra that gives me 1Gb per month. > > A French friend bought a SIM card for me in France for the Orange network, > with the aim of limiting the roaming charges on my Telstra SIM. When we > arrived in France, I paid 35€ onto this pre paid SIM card, about A$50, and > left 3G and data turned on, thinking this was a sensible option. I was > looking forward to using the mapping, internet for searches for > accommodation, local things to do etc. All the features I was used to in > Australia. > > The next morning I got a text from Orange to say I'd got 3€ left. Eeek. I'd > not used the iPhone at all, it was chewing through this data all by itself. > And what's more, part of the place we stayed had good WiFI connection. Part > of it didn't. When my French friend navigated my account usage on the Orange > website, he found a long list of data downloads, each with a flagfall of 50c > (I think), and whilst the data downloaded was minimal, the time was what was > being charged for. This is unlike Australia where we get charged for the > amount of data, not the time. At least that's how my Telstra plan works for > 3G and data. > > Lesson learnt, I turned off both 3G and Data, loaded another 20€ onto the > SIM, and resolved to never turn them on again. > > What I found was that calls and texts from France into Germany or anywhere > else incurred international rates. > When we travelled into Switzerland, Austria or Germany, all calls and texts > were charged at roaming rates. > > Phone signal strength was pretty good all the way around Europe, and the > Orange SIM connected with various different providers as we moved through > their region. > > Frankly, the only advantage I can see of getting a local SIM card is if you > want to make calls or send texts within the country you are in. Data was out > of the question, and no one could help me find a pre paid that was any better > deal for data. Folks, we have it good here in Australia! > > My son kept his Optus prepaid SIM on a standard phone without any data > features. He paid $3.50 for each text he sent anywhere, and similarly high > calls costs. BUT - he is on the Optus Turbo Cap so for $30 he gets $300 worth > of calls, including international roaming. He figured the advantages of > keeping his own number outweighed the high call costs, in particular that the > plan allowed him to use his bonus value on international calls. Sure, he > couldn't use data, but it seems like a pretty good option for phone and text. > > It's very difficult for foreigners to buy a SIM in Europe, so it's not easy > to just go buy a new SIM for each country to avoid roaming charges. It also > means your dial in number would change, not very useful for being contacted > from home. So often when travelling, you need to phone ahead to make > arrangements for where you are going in a few days. This is often in another > country - which > > If you are going to need to use mapping to find your next accommodation, > prepare the night before when you have WiFi; find the hotel on Maps and take > a screen print of it - hold down the Home button and the Power key. The > resulting image is stored in Photos. > > > > A couple of good apps I found were translator apps made by Lonely Planet. We > stayed with a couple in country Normandy, who spoke more English than our > French but fundamentally we could not communicate with each other. Using the > app made conversations happen, and the experience enjoyable. Maps of the > Metro systems in Paris and other towns were helpful too, to plan travel > routes. DBahn have a good app for planning train travel. Booking.com has a > good app for booking accommodation, > > One observation is that Australians are relatively popular in Europe. People > are interested in our country. Before you go, prepare a set of photos to show > them to Europeans you comes across - at the airport lounge, at the bar, > coffee shops, on the long distance trains, on the tourist coach, where-ever > you might find yourself with some one from somewhere else. Things about our > city, our land, how we live, all the things we take for-granted. This makes a > great conversation piece and breaks down many barriers. > > I hope this long summary helps others in some way. The main take away is - do > not expect the same data services as you get here in Australia. Do not plan > for a high level of data downloads, it's not there. > > Tim > > > > > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- > Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> > Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> > Settings & Unsubscribe - > <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> Settings & Unsubscribe - <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug>
