Adrian, Not sure where you are planning to travel. I travelled through Europe with my iPad 1 with wifi only and iPhone late last year. I used a French SIM card in the iPhone but didn't use Hotspot.
Data in Europe is measured by TIME, not DATA. So as is commonly advised, make sure you turn off any data roaming. Safest is to run on Airline mode. The iPhone used 30€ overnight just checking on things to keep itself happy. Each time it goes looking for data, there is a flagfall fee, which is the killer for data use. I imagine locals can purchase a plan, but for casual users, 3G and data downloads are an expensive luxury. I found the iPad just fine for writing a blog, photo storage, mapping etc., but I do recommend you ensure you download as many offline maps as possible before you leave home. CityMaps2Go is a good option. As my iPad1 with wifi does not come with built in GPS, I purchased an add on device - Bad Elf GPS. This allowed the iPad to function well as a stand alone mapping tool with out needing to be connected to a network of any kind. I believe that with the iPad 2, both models have a built in proper GPS, but best to check. Blogging and note taking was fine using the iPad screen keyboard. But when I got home I started to explore using the iPad for more data entry and have bought an Apple Bluetooth keyboard along with a very sweet cover. The cover folds open and forms a holder for the iPad. With the long battery life of the iPad, and cool appearance, it is streets ahead of a laptop for my purposes. For normal holiday travelling, the addition of a BT keyboard might be over the top. Depends on how much data entry you think you will do. The other thing for travelling, especially overseas, is to put together an album of Australiana photos. I have travelled extensively through the bush, so have a big collection of photos on the iPad. But when chatting to locals, I really could have done with a 20 or 30 photo album showing the delights of WA. They really liked seeing where I came from and searching through the big iPhoto library was cumbersome. Hope this helps. Tim On 16/02/2012, at 11:19 AM, Ronda Brown wrote: > Hi Adrian, > > I have used my iPhone to Personal Hotspot to my MacBook Pro and iPad on > occasions when no Wi-Fi is available. > I have to watch my Data Download though as I only have a 1.5GB Data plan on > my iPhone. > > The Personal Hotspot can accept up to three simultaneous connections, letting > you connect a Mac or two as well, when no Wi-Fi is available. > > > Cheers, > Ronni > > On 16/02/2012, at 11:07 AM, Callum Prior wrote: > >> It can indeed. It's how I'm responding now. You can use your iPhone to set >> up a personal wifi hotspot. >> >> Cheers! >> -- >> Callum Prior >> >> On 16/02/2012, at 11:03 AM, Adrian Skehan <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Good morning all >>> >>> I have concluded that of my MacBook Pro is a serious over-kill for what I >>> use it for and i am thinking of disposing of it and getting a iPad for when >>> I go away on holidays but I cant seem to find a definitive answer to the >>> following questions: >>> >>> Is it necessary to have a separate data plan for a 3G iPad 2 to access the >>> internet or can the iPhone 4 be connected to it for internet access? >>> >>> and >>> >>> Can the iPad 2 WiFi access the internet via the iPhone? >>> >>> Thanks in anticipation. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Regards, >>> >>> >>> Adrian >>> >>> [email protected] >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- 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> > > -- 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>
