iPad Wi-Fi + 3G
In the five weeks or so that I've been spending time with an iPad, little has made me back off my initial review that while not for everybody, Apple's freshly conceived tablet is indeed a game-changer, a stunner of a machine that promises a profound long-term effect on media, mobile entertainment and publishing.
But the Wi-Fi-only iPad model I've been using during this spell has at least one consequential drawback: for all the places that have wireless hot spot nowadays, Wi-Fi still isn't ubiquitous.
Over the weekend I've been trying out the model that aims to address this void, the new iPad Wi-Fi + 3G that went on sale Friday afternoon. Thanks to AT&T's wireless “3G" cellular service, I was able to browse the Web and stream video sans Wi-Fi in a suburban New Jersey park, sitting in the grandstand at Yankee Stadium and in my car.
As previously announced, the price for this extra wireless freedom is $629 for a 16GB model, $729 for 32 GB and $829 for 64G. That compares to $499, $599 and $699 for same capacity Wi-Fi only versions.
Meanwhile, AT&T charges $14.99 for 250 MB of wireless data and $29.99 for unlimited data and yes you have to pay it even if you're an AT&T/iPhone subscriber. No contract is required but you do have to tell AT&T if you don't want to continue as you move from one month to the next, since the pre-pay plans automatically renew. It's all easily managed on the iPad itself, where you enter your credit card info and billing address.
You also have the flexibility to switch plans on the fly, if 250 MB doesn't suit your wireless needs. The San Francisco Chronicle estimates that 250 MB will give you about 35 minutes of YouTube video at standard definition, or about a few thousand Web pages and typical email usage. Actual mileage will vary but I easily burned past 250 MB.
Is anytime Internet access worth the $130 hardware premium? The decision, of course, boils down to how often you'll be out and about without access to Wi-Fi. I suspect more times than not, you're going to want to be connected to cyberspace, whether getting there through 3G or Wi-Fi.
In the five weeks or so that I've been spending time with an iPad, little has made me back off my initial review that while not for everybody, Apple's freshly conceived tablet is indeed a game-changer, a stunner of a machine that promises a profound long-term effect on media, mobile entertainment and publishing.
But the Wi-Fi-only iPad model I've been using during this spell has at least one consequential drawback: for all the places that have wireless hot spot nowadays, Wi-Fi still isn't ubiquitous.
Over the weekend I've been trying out the model that aims to address this void, the new iPad Wi-Fi + 3G that went on sale Friday afternoon. Thanks to AT&T's wireless “3G" cellular service, I was able to browse the Web and stream video sans Wi-Fi in a suburban New Jersey park, sitting in the grandstand at Yankee Stadium and in my car.
As previously announced, the price for this extra wireless freedom is $629 for a 16GB model, $729 for 32 GB and $829 for 64G. That compares to $499, $599 and $699 for same capacity Wi-Fi only versions.
Meanwhile, AT&T charges $14.99 for 250 MB of wireless data and $29.99 for unlimited data and yes you have to pay it even if you're an AT&T/iPhone subscriber. No contract is required but you do have to tell AT&T if you don't want to continue as you move from one month to the next, since the pre-pay plans automatically renew. It's all easily managed on the iPad itself, where you enter your credit card info and billing address.
You also have the flexibility to switch plans on the fly, if 250 MB doesn't suit your wireless needs. The San Francisco Chronicle estimates that 250 MB will give you about 35 minutes of YouTube video at standard definition, or about a few thousand Web pages and typical email usage. Actual mileage will vary but I easily burned past 250 MB.
Is anytime Internet access worth the $130 hardware premium? The decision, of course, boils down to how often you'll be out and about without access to Wi-Fi. I suspect more times than not, you're going to want to be connected to cyberspace, whether getting there through 3G or Wi-Fi.
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