[libbylu]

So we have tickets and will be traveling with 6yo DS and new baby for 2 months.
I figure an i pad might come in handy for the following uses:
-we can load educational games on for DS
-we can load movies on for DS and for us
-we can load appropriate early reader books on for DS so he can keep up with his reading, which will save us having to carry around books - he's at a critical point with his reading where skipping it for two months would be really detrimental, and we can load books on for me to read to him, as he is too old now to have the same stories read to him night after night.

I have a few questions though......there are quite a few options.
Would you get the i pad mini or the full size?
I guess we will have to hook it up to the internet here first in order to download the stuff in the first place. Do we just hook it up to our home network via our PC? or directly into our wireless modem?
Will we be able to use it to access the internet overseas, say, at friend's houses or in cafes with free WiFi without incurring any charges like you would on a phone?
We won't ever use it as a phone (both DH and I have our own smart phones) so don't need that. What does 3G mean when applied to an i-pad?

ETA and another question......is the basic 16G model enough memory for these kind of uses? or should we get more?

This post has been edited by libbylu: 18/02/2013, 09:41 PM

[MangoTango]

Hi there, have tried answering some of your questions, I travel quiet frequently and would be lost without my iPad!

Would you get the i pad mini or the full size? - I would suggest the standard ipad, especially if it is going to be used for watching movies.
I guess we will have to hook it up to the internet here first in order to download the stuff in the first place. Do we just hook it up to our home network via our PC? or directly into our wireless modem? - You will need to connect via wifi and then you can download movies, tv shows, apps, games via iTunes.
Will we be able to use it to access the internet overseas, say, at friend's houses or in cafes with free WiFi without incurring any charges like you would on a phone? - Yes, but if you go for the 3G model make sure that you turn cellular data and data roaming off so that you don’t incur any (potentially exorbitant) roaming charges.
We won't ever use it as a phone (both DH and I have our own smart phones) so don't need that. What does 3G mean when applied to an i-pad? – iPad’s are not telephone enabled (but you can use Skype or FaceTime and both are great for keeping in touch with home whilst travelling). 3G enabled iPad’s are able to connect to the internet using cellular signals (but like mobile phones you need to sign up to a provider and pay a monthly fee) and as I mentioned above you have to be careful not to incur roaming charges when overseas.

I’d recommend visiting an Apple store to check out the different iPads and have one of the salespeople take you through their functionality etc. Hope this helps!

[cward]

Here's my two cents worth

Personally I would get an iPad mini. DP & I have ipads and my DD1 has a mini. It is definitely a lot lighter and easier to carry and if you are travelling with kids lighter is better. The screen size is still prefectly fine for movies, books, apps etc.

Again personally I would only get the wi-fi model. If you ahve wifi at home you can just connect to that and there are so many wifi places around now you don't really need 3G. You can also hotspot your phone although I wouldn't do that overseas as I imagien it would cost heaps but check with your provider.

I would check with apple about using wifi overseas. I know there are some apps that you wouldn't be able to access like ABC iview from what I have heard.

16Gb would probably be enough but if you just go for the wifi model I would probably use that money you save by not getting 3G to get the next size up. Only because you can then load more things on.

Also check with Apple about cloud storage. You may be able to save stuf to icloud and then load and delete as needed

[dadathome]

Agree with wifi only option - we just tether to our phone if wifi is not available.

mini or not is interesting - I prefer the larger for movies and browsing, but the kids like the mini for games etc.

Memory - well, 64gb is proving too little, so I'm looking at 128 for our next one.

And also buying overseas - you'll save $100+, even buying in an Apple store overseas, and an Oz plug charger costs $25....

[Domestic Goddess]

Can I ask why an ipad?

[Back2Insanity]

I have both the iPad mini for my son and a full size iPad 3 for me and the mini is getting so much more use. I watch movies on it in bed. It gets carried around with me since its lighter and less cumbersome in my handbag. Also great for reading on kindle app in bed. If you are going to be loading movies on it, then I would go for as large as you can. You only really need the Wifi model if you have good Internet at home but I would go larger memory. Both of ours are 32 GB and when I look at upgrading mine to a mini, I will be getting a 64GB.

[lsolaBella]

I have a 32gb mini.

Love it lighter than the iPads. Smaller and easier to hold. I have no problems watching movies on mine.

If cost was no problem I would have gone 64gb.


Like PP just go WiFi. We used WiFi when travelling overseas. A home if I want to use Internet when out I just use my 3G phone as access point.

Eta I would get get two. DH has his ipad, DS2 has his ipad and I have my mini. DS1 gets DHs old touch. DD gets my mini at times when we are driving Melb-Sydney. Ideally I would get another mini in the family.



This post has been edited by lsolaBella: 19/02/2013, 04:45 PM

[libbylu]

Can I ask why an ipad?

Thanks for your replies everyone.
I guess I was thinking i-pad as I want to be able to put games and books on for DS - but I guess other tablets must have competitive offerings.

I think DH will have to take his laptop because he will be doing some work OS, and we can watch movies on that sometimes (although it is too big for DS to use balancing on his lap for example and battery life means we will often have to save it for work use not leisure when we are in transit), so perhaps the mini will be enough. Last time we went OS we took a cheap portable DVD player for DS that only had a 6 inch screen, which was fine for movies for him, and I notice the ipad mini has 7.9 inches, so will be an improvement on that anyway.

Seems like we don't need 3G then - We do have a good internet connection and WIFI at home for downloading, and we won't use the ipad for skype or facetime as we can skype using DHs laptop and don't really have too many people to skype with....we are going to visit my parents over there and DS will cope without seeing the faces of his friends and other grandparents for two months.

Good idea to go into an apple shop and check it out. We are passing through KL airport, so I wonder if we can buy it any cheaper there duty free?

This post has been edited by libbylu: 22/02/2013, 10:04 PM