thinking of buying I pad

[Cogstar]

Thanks for posting ...I didn't realise I had this facility and it took seconds to set up

just need to check the costs now. Maybe I should have done that first!!

 

[Sparks]

I have an HTC Desire on Orange contract that I can tether to a laptop quite easily. When questioning Orange about data allowance doing this they said it is acceptable and as long as I wasn't using it 24/7 it would be OK. I pay £5 per month for unlimited internet access on the phone (this is not an option for abroad though).

 

[fairytooth]

My local Boots have got eye pads 6 for £1.

Seriously, I have a Samsung Tab which is essentially an iPad (only better really). It is very nice and fun to use but as others have already said, it isn't a good substitute for the old lappy which has the keyboard and stacks of hard drive space.

Anyway, my suggestion (unless you already have a smart phone you can 'tether', as stated above) is to get a 'Three' 3g dongle or better still a mifi which will provide your laptop with its own wifi in and around your 'van. Three has great UK coverage and you can buy the sims as and when you want them on payg.

 

[Firefox]

I can confirm the 3 USB dongle is really good. I'm using it now from Stonehenge.

Bad luck if you have an ipad though. It doesn't even have a USB port! There are some android and windows based tablets coming through at less than half the price of the ipads with twice as many features. These are the ones I am looking at for some additional portability. The ipad is not remotely in the frame due to massive overpricing and lack of features.

 

[Biggles]

If its not been mentioned before in this thread my biggest complaint agaist an otherwise excellent bit of kit is the lack of Flash. It is a real pain, oh and the lack of ports with out having to buy additional adaptors at £35 time from Apple. HDMI and an SD port would be the icing on the cake.

When I use it on 3G I use the three network and it's 99% of the time banging through Ivan if the signal bar is low.

 

[Byronic]

We took our lappy to Sain, Portugal and France and it was a little difficult to get free wi fi without using a bar or cafe. I have heard that Vodafone Data Traveller is pretty good, but this is for something like an I Phone.
Then you have the big contract of about £40 and Data Traveller is then FOC
On cheaper contracts I beleive it costs £10 per month.
Roaming in France is very expensive.
Here in the UK, wi fi with BT Fon is FOC if you are on BT Internet

Hi ***** I've found that the only way to have reasonable internet access via wi fi is by using a signal enhancing antenna (I used to have a wi fry wok antenna). I'm using the Faculty-X at the moment in Spain. Of course sometimes it's necessary to leave the van and wander around, but I havn't had much trouble in either France or Spain over the last few months. I use a netbook and carry the light but fairly bulky Faculty- X out of sight in a rucksack, and just back face the signal source.