Hi everyone,
I am looking at buying a tablet now but can not understand the 3G option. If I take the 3g option does this mean I then have to subscribe to a 3g cle over here or does it mean that I can connect to the Internet already (bit like the Kindle 3G)
Thank you
Thanks John, I think you have helped clear something up - I was talking in the shop about 3G keys,like you use in a laptop but the man kept talking about a SIM - I didn't realise that you had to put a SIM card the tablet!
Unfortunately, I live in rural Burgundy and free WiFi is only to be found in the ubiquitous McDo and I need to be able to use it when I am out and about.
I am being seriously tempted by the Samsung Galaxy tab 2. (cost is an issue)I just can't decide whether 7" or 10" is best, the small one for super portability - I intend to take it everywhere, or the bigger one for ease of use.
I am also looking at this offer from SFR but apparently it is on the 'honeycomb' platform that was designed for mobile phones rather than the new 'ice cream sandwich' - where do they get theses names?
I bought an iPad as soon as they came out, I like Apple gear and I tend to be an early adopter. I bought a top of the range 64GB with WiFi and 3G. I took out an Orange subscription for the 3g (different SIM to iPhones etc.) and found I didn't use it at all. WiFi is pretty well everywhere and faster than 3G. I haven't used anything like the 64GB either so I would recommend waiting until the anticipated mini iPad is announced later this year and going for a 16GB or 32GB WiFI only version.
Hi Brian, thank you for replying. I am confused as heck. Using Orange's 3G cle thing, inserting it into the laptop gives me pop-ups saying either 'No device detected' (with the Blackberry sitting right next to it) or 'No mobile phone network' so the thing is entirely defunct.
What I had hoped for was a direct connection to my laptop, the same as I used to have, whereby any new messages received would make my Blackberry 'bong' so I could respond instantly, if need be. Orange had told me the 3G Cle would enable this as it would link the lappy to the Blackberry. The only solution I found was to go on the Blackberry's browser and load Gmail etc from there - you can imagine the browsing charges, the top-up doesn't last 10 minutes.
I hope the above makes sense as I am a technological idiot, as you may have gathered.
So I'm probably wasting my time then. The old, broken laptop (disk drawer flaps open) I thought would be brill for the kid so he'd stop trying to kick me off my work one to play Club Penguin but it just sits and stares at me. I can almost hear it blowing raspberries and saying 'not gonna happen'. And it doesn't 'find' the Blackberry device even if the Blackberry's sitting on top of the bloomin thing or is connected by a USB. Paying for nowt really then unless someone can tell me a 'quick fix'.
A friend of mine loaned me her 3G clé from Orange when I lived at a shelter (so was she) I plugged it into my WinXP laptop and downloaded it to get a "WIFI" signal. It worked - I got the signal and ate up the forfait of her 3G while my gf surfing and reading her emails. Then I plugged it into my Win7 desktop and was succesfully downloaded the necessery "things" to get my desktop an internet connection! (The shelter had no internet connection) I was never able to get connection even though I kept uninstalling and reinstalling the darn thing! It could be what's happening with you, Val!
3G supposedly enables you to get internet connection .. even when you're in the middle of nowhere and you have no traditional internet service in the area! (my neighbor uses it for work in the mountain where there's NO internet connection nor cell phone signal either)
Hi Nick,
These are 3G keys
I can use my HTC phone as a WIFI hotspot, which I do for my laptop but it doesn't seem to go very fast and it has got a tethering option but I have never used it as I don't know what it does!
Thanks
Well with your use case tracy, then yes 3G does indeed sound like is needed. Now you can use a thing called tethering, which allows you to connect your tablet to your phone , which in turn allows this to connect to the net. You will need a data contract for the phone, but lets take that as a given. This saves you getting another contract into the bargain.
I'm not sure what a 3G cle is, is it like a little myfi box , which has a 3G sim in it? These are very popular in the UK now, as you can connect to the Myfi box via standard WIFI from any device, and it then connects you to the web. Can you point me to a web page that advertises these devices so I can see what it is.
Cheers
Nick
I can sometimes get at my emails through the web browser on the Blackberry but you can imagine how that guzzles any top-up I put on there and I don't get email notifications - it's up to me to remember to go online. In Malta the Blackberry was totally synched to my home computer so would 'bong' every time a new message was received - invaluable if I was at the supermarket and client wanted something urgently. Here, I cannot get it connected to a damned thing, the 3G Cle doesn't recognise any devices and I think I'm just wasting a lot of money. I'm feeling extremely thick and that I'm missing something very obvious.
Valerie, this is exactly my kind of dilemma! I would have thought the Blackberry worked on the normal phone network like my HTC does - once I press the button to connect.
The Nexus looks just the kind of thing I am looking for but when try to look at the pre-order stage it says it is not available in this country!
The main reason for wanting a tablet is that I work as a tour guide and am out and about all the time with clients. Occasionally the clients have an hour of free time and I would love to be able to deal with some of my emails, programme planning and so on while I am out, instead of when I get home. (home being where being wife & mum takes priority)
My laptop is too cumbersome to carry, 'just in case' and my phone is just is too small. However, rural Burgundy is not big on WIFI, which is why I am looking at 3G but I really don't have a clue how it all works - just like Valerie. Have been into SFR who can offer a 3g cle for 20€ a month and they tired to change me to a Galaxy note but I still feel that is a bit small for work and a bit big for a phone. They do have a Galaxy tablet that is 37€ a month and - I believe you get to keep the tablet at the end of the contract - but isn't it better to buy a 3G tablet and not be tied into (yet another contract) contract.
Heeelp!
Such a dumb question so please don't laugh at my stupidity - when we moved here, I told Orange I needed to access emails on my Blackberry. They sent me a 3G cle for which I pay but I've never managed to get it to 'do' anything. If I plug it into the laptop it says no network available or device not recognised (depending on its mood as to which it will say). It refuses to have anything to do with the Blackberry. I've also tried it (which could be wrong) on my old laptop in another part of the house so Twerp could maybe access Club Penguin but the laptop refuses to connect to any wireless network which makes it defunct. What are you meant to do with the damned things - what is its actual purpose?
Hi tracy, it completly depends on where and how you want to use it. I have a WIFI only iPad 1 , and I have never found the lack of 3G a problem , as I work in large cities, and am never far from free wifi if I need it.
If you are going to be away from WIFI often, but still need connection to the web then 3G is definitely required.
I use mine for mainly reading books and periodicals when on the move. Once I get to work, then I can use it for email and the rest. Most of the apps allow you to download content , which you can use with a connection.
You also might want to look at the new Google Nexus 7 tablet, as they are full functional 7" models, WIFI only but very inexpensive, @ £159 for an 8GB version.