Pat Anderson
New member
Original (not 2), 16 GB, 3G. First app Google Earth, second app Navionics (natch). Letting Patty think it is "hers"! Did not get cell plan, will use with MiFi. Loving it so far!
New iPad!
- Thread starter Pat Anderson
- Start date
Wandering Sagebrush
Free Range Human
Pat, I know nothing about MiFi, other than it works with your cell phones. Any particular pluses or minuses? Cost?
centerisland
New member
FWIW, I'm using my iPad (WiFi) with "MyWi" on my jalbroken iPhone and it works just fine.
I also did the greenpois0n jailbreak on my iPad so I could install multiflow and backgrounder. In particular, Navionics would turn off whenever I switched away which caused the BadElf GPS to turn off - with backgrounder I was able to force it to stay on all the time so there is no startup / re-aquisition when switching back to Navionics.
As for the wife-acceptance-factor for the iPad, I installed a Slingbox and put the Slingbox app on the iPad so she can watch her Today show in the morning. She didn't even ask me how much the Slingbox cost. <grin>
I also did the greenpois0n jailbreak on my iPad so I could install multiflow and backgrounder. In particular, Navionics would turn off whenever I switched away which caused the BadElf GPS to turn off - with backgrounder I was able to force it to stay on all the time so there is no startup / re-aquisition when switching back to Navionics.
As for the wife-acceptance-factor for the iPad, I installed a Slingbox and put the Slingbox app on the iPad so she can watch her Today show in the morning. She didn't even ask me how much the Slingbox cost. <grin>
centerisland
New member
wapiti":27lurum3 said:
The Navionics maps are small - I don't imagine you'll likely get over 1GB for all your maps. I'm not sure about Google Earth imagery, but the files will be larger. Also, keep in mind that even if you have 3G, you're probably going to want to download as much of this as possible via WiFi (higher bandwidth, normally zero cost).
The only reason to have more than 15GB of data (assuming 1GB for the OS and apps) is if you have significant amounts of media (audio or video). Also, you could always start with the smallest memory and add an AirStash at a later date if you run out of room. Pluses and minuses with an external device, of course.
Captains Cat
New member
IMHO (maybe not so H), GB storage on devices are like garages, you can never have enough so get as many as you can afford when you get your device.
Charlie
Charlie
Pat Anderson
New member
We get our iPhones in May - May 5th to be exact, since our contracts for the stupid BlackBerrys are up May 4th, and Verizon overnights the phones.
Patty's nephew is an expert at jail-breaking iDevices (don't know about the iRon or the iPatch there, Ken), and we will probably do that just so we can use Cydia. We still have a while to go on the MiFi contract but MyWi sounds great, since Patty will need an occasional WiFi connection for the iPad to use at the schools where she subs and I need one daily for the MacBook. I am using the MiFi in the City Hall lunch room right now, while Patty is off scrubstitute teaching in Issaquah. She will find out today I guess if the school has WiFi, probably not and the iPad will be just a big paperweight.
The MiFi 5 GB data per month plan runs $60. It is worth it for us because we dropped our land line and DSL at Birch Bay and use the MiFi there, plus on the boat and in the fifth wheel. All in all, I am very happy with it. It is not a speed demon but it sure does everything I need. Once, when I downloaded a bunch of Ubuntu images, I ran over - ouch! For normal use though, 5 GB is ample.
The Navionics map I downloaded for Western Washington / Southern BC was only 44 MB. Patty might want some music on the iPad but probably less than 1 GB. We will be getting "only" 16GB iPhones too (I am a guy who remembers how delighted I was when I could get a computer with an 500 MB hard drive, which was not actually all that long ago). So I am pretty sure that a 16 GB iPad will be entirely adequate for us.
Patty's nephew is an expert at jail-breaking iDevices (don't know about the iRon or the iPatch there, Ken), and we will probably do that just so we can use Cydia. We still have a while to go on the MiFi contract but MyWi sounds great, since Patty will need an occasional WiFi connection for the iPad to use at the schools where she subs and I need one daily for the MacBook. I am using the MiFi in the City Hall lunch room right now, while Patty is off scrubstitute teaching in Issaquah. She will find out today I guess if the school has WiFi, probably not and the iPad will be just a big paperweight.
The MiFi 5 GB data per month plan runs $60. It is worth it for us because we dropped our land line and DSL at Birch Bay and use the MiFi there, plus on the boat and in the fifth wheel. All in all, I am very happy with it. It is not a speed demon but it sure does everything I need. Once, when I downloaded a bunch of Ubuntu images, I ran over - ouch! For normal use though, 5 GB is ample.
The Navionics map I downloaded for Western Washington / Southern BC was only 44 MB. Patty might want some music on the iPad but probably less than 1 GB. We will be getting "only" 16GB iPhones too (I am a guy who remembers how delighted I was when I could get a computer with an 500 MB hard drive, which was not actually all that long ago). So I am pretty sure that a 16 GB iPad will be entirely adequate for us.
Pat Anderson":336yxiuv said:
It seems to me that the part in the parentheses is good justification for getting more than 16GB - e.g. the fact that you probably wouldn't be delighted with a 500MB hard drive now, means you might not be happy with only 16GB on you iPad not too far from now. Who knows what new applications will come out w/i the next year or 2 that will require more storage?
I ordered an iPad 2, 64GB, WIFI, 3G, Verizon. It will be another 3 to 4 weeks until it ships. I figured that the 64 GB would be the best way to go. Not regret it later when I wanted more apps. I also ordered the iPad cover and the camera kit. Today I bought a bluetooth mini keyboard, $12.00. Jim B. said that a wireless keyboard was a desired addition.
Brent
Brent
I agree that the wireless keyboard is a great addition if you want to do e-mail or type any length of material on the i pad. I have one, but have rarely used it, since I still do e-mail and most of my forums on a laptop. The i pad is almost always by my side as an ancillary and rapid way of getting information. Almost always during dinner something comes up we have a question about--and a couple of seconds later the answer is found--between bites!
Pat Anderson
New member
Don't disagree with what anybody is saying about how you can't be too thin or have too much storage capacity, but the chancellor of the exchequer would not have approved more than the $529 the 16 GB iPad 3G cost! A 64 GB iPad 2? Not gonna happen at the Anderson household! I don't want to be like Ken and need an iPatch! I am not totally in the clear even for this purchase (Need? Want? Need? Want?).
Patty gets her scrubstitute teaching gigs through the website substituteonline.com, and that was the justification. The netbook on the counter had been getting flakier and flakier, the iPad will replace it (plus it looks a whole lot better). That is what kicked it over to "need"!
Patty gets her scrubstitute teaching gigs through the website substituteonline.com, and that was the justification. The netbook on the counter had been getting flakier and flakier, the iPad will replace it (plus it looks a whole lot better). That is what kicked it over to "need"!
Until you start using one, it may be a question of "want or need." :wink: Kinda like a smart phone: after you have one, you wonder how you did without it. Now, of course, we could all probably get along fine without any of this stuff... to quote Captain Ron (well, it was actually Martin in the Captain Ron movie): "All we need is a compass and a chart." Then, as the chart blows away in the howling wind, "Just a compass, it's what Christopher Columbus used to discover the New World..." 8) We have a lot more than a compass on our boat.
I find our use to be similar to Dr. Bob's - the iPad is my quick go-to item, faster to retrieve e-mail than the laptop, more convenient to carry around or pass back and forth. Better as a back-up chartplotter, since no additional input source is necessary. Quick web surfer. Joan's favorite solitaire player. But, when I want to work on photos or write more than a short note, I prefer the laptop.
I check the tide, weather, get quick news headlines (and more detail as desired). No doubt, some call it "another electronic gizmo." If not for those gizmos (is that the proper plural?), we wouldn't be on this forum. Or having all the nav electronics in our boats. I look at the iPad as another information tool, in a great form factor.
My iPod is so old it has a crank on it; I still watch TV on one of those "old fashioned" non-HD sets; I don't have a BlueRay player; no Tivo or DVR. I don't text anyone, 'cause I can actually call 'em with my phone. I didn't buy a smart phone to text - I like the idea of a "little computer" strapped on my belt for easy access. The iPad is like that only bigger and more convenient... well, more convenient while you're using it; I don't carry it with me everywhere. But, on the boat, out on the deck, to pass back and forth, it's pretty slick. I don't think everyone "needs" one, but we use ours a lot... and until you start using it, you're not sure how you'll use it. :roll: That's the beauty of all the apps: each person customizes the device for the way they will use it.
Best wishes,
Jim
I find our use to be similar to Dr. Bob's - the iPad is my quick go-to item, faster to retrieve e-mail than the laptop, more convenient to carry around or pass back and forth. Better as a back-up chartplotter, since no additional input source is necessary. Quick web surfer. Joan's favorite solitaire player. But, when I want to work on photos or write more than a short note, I prefer the laptop.
I check the tide, weather, get quick news headlines (and more detail as desired). No doubt, some call it "another electronic gizmo." If not for those gizmos (is that the proper plural?), we wouldn't be on this forum. Or having all the nav electronics in our boats. I look at the iPad as another information tool, in a great form factor.
My iPod is so old it has a crank on it; I still watch TV on one of those "old fashioned" non-HD sets; I don't have a BlueRay player; no Tivo or DVR. I don't text anyone, 'cause I can actually call 'em with my phone. I didn't buy a smart phone to text - I like the idea of a "little computer" strapped on my belt for easy access. The iPad is like that only bigger and more convenient... well, more convenient while you're using it; I don't carry it with me everywhere. But, on the boat, out on the deck, to pass back and forth, it's pretty slick. I don't think everyone "needs" one, but we use ours a lot... and until you start using it, you're not sure how you'll use it. :roll: That's the beauty of all the apps: each person customizes the device for the way they will use it.
Best wishes,
Jim
Pat Anderson
New member
As in wired tether? Pretty difficult, since there are NO physical ports of any kind on an iPad!
nimrod":3609mjrh said:
Pat Anderson
New member
Well, I just put the Netflix app on the iPad ...OMG, this is awesome! I watched 15 minutes of Blazing Saddles at noon just to see if it would stutter - no delays at all even at MiFi speed...
Now, what it the best AIS app for the iPad? That is next up on my short list...
Now, what it the best AIS app for the iPad? That is next up on my short list...