you can get sky talk and sky broadband without the sky tv package.. their unlimited broadband service without the tv package is £10 per month plus line rental.. it was this service that I had in mind when I read about your circumstances. sky recently started a new free service called sky wi-fi. all you do is register your details on their sky wi-fi app, and if you are near a wi-fi hotspot it lets you know and you can have unlimited wi-fi at no extra cost.. this explains it..
At home I am with TT for telephone and broadband. As I say when I am out with my laptop I have a mobile dongle with 3. Are there plenty of Sky hotspots around? What advantage does this have over 3G ?
At home I am with TT for telephone and broadband. As I say when I am out with my laptop I have a mobile dongle with 3. Are there plenty of Sky hotspots around? What advantage does this have over 3G ?
The app shows you locations in your area. I live in Glasgow and it shows dozens of locations in the city centre.. although not so many near my home.. The advantage over 3G is that it is free (it is covered by your sky broadband subscription) and has unlimited downloads. I started off with a 3G dongle when I got a laptop 3 years ago.. However their connection kept dropping, and there was an unbelievably excessive surcharge if you exceeded your limit.. So I cancelled it and switched to sky broadband.. i have a good download speed and importantly no throttling during peak periods.. I am a very heavy user as I like to watch a lot of you tube.. as a sky subscriber I only pay £7.50 for my broadband so for me it is a bargain. I still use my laptop at home but prefer my I-pad's versatility.. i use it to watch sky go.. I have only recently downloaded the sky wifi app so not had a chance to try it because of my work and caring commitments.. but the sky wifi app is there if i ever need to use it..
I've been thinking of getting myself a tablet as I see people using them everyday and think to myself why should I miss out?
I've been browsing about for a few weeks and I've narrowed it down to either an iPad 2 or Samsung galaxy tab 2 10.1.
Does anyone have one or both of these and give me some pro's and con's?
I would probably use it for games, music, films, social network sites, browsing internet, email blah blah... but I'd also use it for reading comics/books and maybe some university work so I'd probably need Microsoft office type apps and a USB would be useful on a tablet IMO.
I have a Samsung laptop which is great and I use it for work, however I also have a iPhone meaning I already have iTunes account already which makes me think i can transfer things from my iPhone to iPad which would be cool.
Help would be greatly appreciated!
I wouldn't recommend an iPad 2 as the specs are quite dated at this point. Get an iPad 4 instead. The fact that you already have an iPhone makes that choice even more sensible.
With an iPad 4 you'll have one of the two fastest tablets with the best build quality, the best customer service and tech support, the best resale value, the best battery life, a more useful screen aspect ratio, by far the best third party accessories support and by far the best access to apps with over 300,000 apps available for the iPad.
The best estimates for the number of apps available for Android tablets is a very small fraction of that and even then there are well known incompatibilities from one Android tablet to another amongst those available apps.
And finally, amongst all those apps available for the iPad is the fact that the iPad, and iOS in general, usually get apps first and are typically of higher quality. You also don't have the malware mess that you have with Android.
Remember, you get what you pay for. Also, ignore the Apple haters. Most of them are just haters in general.
Does this also apply for an iPad mini, or am I right in thinking there has only been one version of that?
The iPad mini is the same specs internally as the iPad 2. The iPad mini is a great little tablet, and the best of the smaller tablets available, but the iPad mini is not likely to ever be as fast as the bigger iPad and it is of course cheaper than the iPad 4 so its basically an apples and oranges comparison with the larger iPad.
Yes, the iPad mini is still on the first version. It came out in November with the iPad 4.
The iPad mini is the same specs internally as the iPad 2. The iPad mini is a great little tablet, and the best of the smaller tablets available, but the iPad mini is not likely to ever be as fast as the bigger iPad and it is of course cheaper than the iPad 4 so its basically an apples and oranges comparison with the larger iPad.
Yes, the iPad mini is still on the first version. It came out in November with the iPad 4.
Thanks for your help. I have a laptop, but it is cumbersome dragging it from one location, particularly on public transport. So something smaller, lighter, to do e-mails and web browsing is what I need.
Thanks for your help. I have a laptop, but it is cumbersome dragging it from one location, particularly on public transport. So something smaller, lighter, to do e-mails and web browsing is what I need.
I've owned previous iPads and the iPad 4 was the first version that allowed me to ditch the laptop as it is that fast. Previously browsing was slower than in my laptop but with the iPad 4 browsing is actually quicker. The battery life is also better than previous versions. I get 11.5 hours through normal use and much more if just video.
My iPad 4 is also a cellular version that I have an unlimited data plan attached too. I don't know how data plans work in the UK for the iPad, as I'm in America, but here I recommend if possible to get the cellular version even if for occasional cellular use for those times when traveling when available wifi is poor. Service providers here allow month to month as needed data plans. No contract is needed. I use my cellular service on my iPad all the time as it is almost always with me.
Comments
It BOTH allows people to circumvent the Play Store (and get paid apps for free) AND means than "unapproved and untested" apps can be installed!
Thanks very much thms for the information.
At home I am with TT for telephone and broadband. As I say when I am out with my laptop I have a mobile dongle with 3. Are there plenty of Sky hotspots around? What advantage does this have over 3G ?
The app shows you locations in your area. I live in Glasgow and it shows dozens of locations in the city centre.. although not so many near my home.. The advantage over 3G is that it is free (it is covered by your sky broadband subscription) and has unlimited downloads. I started off with a 3G dongle when I got a laptop 3 years ago.. However their connection kept dropping, and there was an unbelievably excessive surcharge if you exceeded your limit.. So I cancelled it and switched to sky broadband.. i have a good download speed and importantly no throttling during peak periods.. I am a very heavy user as I like to watch a lot of you tube.. as a sky subscriber I only pay £7.50 for my broadband so for me it is a bargain. I still use my laptop at home but prefer my I-pad's versatility.. i use it to watch sky go.. I have only recently downloaded the sky wifi app so not had a chance to try it because of my work and caring commitments.. but the sky wifi app is there if i ever need to use it..
I wouldn't recommend an iPad 2 as the specs are quite dated at this point. Get an iPad 4 instead. The fact that you already have an iPhone makes that choice even more sensible.
With an iPad 4 you'll have one of the two fastest tablets with the best build quality, the best customer service and tech support, the best resale value, the best battery life, a more useful screen aspect ratio, by far the best third party accessories support and by far the best access to apps with over 300,000 apps available for the iPad.
The best estimates for the number of apps available for Android tablets is a very small fraction of that and even then there are well known incompatibilities from one Android tablet to another amongst those available apps.
And finally, amongst all those apps available for the iPad is the fact that the iPad, and iOS in general, usually get apps first and are typically of higher quality. You also don't have the malware mess that you have with Android.
Remember, you get what you pay for. Also, ignore the Apple haters. Most of them are just haters in general.
And something no normal user should be doing.
Does this also apply for an iPad mini, or am I right in thinking there has only been one version of that?
The iPad mini is the same specs internally as the iPad 2. The iPad mini is a great little tablet, and the best of the smaller tablets available, but the iPad mini is not likely to ever be as fast as the bigger iPad and it is of course cheaper than the iPad 4 so its basically an apples and oranges comparison with the larger iPad.
Yes, the iPad mini is still on the first version. It came out in November with the iPad 4.
Thanks for your help. I have a laptop, but it is cumbersome dragging it from one location, particularly on public transport. So something smaller, lighter, to do e-mails and web browsing is what I need.
I've owned previous iPads and the iPad 4 was the first version that allowed me to ditch the laptop as it is that fast. Previously browsing was slower than in my laptop but with the iPad 4 browsing is actually quicker. The battery life is also better than previous versions. I get 11.5 hours through normal use and much more if just video.
My iPad 4 is also a cellular version that I have an unlimited data plan attached too. I don't know how data plans work in the UK for the iPad, as I'm in America, but here I recommend if possible to get the cellular version even if for occasional cellular use for those times when traveling when available wifi is poor. Service providers here allow month to month as needed data plans. No contract is needed. I use my cellular service on my iPad all the time as it is almost always with me.