Data when fishing and links and such

[DJD]

Love my I-phone. Very entertaining while in the airport or just killing time. Has wifi and I love the fact that the ipod is standard on it so I get all my music with me.

Actually use it for business as well....like checking pdf drawings while out of the shop and on job sites.

I surf with mine at the house (wifi) for short periods and have my laptop 20 ft away. I never used another touch screen phone so I don't know how good or bad they are. I have the 3GS and the only thing I would change is the battery life because it kinds sukks.

Sending vids and pics via email or text is easy but I'm guessing all the smart phones are.

[HURRICANEBOB]

Love my I-phone. Very entertaining while in the airport or just killing time. Has wifi and I love the fact that the ipod is standard on it so I get all my music with me.

Actually use it for business as well....like checking pdf drawings while out of the shop and on job sites.

I surf with mine at the house (wifi) for short periods and have my laptop 20 ft away. I never used another touch screen phone so I don't know how good or bad they are. I have the 3GS and the only thing I would change is the battery life because it kinds sukks.

Sending vids and pics via email or text is easy but I'm guessing all the smart phones are.

DJ:

If you have say a 2 GB data account, and you are at home, using the Wi-fi (not the 3g), does the data you wi-fi count against your monthly data allowance, the 2 GB?

[DJD]

Sorry man I don't know since the company pays the bill on it. My understanding is that since we have the old plan we still have the unlimited activity.

[Col Forbin]

If you are looking at a phone for accessing the web - you can't beat the iphone. You are only charged data when using cellular data (3g), not wi-fi. The only problem with using them on the lake is you have to have a pretty good signal for it to work at an acceptable speed (most remote places do not even have 3g access/coverage yet), however it will still load up, but quite a bit slower. I have some places saved in my favorites and that helps the load speed (not searching) - I check mine regularly during the summer for Ky Dam flow. But honestly, I have the iphone works best for checking/sending email and accessing sites for quick veiwing - not really searching the web, although I do that on occassion. My wife has the 2g data plan on hers - and has never come close to going over - and she uses it often. I am grandfathered into the unlimmited plan they no longer offer.

I like the Ipads - I use one at work often. When using wi-fi they work really good. We use them to collect behavioral and educational data on a web-based data program. They are awesome for email, and OK for web viewing. I haven't got to use one on 3g, but I hear good things about it. However, we get limitted 3g coverage here - actually just got 3g here a couple of months ago - and it is improving.

Honestly, I just had went through this debate the last couple of months. I thought I was going the Ipad route. However, once I started pricing them like I wanted (with the 3g and larger memory) I was going to spend close to and probably over $800 after taxes. And probably much more once I started adding accessories (card readers, case, keyboard/dock). I decided to go with a laptop (macbook pro). You can easily find a good laptop that is portable for the price of an IPad, that will do so much more (aside from the 3g access). However, I have an iphone for when I need to use it away from wi-fi.