Advice Regarding iPad in Paris
 

I am considering buying an iPad before my trip to Paris next week. I am undecided whether to buy a WiFi version or a Cellular version. Our hotel room offers free WiFi. Does Paris have enough hot spots so that we will not have to buy the cellular version or will the cellular version be much more convenient to use? Thanks for any opinions you may have.

Are you going to carry the ipad around all day?

I always take my WiFi dependent iPad to Europe with me and use it in the hotel room or lobby. I would not want to carry it around all day.Use your smartphone during the day if you must.

The iPad mini is a lot easier to carry around then the full size iPad, but the iPhone is much easier to use.

Our kids bought us a wifi iPad for Xmas... They all live in the US...we live in Europe. They bought it so we can ichat, etc. We love it... And have found the wifi coverage in all large European cities to be fine (hotels, cafes, and our apartment, of course).

We are considering getting another one... And have considered 4g. Between the device cost and the data plan, we will likely stick with wifi and just make it work.

I take my ipad with me almost everywhere I travel, but I use it only in the hotel. An ipad is just not a substitute for a smart phone that you might want to use on the fly to make a reservation or check a web site while out for the day.

I'm not sure this will be helpful to you as I have a new mini ipad my DH bought me about a month ago. I love it! I sit every night and play with it and learn something new. If you only have a week before u leave for Paris, will this give u enough time to familiarize yourself w/ it? Maybe u are more techie saavy than me. I do love to learn new things so think this is helpful to me in learning.

I bought the WIFI version as I felt this would serve my needs. I talked to my daughter and she said if I got the cellular version I would have to pay monthly data fees and I didn't think I would use this as I have a smart phone so why pay double when u travel. I go to my AT&T store b4 we leave on a trip and add international text messaging. I can send 50 texts for a reasonable fee so this works for me. I usually only text when we are on land (we are cruisers).

Guess it's up to you with how u want to use the ipad. I don't think you would have any problems finding WiFi hot spots in Paris. There are lots of internet cafes everywhere. Most everyone we cruise with has a laptop or ipad with them and they find places ashore to check emails, send messages, etc.

Just up to you I guess. Good luck! Have a great trip. We loved Paris even though we were only there for a day. We hired a private tour guide that gave a a wonderful tour of all the best spots in Paris. Even had time to go to top of Eiffel Tower. Wonderful views!

P.S. I really love the mini ipad I bought. It's the perfect size for carrying in my handbag when we travel and I find it easier to us because the size is smaller. I compared both of them in the store and decided the mini would work better for me. To each his own, however.

Thanks for all of your responses. I am considering the mini iPad and was just not sure if the cellular plan was necessary. I will probably carry it around in my purse as we will not have a smart phone with us.

If you plan to carry it around all day, the iPad mini is the best choice over the regular size. The one with cellular data is not only more expensive at time of purchase but the monthly costs add up quickly as well. I'd stick with wifi and make do, that's what I did in London a month ago.

I would probably buy the cellular version, if thecost of the model isn't too much for you.

you do not have to buy a contract, so you don't have to pay a regular monthly fee for the cellular connection like you would with a smartphone. You are free to turn it on only when you need it, a month at a time.

I believe you only get the GPS in the version with cellular (this was true for full size iPad anyways). And you may find that useful if you want to use various map apps.

iPads are unlocked, so when you are abroad, you can buy a micro sim, and a small data plan if you want to use it when you are out and about. You can use it with your US carrier, but the data plan will probably be more expensive. If you do want to use it in France, you may need to research which is more economical.

If you are based in the US, I would recommend getting the cellular version, but not specifically for use in Europe but for use in the US. Let me explain:

As others have said, you do not need to pay for cellular service each month-- you can activate it on a month by month basis ( $15/ month for AT&T) as needed. In the US, I purchase a month if travelling domestically so that I can have cellular access in airports and in US hotels, many of which charge exorbitant daily rates for Internet access. Also, before hurricane Sandy, anticipating power outages and therefore loss of wifi at home, I purchased a month of cellular data and it was a lifesaver-- our only access to the outside world when we lost power and cable service for 9 days.

If you can handle the up charge for the cellular version, go for it.

Thanks for all of your comments. Does anyone know how "wired" Paris is--Parks, Starbucks, etc--will there be much wifi access?

I dont recall parks being wifi enabled but most hotels are, and places like Starbucks are more and more. We usually find a place throughout the day to check our iphone emails...but dont expect to find somewhere whenever you want to use it easily. More and more cafes and restaurants are enabled though.

McDonalds in France usually has wifi too..

www.Paris.fr has a map of wifi hotspots in Paris, basically every public building and park should have it, though stuff no doubt happens there as it does here.

Cell service for the iPad is only $15 a month? For some reason, i thought it was $30. Does the $15 charge cover roaming cell service (France)?

I pay $30/month for unlimited data on our original iPad. For us, it's worth it because we couldn't use the iPad otherwise at our mountain home. And, as someone else said, using 3G saves us from the ridiculous daily fee for wi-fi at some hotels.

that $15/month is just for the US and its for 250MB of data. You can up to 2GB for $25. I believe you can add an iPad to an existing AT&T contract (if you have cellphones already) for just $10/month.

international data plans start at $30 for 120MB.

I have the 4G full-sized iPad, and I enjoy the option of having cell service. And since there is no contract, you can cancel the agreement ( AT&T- $15 a month) at any time. I do not have navigation in my car, so I often use my iPad for this purpose when I need directions going somewhere. Now the software gives verbal turn-by-turn directions too. I love the full-sized iPad for movies on the plane, but the mini is enticing, especially for ease of use to carry around on travels.

I bought a SIM card for my iPad while in Europe. In my case I was in Italy, and the device was fairly new, but it should be easy to pick up a SIM card in most European cities. Very easy to exchange US one for European. Not expensive.

There were many places in Paris where you could use your device out and about. With the full-sized version, I used mine just in our apartment. The smaller one is much easier to use when out and about. Metro apps were very helpful too.

I agree that if you can afford the cellular version, it's nice to have.

We were just in Paris last year and it's not wired at all really. We had Wifi in our hotel and that was it. There were even buildings that advertised "Free Wifi" and when you tried to log on there was a charge! I think they're unclear on the concept of free! So if having wifi when you're not at your hotel is important, get a cellular plan. It's not like the US and Canada where many restaurants, etc. have wifi.

Love my mini! And it fits perfectly in my crossover purse. I keep all my lists on it and carry it everywhere. It's wifi only but it will be useful for various apps like the Metro app and maps, museum info.

MonicaRichards I am not sure where you tried Wifi in Paris but we found it all over town. All of the Starbucks and McDonalds have free wifi.

Hmmm, I never went to either McDonalds or Starbucks, probably that's why. Other than that, no luck. Oh, except for the road stop things, they had Wifi (that was driving around France, not in Paris specifically).

We have brought the iPad and our iPhones on our trips to France. When I bought my first iPad, I got the WiFi/3g option, but never used the 3g because as one of the other posters said, if you are already paying for 3g on your phone, why pay twice?

WiFi usually worked, but it was sketchy and depended where we were. However since we had the iPhones and 3g (now 4g), we were still able to access the web. We always sign up for the International plan when we go out of the country, but use it for emergencies only (which luckily has so far been never); it's mostly for insurance on our part.

For the most part, we found that we didn't need or even want to use the web much when we traveled. Other than sharing photos and making bank transfers :-] we really didn't use it.

I have a regular iPad with AT&T that I bought for when I travel both domestic and International. I can tell you it does get awful heavy when carrying it around. I am looking at the mini to try and lessen the load. I do have the minimum plan a month and will sign up for the international plan for the month the day before I leave. You must have the domestic plan in order to get the international. I have taken it so far to Austria, Germany and the Carnary Islands and had no problems with connecting to the Internet when there was no free wifi.

sassy27, I am glad now that I bought the mini as we are going to be traveling on a cruise in Dec. so want to be able to fit in my purse. I like the size and weight of the mini, works for me.

You said you would sign up for international plan b4 u leave, what plan do you mean? AT&T is my cell phone carrier so I do add the international text messaging feature when we travel and like that feature. I send texts to our grandsons when we arrive in a port and on land as the ship is so expensive. So for my wifi mini, what options can I choose? I am not familiar w/ how everything works as I've only had it a month.

Thanks so much. Every little bit of info helps!

Hi:

We bought an adaptor for our I-pad so we could transfer photos from the SD card . Much easier than bringing a laptop along, if you can't to see your photos. It was about $29 at the Apple store. Think they also have it at Target.

Katie

Yes, all you have to do is sign up for the domestic monthly plan. Once you do, you can go into your settings and also purchase the monthly International plan. The cheapest and it goes by how much mb you want. They ask you when you want the International plan to start, day and time. A good thing to remember is to watch the time zone. I once had it start after I arrived at my destination by accident. I go with the cheapest plan $30, this is on top of the $15 domestic monthly plan, if I know I will be around free wifi so only use it for hotels that charge for wifi. You do not have to cancel the International plan. It will just end at the end of the month or if you run out of mb's you get an email telling you how to order more. I haven't had an issue with billing errors. On the cruise I went on in the Canary Islands, I could only get a signal in port which makes sense so I used it in the mornings and right after we got back to the ship until I lost the signal.

Thanks so much, sassy! Very helpful. Next time I am near AT&T store I'll stop in and check it out.

I remember they asked me dates we would be traveling for my smart phone service and they had to pro-rate it according to our billing cycle. I think it was $30.

So can you send texts on ipad too w/ this international service or is that an additional charge? Guess I'll check it all out w/ my AT&T store.

We are going to Canary Islands (Tenerife, docking Santa Cruz) in Dec. We were there this year in Dec. also. We loved that island, so beautiful! Can't wait to see it again. We went up Mt. Teide and OMG the views were stunning!

We were in Paris this past February for a month. I did not find wifi in public places all that available. Some restaurants would give u a password and you could use it while dining, I wasn't in Starbucks or McDonald's so cant address availability there.
I have an iPad with cellular data. I don't buy the data plan very often, but have been glad to have it.