Should You Buy WiFi only or WiFi+3G

It is cheaper to buy a tablet/kindle/iPad that is WiFi only, but is it better? I recently went away for the weekend and stayed at a motel that had Free WiFi. I thought this would be great because lately I have been buying portable devices that are wifi only.

Actually, it was really disappointing. The motel only allows one device at a time to be connected to the wifi. This means that if you connect your tablet, you can’t connect your laptop. If you connect your phone, you can’t connect your tablet. My daughter had a friend with her, so only one of them could use the free wifi. I have a nexus tablet that is wifi only and an iPad that has 3G. While I was away, I stopped using the tablet and used the iPad all the time.
When I was out and about in the car, it was very useful to he able to use the iPad(3G) to check and answer my emails while someone else was driving. And when I was waiting for my girls at the shopping center, I used the iPad on 3G, rather than look for the shopping center wifi.
I know I can set up my phone to be a wifi hotspot, but this really chews through the battery and you have to remember to turn it on and off if you want your battery to last a reasonable length if time.
My last kindle was a wifi only model. The basis of this was that I always use it near home, and I can use my phone it I need too. But after a year, I’m disappointed that I can’t sync it everywhere. My next kindle is going to be 3G.
My next iPad is going to be 3G. (I know they advertise it as 4G but it’s not available everywhere where I live)

Comments

  1. I don’t know if the specs have changed in this regard since the iPad1 (which is what I am still using) but the 3G model had better GPS functionality than the wifi only model, even when 3G wasn’t being used. In our family we have a wifi only iPad1 and a 3G iPad1 and the 3G model has always pinpointed its location more quickly and more accurately than the wifi only model, even when both are using the same wifi connection.

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