another ipad thread...

[RamboPreacher]

Okay, when I went to the Apple store, and was asking about the iPad before I plunged, i specifically asked (and recall that we had this discussion here a while back, I think Pastor Gary chimed in on it) if when using the iPad and had cellular turned on, but in range of a wireless, would it use the precious cellular bytes, or would it use the wireless connection?

Their answer was that it would always use the wireless connection first.

I bought a month, so I could (over) use the iPad and see what kind of usage I would get. my first observation: you do NOT get ONLY a month at a time. you sign up and you have signed up for automatic monthly updates! you have to go back and cancel your account so that it is only for that month. this is a deceptive practice, in my opinion.

next observation. the settings allows for turning on and off roaming data. I assume that it switches networks when out of bars for ATT. but maybe I am missing this. went camping and sure enough - no ma bell. but my wife's verizon phone and my verizon mifi work. there was no roaming even available, let alone a warning that I was expecting to pop up and tell my there would be extra charge for roaming data.

next observation. began to consistently use about 50 meg a day, and more if i downloaded apps.; not to mention that it wouldn't even let me download some apps, because they were too big. a warning was nice, but give me the option to continue, not force me to wait for a wireless connection that may never come.

another observation. This one is a dual point. I bought a Apple bluetooth keyboard (and love it, by the way - EXCEPT, you can't tell if it is on or off. you have to carefully look for the tiny LED while pressing the on/off - it doesn't stay on and doesn't change colors for on or off. you just have to figure it out that it's on when you push the button and hold it and the light comes on, then goes off. and turning it off, the light comes on, then goes off. okay...) with that said - once it is running, it is great. I like the feel of it and can type just as fast as if at my desktop. but I turned on the BT on the ipad at about the same time as i enabled the cellular and turned it on...

battery life is flushed in the toilet now. used to be able to keep it running all day, not it runs low at the end of the day. and that's with the brightness turned down all the way. if I need it up at all for any length, then i risk running out of power during the day.

and the last observation and to the main topic point... it appears that the cellular continues being used, even if I am wirelessly connected. trued to experiment with this a couple times and the data usage continues to grow whether I am in range and connected to wireless or not.

should I take it back as defective?