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Is a 3G/4G tablet worth having or should I go with wifi

Jredd

Nov 28, 2011, 10:54 AM
Question,

I'm currently in the market for a tablet but I don't know if its worth it to get one with 3G or 4G. Every where pretty much has WiFi so whats the benefit of paying $30 dollars a month?
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Tomdg07

Nov 28, 2011, 11:12 AM
The only benifit is when your not in a wifi area you can still acess data. Also keep in mind if you can enable the hotspot feature on your phone you will never be out of range of wifi 😉
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epik

Nov 29, 2011, 12:21 AM
"Everywhere" around me, if you're referring to FREE WiFi, is extremely limited and insanely unsecure at best. Or I could pay $10 at the book store for the day, but that's 1/3 of what I pay on my tablet, and I'm never at the book store, so who cares.

I find it very interesting that people want the car without getting the gas. I can sit in my nice, shiny car all day long, and I might even find someone to lend me some gasoline, but in the end I don't use the car or buy gas for it.

If you want a tablet without mobile Internet in (just about) 2012, you're asking for inconvenience.
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Jayshmay

Nov 29, 2011, 12:02 PM
Are you familiar with the new music player for Android? However stupid this might sound I can't figure out how to make a song a ringtone from the music player. Yes I tried pressing menu, tried long pressing. I can't figure it out.
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Sisyphus

Dec 1, 2011, 1:42 PM
is this in any way related to 3g/4g tablets?

FFS man, either start a topic or do some research, don't hijack every thread with one of your problems.
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CellStudent

Dec 7, 2011, 6:06 PM
epik said:

I find it very interesting that people want the car without getting the gas. I can sit in my nice, shiny car all day long, and I might even find someone to lend me some gasoline, but in the end I don't use the car or buy gas for it.



This isn't a fair analogy.

A more appropriate analogy is that buying a cellular-enabled tablet is like buying a big truck to carry furniture across town, but then also towing your OWN CAR behind it everywhere you go.

But not only that, you have to turn your car on and run it in neutral every time you're towing it around town, so not only are you paying the higher rate for the less efficient truck, you're still burning just as much gas as you w...
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vzwinagent

Dec 8, 2011, 2:27 PM
It's inconvenient and annoying. Who wants to turn on hotspot on their phone each time they want to use their tablet. Plus it's unfortunately not the most reliable thing on earth. You also have to deal with the battery drain on the phone and if not in a 4G area then no data on your tablet if you get a phone call. I'd much rather have my data enabled tablet. Tethering seems like a poor mans solution that in the end is potentially only a $10 savings.
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CellStudent

Dec 9, 2011, 12:28 AM
vzwinagent said:
It's inconvenient and annoying. Who wants to turn on hotspot on their phone each time they want to use their tablet. Plus it's unfortunately not the most reliable thing on earth. You also have to deal with the battery drain on the phone and if not in a 4G area then no data on your tablet if you get a phone call. I'd much rather have my data enabled tablet. Tethering seems like a poor mans solution that in the end is potentially only a $10 savings.

You are assuming that everyone uses their tablet outside their WiFi coverage every day. Most people don't. They use them on the couch at home or when in the office.

I've had my tablet for most of a year, and needed cellular data only a ha...
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vzwinagent

Dec 9, 2011, 12:51 AM
I take my tablet on the go a lot and would think others would want that luxury as well. I want to know its ready when I want it. Not have to call and add or remove a feature. What a pain. But that's my take.
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CellStudent

Dec 9, 2011, 10:00 PM
vzwinagent said:
Not have to call and add or remove a feature. What a pain. But that's my take.


Enabling the hotspot is a self-activation. Has been for like, three years on Verizon.

True, they make me call in to turn it off.

If they want to pay an employee $18 to handle a 5 minute call to remove a feature rather than do the smart thing and let me disable it myself....

Well, that's bad policy. Let capitalism take its toll there.


Even if I did need cellular data all the time, I would just buy a spare battery at a onetime cost of $40 and keep it in my satchel with my tablet. The battery drain isn't that bad if you're willing to take 30 seconds to turn the feature off when you don't need it.

E...
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Jellz

Dec 1, 2011, 4:04 PM
Do you carry your tablet with you everywhere? Do you have a phone that can act as a mobile hotspot that you could use? It's more cost-effective to pay for a Wi-Fi only tablet and add a tethering/mobile hotspot feature to your phone, that you can cancel at any time than to get a tablet with built-in 3G/4G radio. Or if you just leave the tablet at home and play with it around there, just get a Wi-Fi only version.
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CellStudent

Dec 7, 2011, 3:39 PM
Jellz said:
Do you carry your tablet with you everywhere? Do you have a phone that can act as a mobile hotspot that you could use? It's more cost-effective to pay for a Wi-Fi only tablet and add a tethering/mobile hotspot feature to your phone, that you can cancel at any time than to get a tablet with built-in 3G/4G radio. Or if you just leave the tablet at home and play with it around there, just get a Wi-Fi only version.

Jellz got this exactly right. I see very, very few reasons to own a tablet with an embedded cellular modem.

One would be that you own a cell phone that's not capable of acting as a WiFi hotspot.

Another would be if you cell phone of choice doesn't support simultaneous data & voice, ...
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vztenure

Dec 30, 2011, 4:13 PM
I asked myself the same question. Taking into consideration what other folks have posted and also consider the following:

Do the apps you use on your Tablet require internet access? Do you have smart phone that can also access the internet while you are out and about? I also toyed with the hotspot feature as an option because I use an Iphone, but I know that hotspot kills your battery, and if you are not on a 4G phone AND on a 4G network, then you can't do anything else on your phone while tethering.

Cost wise the WiFi only device is about 130.00 cheaper than the radio enabled counterpart but the tablet post pay plan is month to month so you CAN activate it as needed just as you can the hotspot. GB for GB though, the hotspot option I...
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johnnyb0810

Jan 3, 2012, 9:24 AM
$30 for unl is only for those who are grandfathered into unl data for their phones. Everyone else gets 6 GB of data for 50 on 4G
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CellStudent

Dec 28, 2011, 11:18 PM
https://www.phonescoop.com/carriers/forum.php?fm=m&f ... »

CellStudent said:


Enabling the hotspot is a self-activation. Has been for like, three years on Verizon.

True, they make me call in to turn it off.

If they want to pay an employee $18 to handle a 5 minute call to remove a feature rather than do the smart thing and let me disable it myself....

Well, that's bad policy. Let capitalism take its toll there...


To be clear, this isn't the first time Verizon did something smart. They gave me a job almost eight years ago, which was a good move on their part. 😎

But, anyhow, my DSL router had a failure on me the other day, so I went to turn on my mobile hotspot on my Android to g...
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