"My name is Nomadz and I'm an early adopter"... yes, it feels a bit like being at an AA meeting sometimes because you make all the mistakes that other people later to the party get to avoid.

I didn't buy the 3G model. Instead, I bought the first generation iPad without SIM support. I told myself I wouldn't do it... that I'd wait... but I happened to be passing an Apple store and on a whim and a prayer asked them if they had any iPads in stock. 'We've got 64GB model left'. The rest is history.

Still, I'm not lamenting the decision, as there is a silver lining to this. At least, that's my post-purchase rationalisation.

Because I travel a lot, I need the flexibility to swap SIMS and use whatever contract I can. This has led me to purchasing an external 3G modem. I bought the Zoom model here in the UK and it works pretty well. Basically, I can plug any USB SIM into it and it will make the connection available to my iPad. As a bonus, it also makes the connection available to any other WiFi capable device - including my laptop, my iPhone and my colleagues' devices. Now, when I go to another country - I just pop in a different USB dongle (or swap the SIM, if applicable) and I don't have to change any of the settings on my iPad, iPhone or laptop - since the WiFi connection settings are the same.

It works pretty well so far.

Well thanks for sharing but I don't see myself getting an iPad soon as my netbook and my windows mobile are enough for me.

I used to use Windows mobile, too ( 4 years). I bought every new device that HTC put out until I bought the iPhone 3GS. I also have a laptop and a netbook (mine's from Compaq). Even so, I think the iPad fills a nice niche between the two. For instance, my netbook takes an eternity to start up and it contains a hard drive. Whereas my iPad is instant-on and solid-state (in fact, I dropped it recently and gave it a severe ding but it still works just fine... wouldn't want to do that with my netbook!) The iPad is a really good form-factor for reading newspapers, magazines, periodicals... and for watching movies and television - especially, since you can turn it into either landscape or portrait mode and lock in the best orientation for the content. If you consume a lot of printed and AV materials, it does a better job than my Netbook. As for replacing a laptop, no it doesn't. But, then again, it depends upon what you actually do with your laptop. 90% of the time, I'm just surfing the web, responding to emails, reading RSS feeds and consuming printed/AV stuff. It's a really useful and reliable device. Not without it's problems but, then again, this is first generation.

This is a good suggestion, and probably more practical for anyone travelling internationally than a MiFi - many operators now only sell their "mobile broadband" pay as you go services with a USB stick - not SIM only. Having a device that you can just drop the USB stick into is potentially very useful.

Nomadz, I followed the same logic when I bought my non 3G iPad. I figured that if I felt the need, I'd pick up some kind of 3G WiFi device. Then I could use it with my MacBook also. Yeah, an extra piece to carry, but one less bill for data each month.

.. but no GPS on the non-3g model.

I bought a WiFi and a WiFi+3G. I'm finding that I really enjoy not having to tether my iPhone to the iPad when I want to get online. I have used about 3gigs of cellular data in the past 14 days on the iPad. So I may be atypical. The double data bill is the only issue I have. If only AT&T would come out with a reduced rate iPhone + iPad plan everything would be perfect. Still at $60 for both devices, is in line with what they would charge for a DataConnect USB stick with a 5GB limit.

But would you really use it as a navigation device?

No but it is great when you are looking for a toilet or a restaurant.

Actually I used it quite a bit as a navigation device when I was in Paris and it was very cool to see when I had been walking the wrong way to try to find a restaurant on a small st. Very cool to be able to zoom so I could actually read the st names! Downside is when the map would mysteriously disappear - only to reappear five minutes later for no apparent reason^

What is that USB model?

It's not just a 3G USB key?

Sounds more like a Mifi device if it provides 3G to Wifi connectivity.

How much did it cost?

Here's more info on the Zoom device, if you are interested: http://www.nomadz.net/forum/content....s-a-better-way

The 3G model would be very convenient but - as far as I can tell - it's not very practical to use around the world. For one, it uses a different type of SIM (micro-SIM?) than what you can purchase for pay-as-you-go in most countries, so you wouldn't be able to swap in-and-out local SIMs as you travel. This is why the external WiFi modem seems to be the only solution for the time being.

I imagine that over time there will be iPads sold without contracts and that more telcos will provide iPad compatible SIMS but, until then....

there are reports that you can cut some plastic from a regular SIM and it works in the iPad.

Now that iPhone 4 is using microsims and also selling very well, microsims should become more common worldwide.

???

All iPads are sold without a contract and unlocked. Every telco company has micro sim cards available.

This should help: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/14101041-post8.html