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Old 10-11-2010, 08:35 AM   #1
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iPad on the Road

An iPad is a great device for the road warriors. The Google map function in it is a great way to track your route, better than the GPS units in the car cause you can see the whole route and make adjustments as you go. My wife the navigator, spent a lot of time with it last week (she is a hard core paper map person). But with the browser and internet access she was able to research different routes and camp sites, state parks and things to see as we were on the road. Unlike a "planned" trip we set off on this adventure without a lot of direction after we picked up our new trailer. The iPad was great for that and if charged up can last all day. The down side is that you have to pay for monthly service from ATT which can be $15 or $30 a month. You can turn off the service for the times you aren't on the road and save money and just use the WiFi, which is readily available.
Somehow using the iPad on a trip feels much more like vacation as pulling out a Laptop seems to be like work.
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Old 10-11-2010, 08:52 AM   #2
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We use the IPhone much the same way. The downside is the much smaller display, but using it as a phone makes up for it. If we could tether the two I'd get the "pad" in a heartbeat.
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Old 10-11-2010, 09:22 AM   #3
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I have tethered my iPad to my iPhone. It works great! I occasionally regret not getting the 3G iPad, but my iPad is almost always somewhere with WiFi. For a better GPS app, try Motion-X GPS or Motion-X Drive. Drive will give you turn by turn direction. GPS is great for route tracking, waypoints, etc. Again, I use this on my iPhone since my iPad has no GPS. It would be killer on the iPad!

Other things I have to make my iPad a little more enjoyable on the trip:

Video Out cable: Allows me to watch video from the iPad's Netflix app on the TV in the trailer or at my destination. In my case, I have one the has the stand AND has a strap to mount the iPad to a headrest in the car for the Kids entertainment.

Bluetooth Keyboard: nothing replaces a real keyboard. Adding this really makes the iPad a near laptop replacement for me.

Case with a stand or a dedicated stand for iPad: Allows iPad to sit on the counter for internet use with the bluetooth keyboard or look pretty using the picture frame mode.

Want to buy: a stereo with bluetooth streaming or an A2DP adapter. It will allow you to stream music directly to the stereo in the car or trailer from the iPad, even with Pandora.
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Old 10-11-2010, 09:30 AM   #4
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What kind of cable are you using for video out??

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Old 10-11-2010, 09:33 AM   #5
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At the moment, the Apple composite out cable. It works on the iPhone and iPad.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB129LL/B
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Old 10-11-2010, 09:40 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Westfalia View Post
At the moment, the Apple composite out cable. It works on the iPhone and iPad.
Thanks. We had a question here at work about someone wanting to do a presentation from an iPad and I wasn't sure what was out there to do that.

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Old 10-11-2010, 09:44 AM   #7
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There is a VGA out cable for the iPad, better for presentations:

Apple iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter - Apple Store (U.S.)

I should add, there are distinct limitation on what the VGA adapter will do and with what applications it will work with. Feel free to PM me for more details, I don't want to derail this thread.
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Old 10-11-2010, 09:55 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Westfalia View Post
There is a VGA out cable for the iPad, better for presentations:

Apple iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter - Apple Store (U.S.)

I should add, there are distinct limitation on what the VGA adapter will do and with what applications it will work with. Feel free to PM me for more details, I don't want to derail this thread.
As you noted it looks like the limiting factor is the App you are running on the iPad. Lots of low ratings in that regards. I wonder if the limitation is OS based or App based.

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Old 10-11-2010, 10:20 AM   #9
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The APPLE STORE at Eaton Centre, Toronto, is open this Canadian Thanksgiving day and I am on my way there to get a 32G WiFi +G3 model.


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Old 10-11-2010, 09:30 PM   #10
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Tell me how you tether your ipad to the iPhone. My iPad stopped working on the trip last week, just wouldn't come on. Took it to the Apple Store Sunday and he rebooted it and said that one of the Apps has exhausted the memory. it had to be the Maps App as we were using it along with Safari to look up campsites and track distances. So something to know: Plug your iPad into the power supply (must do). then hold down the top right button and the menu button both at the same time for about 15 seconds. That will force re-boot the iPad and clean out the memory. It was good news cause I thought the car inverter had toasted the power supply.

On another note the new Apple TV should be a streaming device from the iPad so you can wirelessly sent that Netflix video to the TV. At least that's the concept. I guess you could also use an Airport express to send the audio wirelessly to the input on the stereo and make a wireless network in the trailer.
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Old 10-11-2010, 09:47 PM   #11
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Rich,

You need to upgrade the iPhone OS to a 4.0+ version on a 3G/3GS. After upgrade you will find the tethering option in the settings section (gear app icon). You can then select to connect device through bluetooth or USB. BT is the option to use with iPad.

You're spot on with the utility of Ipad on the road. My laptop was dead weight on our recent road trip to MN.

The allstays camp & rv app was a good companion app as it plots out useful data like upcoming rest stops, walmarts, truck stops, using the google maps database. Campground listing was kind of limited, but the reststop and truckstop/large service db worked really well.
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Old 10-11-2010, 10:10 PM   #12
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Thanks, It's a new iPhone 4 (Ver 4.1). Do you set it in the Bluetooth panel and add it as another devise?

What flat panel and size came with your 2009? Mine has the Sony 15", not HD and connected to the Sony DVD in-dash player by I think Composite video cable. Plus the Sony Wega (state-of-the-art) in 2006 doesn't have a digital tuner in it. I'm thinking of a new 23" Vizio or Samsung super thin LED LCD.
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Old 10-12-2010, 06:30 AM   #13
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Quote:
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Rich,

You need to upgrade the iPhone OS to a 4.0+ version on a 3G/3GS. After upgrade you will find the tethering option in the settings section (gear app icon). You can then select to connect device through bluetooth or USB. BT is the option to use with iPad.
AT&T charges an additional $20/month for tethering service on the IPhone. I found this out in the price brochure for the IPhone. My wife's Razor phone battery isn't holding a charge anymore so we are considering switching to the IPhone for us both, but I'm thinking wait 'till Verizon offers them in the spring to see what competition will do to the price and to the nickle and dime stuff that AT&T reams you with.
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Old 10-12-2010, 07:44 AM   #14
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Not to hijack the thread, but if you jailbreak the iPhone, you can then set up a tether without the extra $$ for AT&T (I am not sure if you can do this with the new iPhone 4, but you can with a 3 or 3G)
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Old 10-12-2010, 10:09 AM   #15
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Can anyone confim if you can tether an iPhone 3G (with AT&T tethering enabled on the account) with an iPad?

Thanks
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Old 10-12-2010, 12:22 PM   #16
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Ouch!! I did set it up in the tethering under the settings>network>tethering panel. It will walk you through the process. Good thing I read this thread to find out that it is costing me extra$$$$. the tethering I did was on my wife's phone which she had clearly had the account previously set up for. Now I better understand why she was asking me if it was OK if she tethered her wifi iPad a couple of weeks back..........hmmmmmm.

Anyways, I think we have a 19" digital samsung in our FC23. The digital tuner is pretty sweet and I've been surprised how many channels we picked up in the different locations we were at. I'll probably upsize at some point in the future since my wife was commenting on how small it was compared to the 60" tv we watch at home. Heck for now I'm just shocked at the fact that we have a Television when we're "camping".

BTW I noticed that the 2010 & 2011's had the LCD flat panels in them which presumably has a wider viewing angle. Noticed that the brightness of the LED panel in ours was highly dependent on the angle I was laying in bed.
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Old 10-12-2010, 02:30 PM   #17
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The new Flying Clouds have the very thin and light Samsung LED panels, not sure what size.
I have the current iPhone Os but don't see a tethering option. I let the ATT account go dormant for 2 months after vacation since I didn't need the 3G and was getting along on Wifi. When I went back to re-authorize the account i had to set up a new account and the "unlimited" usage wasn't available. Not it's limited to 2 GB per month, which you can upgrade after you use up the bandwidth.
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Old 10-12-2010, 06:35 PM   #18
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OK, I just checked my phone again and here's a snap of the panels I was referring to (settings>general>network>set up internet tethering). Seems odd that the Iphone 4 would be that much different than the 3GS with the upgrade. However, I can believe that ATT would bugger something up to its advantage whenever possible.

After looking at the price of tethering I'm not sure I want to keep paying for it. Uggh. Anyways, good luck and you were right about the LED. We have the standard LCD.
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Old 10-12-2010, 07:52 PM   #19
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Not to hijack the thread, but if you jailbreak the iPhone, you can then set up a tether without the extra $$ for AT&T (I am not sure if you can do this with the new iPhone 4, but you can with a 3 or 3G)
Yes, you can tether a jailbroken iPhone 4. When it comes to jailbreaking you do need to be a bit more cautious when it comes to OS upgrades, and know that Apple may not fully support you if your device has problems as they claim it voids the warranty. Jailbreaking can be easily un-done however if service is required.

Quote:
Originally Posted by RichHog
Now it's limited to 2 GB per month, which you can upgrade after you use up the bandwidth.
I strongly suggest to anyone using a tiered data plan for their iPhone or iPad, to turn off the option to send information back to Apple "...to improve their services" or something to that effect. You would be shocked at how much data ("info") is transferred overnight (80MB some nights!) when you're a sleep. It's also worth mentioning that while the iPhone or iPad is asleep, all data is transfered via 2G/3G, not via wireless as that connection is also asleep. So that "info" being sent to Apple comes at a premium when you're not on an unlimited data plan. I have a $15/ month data plan (200MB), and the first two months I went over my allowance (one month I was over 200MB in a few days) despite being on wireless networks almost all the time (home and work). What I found is that at 2am almost every day large chucks if data was being sent out while I was sleeping, this data being the info being shared with Apple. Once I reset my iPhone and reconnected to iTunes, I was presented with the option again (to send info to Apple) and now have that option turned off. Now I only use a fraction of my data plan (huge difference), keeping my monthly fees low.

Cheers,
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Old 10-12-2010, 09:07 PM   #20
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Wow, I opened a can of worms here. Yes, I was jailbroken on a 3GS running MiFi as the tethering app. Standard Apple/AT&T tethering is only bluetooth and USB, both of which are no good for the iPad.

Also to note for the upcoming Airplay streaming feature from the iPhone/iPad to the AppleTV, I wouldn't count on streaming video from any app but the built in iTunes/iPod app on iDevices to the AppleTV until the final version is released. It would be very Apple of them to limit this functionality. Also note that streaming from iDevice to AppleTV will require a WiFi AP as an intermediary. The Airport Express does accomplish this, but I don't have a 120V source anywhere near my stereo. At least for me, Bluetooth streaming would be better for an audio only solution, should be 12V compatible, it would subscribe to my KISS principle as it applies to my trailer.
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