iPad / Netflix questions

[vwlfan]

Either iPad is on my hip or I am on its

Two questions. We're going down for a long weekend next week. I was going to rent some movies on iTunes to watch on the plane but am not thrilled with the selections.

I know very little re Netflix. It seems like a good deal. But my question is if I download a movie from it can I " store" it on my iPad until we take the flight?

Also my iPad is only wifi, not 3G . Can I count on it working anywhere on property?

 

[MommyJack]

Movies on Netflix are streamed not downloads. Also not too sure about the wifi thing, but my guess is no it will not work everywhere.

 

[pal-mickey]

I think you have to pay for wifi at Disney.

 

[vwlfan]

Thanks, looks like I have to with iTunes.

Sometimes I wonder if I should have gone for the 3G, but I just couldn't see it. I can use my iPhone if I have to access the Internet badly enough. Thanks again.

 

[hughjulia]

The iPhone now has wireless tethering. Essentially, this turns your phone into a WiFi hotspot that your iPad and/or laptop can connect to. I believe ATT limits it to three simultaneous connections.


The cost is $20 per month through ATT. You could activate it for one month, and then cancel it. Depending on your perspective, it might be worth the $20 to have a WiFi connection available for your iPad on the trip.

 

[vwlfan]

The iPhone 4 and / or the 3GS?

I have the 3GS. Yours is a great suggestion if it works on the latter too.

I was holding off for the iPhone 5 for this summer.

 

[hughjulia]

One more thing,

You may already know this, but the internet in the rooms is through an Ethernet cable. They don’t have wireless, in case you were thinking about paying the $10 per day internet charge.

 

[hughjulia]

Unfortunately, I don’t think so. At least not in the way I described. I have attached a link to an Apple site that lists requirements for tethering. It looks like only the iPhone 4 supports WiFi tethering. The 3GS supports USB and Bluetooth tethering. I know you can tether a laptop using USB or Bluetooth. I just don’t know if you can with an iPad as well.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3574

 

[hughjulia]

Well I did some checking around, and it looks like the iPad does not support tethering by Bluetooth or USB (even if you have the USB camera connection kit).

You definitely want to hold out for the iPhone 5. No one really knows what it has in terms of improvements, but at this point you would probably just kick yourself later if you didn’t wait.

If you are just interested in watching movies, you could always use Handbrake and VLC to convert any DVD you own to a format that the iPad can use. Both programs are free. Handbrake isn’t too hard to use, although it isn’t user friendly either. VLC just needs to be installed on your computer for Handbrake to use in the background. It really depends on how much of a techno geek you are. You might enjoy it, or you might find it too frustrating. Anyway, this isn’t that type of technical forum.