Moving away from iTunes on a Mac

[teamsaint]

Get some CCTV.

nowhere to fix it to now.

[Beef Oven!]

nowhere to fix it to now.

You don't put it on the fence, you donut!!

[Nick Armstrong]

Thanks for the various views and suggestions, to combat my ignorance in this area.

Interesting detail about the GPS, stunsworth. Not sure it's something I'd miss.... or is it...?

I suspect my use of an iPad would be more like Beefy's, and I incline against the SIM version. I'm considering getting something like one of these https://www.vodafone.co.uk/shop/tabl...-mobile-wi-fi/ so that I can go equipped with my own personal WiFi network - which would avail me whether I had my iPad (for instance) with me, or on longer trips, my MacBook Pro. I'm fed up of being dependent on others' Wifi networks, whether it's at people's houses in remote places with feeble Wifi, or on the move (I needed to connect at a leading motorway services last year - their entire system was non functioning, and the ghastly 'Travel Tavern' or whatever the motel was on-site would only allow their code-protected Wifi to be used by guests... I ran around for about half an hour trying to connect, at what is supposed to be a modern transport 'hub' - without success)

[teamsaint]

You don't put it on the fence, you donut!!

Its not ******** funny.

[Beef Oven!]

Thanks for the various views and suggestions, to combat my ignorance in this area.

Interesting detail about the GPS, stunsworth. Not sure it's something I'd miss.... or is it...?

I suspect my use of an iPad would be more like Beefy's, and I incline against the SIM version. I'm considering getting something like one of these https://www.vodafone.co.uk/shop/tabl...-mobile-wi-fi/ so that I can go equipped with my own personal WiFi network - which would avail me whether I had my iPad (for instance) with me, or on longer trips, my MacBook Pro. I'm fed up of being dependent on others' Wifi networks, whether it's at people's houses in remote places with feeble Wifi, or on the move (I needed to connect at a leading motorway services last year - their entire system was non functioning, and the ghastly 'Travel Tavern' or whatever the motel was on-site would only allow their code-protected Wifi to be used by guests... I ran around for about half an hour trying to connect, at what is supposed to be a modern transport 'hub' - without success)

Oh yes, I forgot about those.

I had a Vodaphone dongle about 10 years ago. £15 pm for 4g. I used it for about 4 years.

From my experience I would say it works in exactly the way you are hoping for. It really gives independence. There is only one drawback. You are hostage to signal strength. There was one place, a sports centre where my friend and I would take it in turns to drive our children there every Friday night to do various sports. 3 hours I'd have to be there and there was a very weak Vodaphone signal and the internet was therefore extremely slow, so slow that it was effectively unusable. I read some books instead.

I used it everywhere, including at work for personal things that my employer need not know about.

Based on my experience, I would recommend it with the one caveat.

I cannot for the life of me remember why I gave it up!!!

[Anastasius]

Caliban, the other thing about wi-fi services out 'on the road' is that it is so easy for the provider to put a piggyback sniffer onto the connection and so read everything you are sending/getting in clear (unless it's an encrypted site, of course). It's possible that you won't be using it for anything confidential but good to be forewarned. The dongle you suggest at least eliminates that.

I did venture into iPad territory a few years back when we were going on a longish trip driving around Japan. I needed something that would (a) act as a backup for the photos and (b) gateway to upload them to the cloud and (c) give me internet access. I bought a good secondhand one, managed to get it working with the Sony camera (no mean feat, I can tell you) and so good to go. That was in the January and we were off in May.

Day comes to start packing....now just where is that iPad? Finally found it buried underneath a pile of stuff. Not used since the January. I sold it on our return. It worked well thought in Japan for its intended purpose.

[Dave2002]

Re various dongly things, we have one vodafone and one 3. These can sometimes be bought at low prices (thus "saving" some of the £100 that beefy is whinging on about ... I also have a few plug in USB ones from an earlier period when it was essential that I had some sort of connectivity - though they won't work with iPads of course. Mostly I use the 3 one if I need to, by buying a 3 month/3gig card for slightly more than £20. That has worked well mostly, including one or two very difficult locations on holiday where the dongle had to be placed in a car, to get a signal, and the car had to be close enough to the cotttage to get wifi. That was despite having a sim card in an iPad. However, the saving on mortgage and purchase costs of a house more than offset the outlay, or even the disputed £100, even if in the particular location the sim enabled iPad was problematic. The battery life on the dongles is almost certainly a lot less than the iPads - we were lucky to get 3 hours, and we felt we needed continuous coverage and continuous up time.

Re Clouds e.g iCloud - I still largely avoid such things. Also, some trains, e.g East Coast and some Scottish ones don't have good reliable wifi. The 3/4G isn't too reliable either, but having both may give somehwat better access. Streaming may be expensive or impossible in some situations - particularly trains.

Beefy is right about knowing what you might want to use them for. You can use the GPS and maps without a sim in a GPS enabled model, though the standard maps do need a wifi or a 3/4G connection. There are some apps which do maps of several countries which don't need the links, and which work with the GPS, and I have verified the top speed of HS125 trains using those. The trains do get up to almost 125 mph.

[Beef Oven!]

Re various dongly things, we have one vodafone and one 3. These can sometimes be bought at low prices (thus "saving" some of the £100 that beefy is whinging on about ...

I'm not whinging Dave2002. I'm telling you that your advice is all theoretical, reads like a hastily written What Kettle? article, and would, in terms of a real example, have put me out of pocket by £100 for the hardware and about £15 per month for the network, over the last 3 years.

Plus, you've given no indication of the type of anorak we should wear on that London bus, or when we are confirming the speed of trains.

[Nick Armstrong]

The battery life on the dongles is almost certainly a lot less than the iPads - we were lucky to get 3 hours, and we felt we needed continuous coverage and continuous up time.

This is a very relevant factor. The constant need to recharge is the bane of all this mobile connectivity. Even with my relatively simple set up, going away always requires a bag of 'spaghetti' - the twisted mass of recharging wires needed for this, that and the other It's a huge plus for my sweet old zero data Sony Ericsson phone.

Anything with less than a day's battery life is instantly low down my list - are you serious that the 'dongles', as well as their ridiculous name, expire after 3 hours' use?

I have verified the top speed of HS125 trains using those. The trains do get up to almost 125 mph.

The miles must have simply flown by for your travelling companions...

[Dave2002]

Anything with less than a day's battery life is instantly low down my list - are you serious that the 'dongles', as well as their ridiculous name, expire after 3 hours' use?

Pretty much, yes, though it might depend a bit on the strength of the network signal in the area. The dongles have to both pick up off the phone network, and also put out a wifi signal. Maybe some more expensive dongly things will last longer.

They can be run off an adapter, but that didn't work for us in the most extreme case - very poor phone network signal, plus access to wifi inside the cottage. If you use a laptop, then the dongles can usually be linked by a cable, which powers them, and also gets the signals from the phone network. On some trains that works OK, as it's possible to use a power socket to power the laptop. In the worst cases - battery only - the batteries may run down in about 3 hours, and also need a similar time to charge up.

[Beef Oven!]

Anything with less than a day's battery life is instantly low down my list - are you serious that the 'dongles', as well as their ridiculous name, expire after 3 hours' use?

The dongle I had was a USB plug in and did not need to be charged, so no battery issues!

It was the same shape as an Italian sponge finger, just over half the length and 2/3 the width.

[Nick Armstrong]

The dongle I had was a USB plug in and did not need to be charged, so no battery issues!

It was the same shape as an Italian sponge finger, just over half the length and 2/3 the width.

Or perhaps the dimensions of a slightly elongated Bourbon biscuit?



Serious point about the plug-in/no-battery advantage.

It's enormously helpful for music on the go that there's a dedicated / built in iPod connector/charger in the armrest of my car, so the iPod can be in there, out of sight and constantly fully charged

[Beef Oven!]

Or perhaps the dimensions of a slightly elongated Boubon biscuit?



Serious point about the plug-in/no-battery advantage.

It's enormously helpful for music on the go that there's a dedicated / built in iPod connector/charger in the armrest of my car, so the iPod can be in there, out of sight and constantly fully charged

Dimensions yes, but it was more rounded than that!

Probably like your car, I have two USB sockets, 3.5mm input, a cigar-lighter and Bluetooth. I used to do that too with my iPod, but I find the iPhone/Bluetooth with access to Apple Music is better for me. I don't know if there is a Teasmade adaptor for your iPod, Dave'll know and will probably tell us it doesn't work with Earl Grey!

[Beef Oven!]

Or perhaps the dimensions of a slightly elongated Boubon biscuit?



Serious point about the plug-in/no-battery advantage.

It's enormously helpful for music on the go that there's a dedicated / built in iPod connector/charger in the armrest of my car, so the iPod can be in there, out of sight and constantly fully charged

Dimensions yes, but it was more rounded than that!

Probably like your car, I have two USB sockets, 3.5mm input, a cigar-lighter and Bluetooth. I used to do that too with my iPod, but I find the iPhone/Bluetooth with access to Apple Music is better for me. I don't know if there is a Teasmade adaptor for your iPod - Dave'll know and will probably tell us it doesn't work with Earl Grey!

[Nick Armstrong]

Dimensions yes, but it was more rounded than that!

Probably like your car, I have two USB sockets, 3.5mm input, a cigar-lighter and Bluetooth. I used to do that too with my iPod, but I find the iPhone/Bluetooth with access to Apple Music is better for me. I don't know if there is a Teasmade adaptor for your iPod - Dave'll know and will probably tell us it doesn't work with Earl Grey!