3 G or WI FI tablet for use in hospital ,advice sought

[intexasatthe moment]

I want to buy a tablet to use in hospital and my brother has advised me to get 3G .

I'm not sure what 3G is and my technical experience is limited to a lap top and very basic pay as you go mobile phone .

I want to use the tablet for emails ,listening to music and a relaxation ( not music ) compilation which I currently have on a CD Rom . But could have sent to me by drop box .Apparently .

I imagine Wi fi will be available in hospital ( Guys and St Thomas's) won't it ? so wonder why 3G is necessary ?

And does one have to have a phone contract to use 3 G .

Any advice ? Very easy to understand please .

[KidKruger]

If you've guaranteed WiFi then you shouldn't need 3G in theory.

If the WiFi fails/is not available and you still want www connectivity you may want to consider 3G as a back-up - but that's where costs can be incurred.

[intexasatthe moment]

Thanks KK ( think you're the guy who gave me the advice on travelling between Guys and St Thomas enabling me to keep two appointments scheduled very close to eachother ) can you tell me if I need a phone contract ( or service provider contract if that's more accurate ) to use 3G ?

Anyone know about wi fi availabilty in hospital ? Is it common ?

[KidKruger]

I haven't got a tablet but do have a smart phone, which I have to pay for, for 3G access as well as the phone connection). So I think it's same for a tablet / any device you want to access internet outside of WiFi areas.

3G is not free.

[????]

I don't think that Hospitals offer free wi/fi per se but you can often get BT Openzone etc - but that doesn't always have much width?/speed. I wouldn't rely on this for decent, full use of a tablet at all.

3g just means your tablet has the technology to access any network providers service as long as you pay for that, i got an ipad with it and a couple of times that's been useful ie when i was without any wi/fi and wanted to check email etc but on the ipad it's an extra ?100 or so, wish i hadn't bothered to be honest. A normal monthly contract would be a waste for a few days in hospital, you can get PAYG deals in bundles ie 1 day, or 1 week etc. They are expensive and you soon hit your limit if you're doing anything beyond basic connection stuff i.e. downloading etc.

Ipad is brilliant with proper wi/fi not seen the value of it with 3g unless you don't care about the cost

[intexasatthe moment]

Mmm it's going to be more than a few days in hospital ,sort of the odd day a week over several months with a solid block of days in the middle .

And then more months of odd days .

Perhaps I should go for a phone contract ?

[ontheedge]

Hi definetly no free wifi at St Thomas,if you know anyone studying at Kings Collage they could put their password on your device and you could get wifi that way. I only have wifi and it's ok. You could download some tv from iplayer at home and watch it, same with music

Friend has 3G on her iPad and she only pays a few pounds a month payg, if it's just emails you won't use much

[Pickle]

I took my iPad to Kings when I was in for an extended stay. They have wifi that you pay a daily rate for (around ?7ish from memory) which I found fine for streaming tv etc. I imagine other hospitals will offer similar. It was a godsend to have with me, made it a lot more bearable.

[El Pibe]

Me too, though it was useless for downloading a film from itunes on.

I nipped home where it took me 25 minutes, but by the time I got back la piba was in full blown labour.

Bloody waste of money that was!!!