If I buy an iPad in the US will it work in the UK?

[Angelsus]

Off to America in 4 weeks time and the price there is much more appealing that over here but will it work when I get home?

the wifi will but not the Wi-Fi + 3G

i might be wrong though

Dh bought me an iPod touch in NY and it works fine here. The same but bigger....?

EldonAve - what does that mean exactly (thick emoticon)

the 3G version means you can buy a data plan so you can access the internet on the move (like a mobile phone)

the basic wifi ones you can use with any wifi network that will allow you access

ok that makes sense, thanks!

Are you after one with 3G (mobile phone network) enabled ?

If not, then you should be OK, I'd expect. However, it may be best to look online for some of the UK computer magazine sites and see if they have reviewed the iPad, as they may well know what differences there are (or use their contacts, perhaps sister US magazines) to compare.

Obviously - high on the list - try MacUser (and does MacWorld magazine still exist?)

On the mobile aspect (3G) - the US uses different frequency bands, and transmissions, and an iPad with 3G may be locked to a US mobile network.

Obviously you'll need to disable 3G if you planned to use the iPad while on the flight home.

The US iPad does not appear to be locked to any particular carrier and it will work on the UK 3G network.

However it does take a different size of SIM card to those that are issued by UK phone networks. So you have to be a bit brave and card a UK card down to fit. The plastic on a SIM card is pretty much pointless so it's quite possible to do this if you're careful.

You can get instructions here:
www.johnbenson.net/How_to_Convert_a_SIM_to_a_MicroSIM_with_a_Meat_Cleaver/How_to_Convert_a_SIM_to_a_ MicroSIMwithaMeatCleaver.html

Thanks for all your replies!

Badger Paws - thanks for the link, that looks like a good option. Can I be really thick now and ask if that is just a normal phone sim card?

hehe
dh off THIS WEEK to get me mine

have to wait till July

Would he like to get me one too, Su?

[hopeful]

And me?

"Can I be really thick now and ask if that is just a normal phone sim card?"

Yes, the "larger" SIMs in the photos are the typical size in UK phones now (they used to be on a plastic card like a credit card size, with a slot the width and most of the length of the phone, before they changed them down to the present size).

Looking at the photos, I think the phrase to remember at all times is "Remember, you can take more off, but you can?t put it back on."

"they used to be on a plastic card like a credit card size, with a slot the width and most of the length of the phone, before they changed them down to the present size"

that must have been a long time ago!

I remember the big cards in my dad's one2one mobile (take this in case of emergencies but for God's sake don't make any calls on it!!!)

Am I at the cutting edge of technology or an old gimmer?

The cards that you currently get with a new SIM on (and from which you bend it to release the SIM) used to go straight into the phone, I think. It was either the same card (but not pushing the SIM out) or something very similar. Don't have one to check though!

For a while I had one phone which took the bigger card (probably my first phone, on Orange, dating from 1996) and a tiny Nokia 8310 which uses the SIMs we use today in the UK. I think I had to keep the old sized card to fit the small SIM into to use it in the old Motorola phone.

I am actually on an iPad right now that camecwith DH from new York!!

It is vairy nice but a bit like an over grown iPhone!

People who put their cutlery round the wrong way shouldn't have posh gadets. You should send it to me immediately for your own safety

Two friends of mine were keen to get them.
I suspect far less keen until the cost comes down...

LOL Rockbird!! Where is your spork?!

One good thing I find about my ipad is that it is less easily dropped down the loo by accident than my iPhone is!!

RatherBeOnThePiste - please tell me what it's like? Is it worth £429? Dh said I could have one for my birthday (he is making up for not bothering for the last 10 years!), but I've read the reviews and can't make up my mind. It's so much money!

Dh has an ipod touch, but I find it too small and fiddly online.