Tablets

Are you saying you want to use the internet (email/skype) to keep in touch with your family????? If so, you don't need to import an unlocked tablet from overseas. There are lots of off the shelf wi-fi models in the US that connect to the internet instead of pricey data networks. Most hotels and fast-food chains provide wi-fi for free. Head to your nearest Best Buy or check out Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/ascoyw8

If the Nexus you want is not sold in the US, where does it cost $300? In any event, Michael is right. There are any number of other options if all you want to do is use the internet. Even an iPod Touch can handle email. If you shop around a bit more, I'm sure you can find somethihg comparable to the Nexus without having to go through gyrations to get it from overseas. Another point, if you buy from overseas, the charger will have a European plug.

First I would like to say, Thank you for responding to my question. It is very kind of you. Secondly, you should know that I am completely....un-savvy when it comes to tablets, phones, etc. So yes, I would like to keep in touch with the family Stateside when I am overseas. I know a bit about finding wifi at restaurants and hostels. But I frequently travel out of cities and into small villages so I thought the 3 G plan would keep me better connected. Am I wrong about that? I also want to keep my costs down. By having an unlocked tablet I thought I could just pop in a local prepaid sim card at each new country I visited. Which begs the question, does the 3 G unit automatically get charged money just by me looking at emails, searching the web, or watching a movie?
And if the 3 G unit does get charged for that, then the wifi only unit would be cheaper. So the question remains, would the 3 G device offer me better connectivity at a reasonable cost? Right from the nexus website. "But we also wanted to make this highly portable tablet even more mobile. So we added HSPA+ mobile data. Nexus 7 is now also available with 32GB and HSPA+ mobile ($299), which can operate on more than 200 GSM providers worldwide, including AT&T and T-Mobile in the US." Thank you in advance for your assistance. John

From your description, I would say that the price you saw is dependent on getting a data plan with one of the phone carriers they mention. They won't unlock it, since it would be for a new plan. With phones, you usually have to have the phone for a set period of time before they will unlock it. Unfortunately, the terms "3G" and "reasonable cost" do not go together while abroad. IF you had an unlocked unit and could use a local SIM you could purchase a data SIM once you arrived. But using 3G on a plan can be horribly expensive while abroad. Yes, every time you connect to the internet, you would be charged for data use. The only way to go cheaper is to use wifi. You can find wifi virtually anywhere nowadays - restaurants, parks, public areas, hotels and hostels - even in small towns. You aren't going to be constantly connected, but close enough. "So the question remains, would the 3 G device offer me better connectivity at a reasonable cost?"
Better connectivity, yes. Reasonable cost, no.

John, the Nexus 7 with the possibility of connecting over a cellular link as well as wifi is sold in the U.S. I've just ordered one so I'm not sure what you mean. Check the google play website for devices and try again. Google Play Nexus 7 with HSPA Connection. Sorry, the links aren't working right. You'll have to copy and paste this into your browser address bar (or just do a search). https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_7_32gb_hspa_att You can use the tablet over wifi and won't incur any extra costs, assuming that you aren't being charged for the wifi connection. The attractive thing about this table, however, is that AT&T does offer a fairly low cost way to connect over its network and also offers fairly low cost international prepaid data plans that would use cell networks overseas. The amount of data you can use is not great (120, 300, 800 MB) but it is a much better deal than the U.S. companies used to offer and still charge for those without a plan. Check out DataConnect Pass. Sorry, the links aren't working right. You'll have to copy and paste this into your browser address bar (or just do a search for the plan). https://buyasession.att.com/sbd/Common/ShopRatePlans.action I have found it much easier to get connected using a phone-based connection rather than hunt for a wifi connection. I have used a connection through a prepaid SIM from T-Mobile U.K. and it was so convenient and cost-effective on my last two trips that I really didn't bother with wifi when away from where I was staying. Because AT&T now offers a decent deal, I may use them on my next trip.

I believe when the Nexus 7 32GB cellular device was announced, it was to be unlocked, but I see on the Google Play web site it comes with AT&T service. I don't know if that means it's locked to AT&T, or whether it's unlocked but just comes with an AT&T SIM card. In any event, I recently got a Nexus 7 WiFi only, and plan to use it for a 6 week trip to France in the Spring. From past experience with laptops, WiFi is not that hard to find, even in the countryside. Many cafes and bars have it, as well as hotels, McDonald's, etc. You might want to consider a WiFi only Nexus for $200, plus a cheap unlocked cellphone.

Thank you all very much.

I'm not sure what you are talking about. The Nexus 7 32GB unlocked 3G tablet is available here: https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_7_32gb_hspa_att Note that it ships unlocked, but with an AT&T sim card to try and hook you on their service. You can just ignore that sim card and drop in one of your choice instead. Or not use the 3G. Or just use wifi. Or not. Your choice.

I'm an Apple fan, so I suggest the iPad-mini with cellular capability. It costs a bit more but you get Apple quality and all the apps. It is unlocked, so wherever you go in Europe you can get data. But it depends upon where you go. Data is cheap in Italy and dirt cheap in the UK. More expensive elsewhere. Wifi is free, of course. I have the iPad which I loved in the UK last year. Wife now has the mini which I covet.

I carried my 17" laptop on my trip to Italy last Easter. In a backpack, it just about broke my back. No more. Next trip, I'll take my daughter's notebook set to WIFI. We had a GSM cell phone with us, and I found the instructions online how to unlock the AT&T security code. We didn't use the phone, however. Being away from the telephone really was nice. Had "the children" been able to talk to us multiple times per day, it really wouldn't have been much of a vacation. Sometimes, silence really is golden.
And they didn't suffer sending me e-mails. Only thing was that I'd answer them at 6 hours apart from their normal hours.

On a recent trip with several other people to Germany, Austria and Italy there was a wide range of tablet brands in use. Everything from ipads to Kindles. We all used either the free wifi available, or if free was not available just paid for whatever time we wanted. Not that much in the grand scheme of the trip. Nobody in the group used broadband sim cards. I used a Samsung 7-inch Android tablet instead of my usual netbook, and it was great, especially the free texting app (Heywire).