Google’s info on the “Samsung Google Nexus 10 16GB WiFi (Unlocked)” didn’t help me, but when I pursued it from the Samsung angle, I think I figured it out. Samsung makes models for the international market that include a GSM data connection (International version of Tab 2 7.0: http://www.samsung.com/latin_en/consumer/mobile-devices/tablets/galaxy-tab/GT-P3100ZWMTTT). They’re available in the US, of course, though I’d never heard of them before. That explains the anomalously high prices, such as the Nexus you linked to, at about $100 more than MSRP for the US model. I didn’t track down info on the 10″ Nexus you linked to, but I’m sure it’s analogous to a Samsung Galaxy 10″.

I never thought to wonder if there were international versions of the tablets with built-in data connections. I’ve learned something new today.

More on GSM: StraightTalk, it turns out, resells network access from AT&T and T-Mobile. AT&T’s GSM network looks like it has broad coverage, but a patchwork of speeds. You can get to a coverage map through this page: http://www.att.com/network/ . Overall this is better than I thought originally. Turns out that there have been several revisions to GSM to squeeze more speed out of it, and if your location supports “UMTS(3GSM)”, the speeds are going to be as good as 3G and possibly even 4G. Flip side: Some parts of the country have only 2G speeds using GSM.

I didn’t know that AT&T offered both the domestic-US CDMA as well as the international GSM standards in the US. In terms of capabilities, that makes straighttalk look not as backward as I thought. Sorry to have gone astray.

The wider availability of GSM in the US makes your strategy of trying it out for a month and switching if you’re unhappy, more viable than I thought. You could use whatever device you get on AT&T and T-Mobile, as well as the little carriers that resell their service.

Second, I had exactly the same problem with the double and triple talk from the Straighttalk people. If I hadn’t been used to some of the folks around here I would have broken down in tears.

So, I went to the reviews. Which I tend to rely upon quite a bit. I realize they can be skewed, but with enough of them one can get a sense of what’s going on.

The reviews are pretty good. I haven’t read one about slow, and they won’t accept a phone which isn’t GSM enabled, two specific frequencies, a low one and a high one.

I suppose one could get the unlocked phone from some other source, sign up for a month, and if it was a disaster get another simm and go with one of the conventional companies and rely upon wifi for data.

And I’d be interested in what you think “unlocked” means on that tablet.

First I visited their Web site, and tried to make sense of their FAQ and terms and conditions. I got a strong sense that the difficulty pinning down their terms is deliberate. Two things I’m pretty sure of:

Their “unlimited” data plan is limited. In the terms they don’t specify a quantity of data, but paragraphs 6 and 7 go on and on about what you can and can’t do with their service, with disconnection the threatened penalty; and there’s a clause that lets them disconnect or cripple your service if you “abuse” it; “abuse” defined at their sole discretion.

It looks like their system runs the old GSM cell phone standard, aka “2G”. Here too they went out of their way to be deceptive: The FAQ mentions GSM in passing, but also contains a gratuitous definition of 3G without ever saying they offer 3G. It’s only in a footnote (!) that they clearly state the service works only with GSM phones.

As for reviews, with so many things google, it’s all in how you phrase the question. Try googling “straighttalk complaints” and even “straighttalk scam” (note that Google offered up those as common searches–lots of people search for straighttalk that way).

As I said up front, the material was confusing and it’s hard to pin down anything for certain about those guys; I may be wrong. But to me, the obfuscation in itself is a red flag. I’d be nervous about straighttalk, bowser. I hope you’ll investigate further on your own.

I wish I could recommend a real unlimited data plan, but no such thing exists as far as I know. I’m pretty sure that even if you pay a premium price above $100, the fine print will still find a way to transform “unlimited” into “limited”.

Sux.

That kind of plan is all that would make something like Galaxy Note feasible.

I wish they had connections for outside antennae.

Watch out for those data plans. It’s rare to see such a blatant Big Lie: “unlimited” means “limited”. “unlimited” is a flat-out lie. Period.

Typically, the actual limit is two gigabytes, at which point they throttle back your connection speed. A lot. So much as to make it unusable for anything other than simple text email. The fact that the data can still trickle in and out like molasses keeps them from getting busted for false advertising, but only on the slimmest of technicalities. People less morally-challenged than lawyers understand that they’re simply lying when they say “unlimited”.

But other than that…

I have a couple of questions into Straighttalk, but I suspect I’ll go with the Galaxy Note II and them.

So far, the term “tablet” seems to be reserved for devices without voice cell capability. It’s an artificial distinction, of course, because you can install Skype or lots of other Internet phone services on a tablet. I use Skype for video calling on my 7″ tablet, and it seems perfectly natural to carry around this thing with somebody’s face on it talking to me, and even to answer.

It’s an annoying conundrum because voice cell service has been obsolete for years, and we’re only forced to use it because it’s profitable for the phone companies (both of them…we’re almost back to a monopoly now, just AT&T and Verizon controlling almost all of it). Nobody makes the cell phone I want: Basic voice, voicemail, and text…and a 4G wi-fi hot spot for when I want to fire up my tablet and do the fancy stuff. I’d have basic communications I could carry around in my pocket at all times, plus the power of the tablet when I want it. But something like that would reduce revenue for the phone companies, so I’m not holding my breath.

I think I saw the Samsung Galaxy III phone had book abilities, I may go with that and a StraightTalk unlimited plan. It looks a bit slow, but at least it’s truly unlimited.

That series predates “Damnation Alley” by a year.

The title vehicle was a fiberglas body on a garbage truck chassis.

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