I have a Ipad 1 3G and the free app "Nav free USA" the maps are downloaded to the Ipad when you install it. I have never turned on my 3G but the GPS works fine anyway even if I am not in a wifi area.
--- In iPad@yahoogroups.com, April Duritza <april.duritza@...> wrote:
>
> Helene,
> The problem does not exactly lie with the iPad (IF you have a 3G iPad), but rather it depends on the app which you are using. Most of the free or very low cost apps depend on having a cell phone signal to download maps as you travel. The Tom Tom app (made for iPhone, but will run on iPad as well), is more expensive, but it is the only one that I know of that automatically stores all the maps on your device. If you are using that app, then you only have to get a GPS signal from the GPS satellites in order to find your location - although if there are cellular or wifi signals available, it will use those as well, to speed up the process.
>
> Some of the other apps do allow you to select certain areas to download ahead of time, if you like. I haven't bought Tom Tom yet - though I am planning on it. I use Gaia GPS, because it has a lot of trail and hiking tools as well as access to road maps, and when we will be in the mountains, where there is spotty cellular service, I make sure to download maps of the area ahead of time.
>
> If you have the maps stored on your device, then it will function as well as, or better than, a dedicated GPS.
>
> April
