All iPads: 4G iPad Mini + dumbphone >>>>> PC + iPhone?

[Jzo]

Paying for data is paying for data.

The only alternate I'd consider is ipad (retina or mini) wifi only, and a dumb phone...

[Breaking Good]

Originally Posted by Essenar

Dude! This is totally workable. Let me explain my iPad Mini experience:
I got the iPad Mini 16GB 4G AT&T model.
So I set up Google Voice, downloaded Talkatone to my iPad Mini, set up call forwarding to Google talk. Now I can dial out and receive calls for free with my iPod Touch/iPad/etc.

I went to Wal-Mart with an old T-Mobile Android phone (you can sell later) and set up Wal-Mart's T-Mobile $30 exclusive plan:
100 minutes
Unlimited Texting
Unlimited Data (5GB at 4G speeds)

Then I went to a T-Mobile store and had them cut my sim to a nano sim, popped it in, done deal.

iPad's are factory unlocked and a lot of networks are set up to use T-Mobile's new farmed 4G band. Check your area because all of San Diego has been refarmed. Even if you're stuck with AT&T you can set up Straight Talk which uses AT&T bands and has a better deal on data.

The bluetooth keyboard is a good idea but you can also pick up an Apple Wireless keyboard on Craig's List which gives you more of the MacBook look. Don't forget to jailbreak.

Essenar - under this setup, do you even use the minutes, or is everything going VoIP? What about texting? Are you using SMS, or are you send it through another IM service?

[Essenar]

Originally Posted by Breaking Good

Essenar - under this setup, do you even use the minutes, or is everything going VoIP? What about texting? Are you using SMS, or are you send it through another IM service?

I don't use the minutes or the texting. Purely data. Unless there's a way to set up your SMS on the iPad after jailbreaking, which I am unaware of.

I'm strictly VOIP route. Talkatone lets you call AND receive through Gmail and Google Voice gives you texting. You can still use iMessage or Kakao for pic messages.

It's not a bad set up at all.

[Breaking Good]

Originally Posted by Essenar

I don't use the minutes or the texting. Purely data. Unless there's a way to set up your SMS on the iPad after jailbreaking, which I am unaware of.

I'm strictly VOIP route. Talkatone lets you call AND receive through Gmail and Google Voice gives you texting. You can still use iMessage or Kakao for pic messages.

It's not a bad set up at all.

This seems like a great way to go, but is it necessary to jailbreak in order to do it? Thanks.

[Essenar]

Originally Posted by Breaking Good

This seems like a great way to go, but is it necessary to jailbreak in order to do it? Thanks.

Nope. Talkatone doesn't require jail break. You can do 100% of the things I listed without a jailbreak. (The jailbreak just makes your device super awesome)