iPad mini iPad mini LTE + BlackBerry

[dingdongbubble]

So I have a Nexus 7 and I'm suffering from buyers remorse big time. I got it on the iPad mini reveal day because I was unimpressed by the lack of retina display and the quad core on the N7 made me think it would be faster. Boy was I wrong it lags like crazy and is a pain to use. I got an iPhone 5 and while I'm impressed by the speed and consumption features, the mediocre keyboard and average battery life (very low compared with old BlackBerrys) has put me off of it.

So now I am thinking how about going back to my old BlackBerry and using it as a reliable *phone* that does basic things like texting, calling, email and quick basic Google Maps very well and I wouldnt have to worry about battery life. And on top of that I could get an LTE iPad mini and for $35 per month get 5GB data with Fido for it. For Facebook, Twitter, web browsing, movies, reading, etc I could use the iPad mini even though I am in wifi 90% of the time.

I talk for several hours with my friends in the evenings and since it is non critical talk I dont mind a little inconvenience. So I am thinking how about using the iPad mini as a secondary phone? With iOS 7 there will audio only FaceTime and there Skype too so I could use a Bluetooth headset to chat away in the evenings and since it will be in a wifi zone it should be good. Now my question is will this setup work? What real world problems can you think of? Will the Bluetooth be able to use Siri? Will Siri be able to call specific people through voice FaceTime?

 

[dingdongbubble]

Anyone?

Also how is the iPad mini in pitch dark? I use my tablet and phone a lot when in bed at night so I would like the brightness to be able to go very low so that it doesnt hurt my eyes.

 

[Mattstkc]

Anyone?

Also how is the iPad mini in pitch dark? I use my tablet and phone a lot when in bed at night so I would like the brightness to be able to go very low so that it doesnt hurt my eyes.

Don't have the mini but my iPhone and iPad (2) are great in low light. Concerned by what you said about Nexus 7 because I'm looking to switch over. I'm waiting to see the next gen of Nexus 7 and iPad before making the switch, but 7 or 8 in form factor would be ideal for me, as I'm on the go but need a big enough screen for my clients to read and sign documents on.

Is Nexus 7 brightness not that adjustable?

 

[dingdongbubble]

No the Nexus 7's lowest brightness is quite painful in pitch dark. However there's this app called Screenfilter that sort of paints your screen so you can get a dimmer screen. It works well actually. I found the iPhone 5 to be fine in dark especially if I invert colours in the Accessibility options. I've set it to triple click too so its quickly accessed too.

Personally I don't trust android anymore. I thought the quad core and vanilla android would make sure that performance is at least decent in the long run. I downgraded to android 4.1 so its better performance wise but certainly for what you tell me I would not go android. The iPad mini looks quite spacious too compared with the Nexus 7. It would also be awkward making your customers wait while your tablet tries to keep up.