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Is iPad the right product in this situation?

R

Rains.

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 24, 2011
4
0
Hello guys,

My girlfriend is flying off to China in a few months and I am thinking to get her an iPad 2 so that we can communicate without the hefty charges. She also has an iPhone 4 while I have iPhone 3GS.

Things I wish to do:
- Send texts/messages to her iPhone
- Make video calls to her (with iPad?) when she's at home

However, I have a few concerns:
a) Is iMessage/FaceTime the best option?
b) 3G isn't available everywhere in China, needless to say about WiFi so she probably only has internet connection when at home.

Thanks for the help guys, cheers.
 
Op, in this situation, I would say an iPad 2 will do the job. If she's able to hook up to wifi, you're golden. That's also with you using a computer. I'm not sure how Skype is on the 3GS. But if an iPhone and iPad will be your main method of communicating, buy her the ipad 2, give her your 3GS, and she gives you the iPhone 4. Just my two cents.
 
perhaps should should take the 3GS because you can not FaceTime from a 3gs...
Perhaps you could get a new sim and she takes your phone.. u take hers.
That way you could iMessage and FaceTime
 
I second the Skype suggestion. Free (if you are calling another Skype) or ridiculously cheap if you call USA landline. On my recent West Caribbean cruise, I used my HTC Evo's Wifi to connect to ship's wifi (and port of call's wifi) to keep in touch. Certainly better than $7.99/minute that cruise line is charging to call USA. Facetime did not really work, but ship does have slow wifi.
 
I'll address the Skype thing. My husband travels a lot in Europe and the mid-east. I travel a lot in the US. We both have ipad2s. Many times even if both are on wifi FaceTime I choppy. If we use Skype we have better luck. One reason is that you can turn off the video on skype and go audio only. Yes, it's nice to have a video stream but sometimes the wifi connection doesn't allow it. Having an audio option is nice.

On 3G Skype is actually pretty good. We talked for 5 days for 20 - 40 mins a day (mostly audio only) and I used <200 mb.

I suppose your answer depends a lot on how much access she has to wifi. It may also depend on if the government blocks either Skype or FaceTime. You should check about this. She may need a VPN service in order to connect. I'm not familiar enough with China to help here. If connection is a issue you should get the VPN before she goes.
 
Also remember that China is using their own version of 3G which might be incompatible with your GF's iPhone
 
donnaw said:
I'll address the Skype thing. My husband travels a lot in Europe and the mid-east. I travel a lot in the US. We both have ipad2s. Many times even if both are on wifi FaceTime I choppy. If we use Skype we have better luck. One reason is that you can turn off the video on skype and go audio only. Yes, it's nice to have a video stream but sometimes the wifi connection doesn't allow it. Having an audio option is nice.

On 3G Skype is actually pretty good. We talked for 5 days for 20 - 40 mins a day (mostly audio only) and I used <200 mb.

I suppose your answer depends a lot on how much access she has to wifi. It may also depend on if the government blocks either Skype or FaceTime. You should check about this. She may need a VPN service in order to connect. I'm not familiar enough with China to help here. If connection is a issue you should get the VPN before she goes.
Click to expand...

You can turn on audio only on Facetime by pressing the lock button or putting it in the background. ;)
 
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