Suggestions for MIL with flip phone and no wi-fi

[blackdogdeek]

Mother-in-law lives in FL and we live in NJ. She has a dumb phone with no data plan and no wi-fi but we constantly want to show her pictures and videos of her grandkids. We are all on a TMO family plan but I'm the only one with a data plan.

What is the best way to get her on the intertubes?

iPad w/ cellular?
Mifi + Nexus 7?
some other ideas?

Is there any kind of pre-paid data plan in which she could enroll? I doubt she'll even come close to using 1Gb of data per month.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[poofyhairguy]

What is the budget? A T-Mobile LTE iPad seems like the obvious answer.

 

[blackdogdeek]

What is the budget? A T-Mobile LTE iPad seems like the obvious answer.

The budget would have to be as cheap as possible because the device will probably only be used a few times a month at most. If there were a one-time cost for a device and then some kind of pay-as-you-go data plan wherein she could pay for only the data she consumed that would be ideal. So, something like $200 for a device but then pay-as-you-go would be better than $0 down for a device and $25 per month flat fee.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Well you get 250mb free a month from T-Mobile, more is just $10 a month if you add her to your plan:

http://www.t-mobile.com/landing/free-mobile-internet-data.html

So that seems like the best deal, let her chill with 250 a month. At that point you just need the most In-law friendly tablet, which is an iPad.

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-phone/Apple-iPad-mini-Space-Gray-Prepaid-16GB

 

[NutBucket]

You would just want to make sure to disable all the auto update stuff since that will eat most of that 250MB.

 

[blackdogdeek]

Awesome! Thanks, poofyhairguy!

 

[blackdogdeek]

You would just want to make sure to disable all the auto update stuff since that will eat most of that 250MB.

Good point. I will probably have to set up the device for her and then have my wife bring it with her on her next visit to FL.

Thanks!

 

[KeithP]

If she can get broadband at her place for a cost that would be in your budget, maybe a Flickr/Youtube account (or something similar) and an AppleTV or Roku hooked up to her TV would be a good way to go. Nice big screen which makes it ideal to share with her friends.

With a Roku she may not even need an internet connection. It might be possible to set it up at your place and then just mail a thumb drive back and forth to load videos and pictures.

Does she get out of her house much? A tablet and free wifi at a library, McDs, or a friend's house would do the trick.

Of course, with an Android tablet, you wouldn't need wifi at all as long as it had an SD slot. You could simply send her an SD card with the stuff on it. Of course, she would have to send it back for you to add items and eventually it would fill up requiring another SD card (if she wants to keep all the photos/videos you send her).

Heck, a tablet might not be necessary depending on her skill level, a simple photo frame that plays pictures and videos would work.

Another tip, if she has friends find out if they have a computer or tablet, etc. Not to use their stuff but they could be a source of local tech support/help if you set her up with something similar.

-KeithP

 

[blackdogdeek]

We've actually tried the digital frame with a mailed SD card with new content but that proved too difficult for her.

I realize a tablet is possibly even more difficult but hopefully if my wife can train her on her next visit this will be a more viable solution.

 

[Thegonagle]

We've actually tried the digital frame with a mailed SD card with new content but that proved too difficult for her.

I realize a tablet is possibly even more difficult but hopefully if my wife can train her on her next visit this will be a more viable solution.

A T-Mobile iPad sounds pretty good. That's what I'd get my own grandmother if she were alive today.

If she's set up with email and a decently-privatized facebook account, she should be able to see most anything you and the family would want to share, no physical media required.

 

[blackdogdeek]

A T-Mobile iPad sounds pretty good. That's what I'd get my own grandmother if she were alive today.

If she's set up with email and a decently-privatized facebook account, she should be able to see most anything you and the family would want to share, no physical media required.

Yes, this is the idea I'm shooting for as MIL is seventy-something years old so it has to be as easy as possible to use. I would probably set up a Facebook account for her and just have the iPad start up into the Facebook app as a default. This way she can just scroll up and down in her feed and see all the updates from family members around the world (she has family in NYC-area and LDN-area).