Cozi does the shared calendar thing pretty well, and can import data from Google.

P-C,

I have a Verizon ipad and I have to pay for the data monthly. sometimes I don't pay for data, but here lately I have been paying every month. Note: the benefit of getting a Verizon ipad (I am not sure if this is still true) is that you can use the hotspot feature of the ipad without additional fees. I think AT&T charges an additional fee, but I am not certain.

Anyway, if you aren't on wifi and want to get online, you need data. It is like a phone in that regard. Kindle has a relationship with Sprint I think, so included in the kindle is some limited data usage. The ipad does not operate that way.

You are right that she may not need GPS features in the ipad. I know that for some people the GPS functions really matter to them in an ipad. I'm not one of those people.

My Calendar problems include I try and search and it just hangs forever, and when I create a new calendar item it will very often - maybe 30% of the time - say "item not saved" after I click save (and it's telling the truth, because the item is not on my calendar.) A page refresh will usually resolve this, but it's annoying, and if I am distracted I might not notice that it didn't save (which is BAD).

I do use a browser scriptblocker, But I have allowed all the scripts that seem relevant to Calendar, and the intermittancy of this doesn't seem to imply the blocker is a problem.

Also, heh, I knew one of the founders of Cozi in high school.

Note: the benefit of getting a Verizon ipad (I am not sure if this is still true) is that you can use the hotspot feature of the ipad without additional fees. I think AT&T charges an additional fee, but I am not certain.

Interesting. It's $20 more.

Anyway, if you aren't on wifi and want to get online, you need data. It is like a phone in that regard.

That's what I thought. So having a data-capable iPad and not paying for the data is...kind of pointless? She's not going to pay for monthly data.

Of course, all of Apple's refurbished iPads have data. They have a refurbished 32GB WiFi with AT&T for $499.99, $80 cheaper than the new one from Amazon. And refurbished Apple stuff is pretty good, I hear?

Google Calendar is almost completely non-functional on my work machine, but that's because we're bound to an obsolete version of IE with all sorts of scripts blocked.

flea,

I enter most of my google calendar entries not from the browser window but from Quickcal (for a mac) or on apps on my phone.

do you think it is a browser problem? perhaps you can use an app for entry?

P-C,

the way I think of it is: where will your sister be using the tablet mostly? If it is Wi-fi enabled areas, then I think a WiFi ipad is fine and suitable. I use mine quite a bit outside of wifi enabled areas (or I periodically go through spurts where I do so). There was a point where I was only using the ipad at home and work and I didn't need data.

monthly you pay for data and you can cancel at any time. so it isn't like a phone in that regard.

refurb apple is where I go to first. they all come with warranties.

Hmm, maybe it is the scriptblocker. I don't have a smartphone and am either on my netbook using current Firefox (with the blocker) or (a lot less often) at work on Chrome.

I'd say disable the scriptblocker for debugging and go from there. You can always enable it later.