Skype vs Face time

Yorkie1

I have family abroad who I'd like to stay in closer contact with.

I only have a laptop; they have iPhones / iPads mainly.

I've used Face time once to communicate with them, when my mum came to stay with her iPad. Thought it was quite good. Haven't tried out Skype.

Is Face time significantly better than Skype? I don't have very fast broadband and can't decide whether it would be a good idea to splash out (a lot) on an iPad 2, or whether Skype is available to them on iPads and is of adequate quality.

wiogs

Skype is available to them and is fine to use.

buglawton

I tried Skype video for a moment when I could not find how to start a FT session on my phone. DW was 8000 miles away. Barely usable on the iPhone 4, not sharp enough to show the paper docs she wanted to look at and juddery. Switched to FT in the iPad 2. Revelation! Pin sharp smooth video and booming hifi audio. Perhaps others can also chime in with their findings. Have to say, only use Skype Out for occasional phone calls nowadays. FT might just be a bit of a 'killer app' for Apple, no doubt it is written to exploit Apple hardware best.

Skype is free to install and free to use on broadband though, nowt to lose by trying it.

Anne_Marie_2

I use both practically daily to contact family back in the UK.
No matter what, at some point or other, you will get poor quality calls/video with both, it's just a case then of hanging up and trying again. There is no doubt in my mind that FT is far better than Skype, video is much better on the whole, and rarely have any problems with video, although it does happen from time to time.

If I were you, I would download Skype though and give it a try out. You have absolutely nothing to lose, and it is a much cheaper alternative than splashing out on an ipad, that you otherwise don't need. I certainly wouldn't expect my family to be splashing out, which is why I use both.

As an aside, because I live abroad, and found out that some of the family were paying a fortune to phone me (some don't like using Skype and also don't have their computers on all the time), I got a UK tel number through Skype, and also a subscription for free calls to UK landlines. Cost me about £60 per year for both. It's been a total win win situation, at very little cost to me, and means that family who get free calls to UK landlines, can call me with no worry of expensive phone bills.