# Google Talk:  Does anyone use this?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-talk-does-anyone-use-this/465865>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 30, 2008, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-talk-does-anyone-use-this/465865 "2008-09-30T15:58:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-talk-does-anyone-use-this/465865/1 "2008-09-30T15:58:41Z")

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I’m thinking of signing up for GOOGLE TALK to do some file sharing, real-time instant messaging and maybe even some VOIP phone calls. Just wondering if anyone here uses it, and what you think about it. Thanks in advance for any info.

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**Author:** ![Erin1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a6a055/32.png) [@Erin1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erin1)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-talk-does-anyone-use-this/465865/2 "2008-10-01T00:52:50Z")

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I used it about a year ago, mainly to talk to my boyfriend who lived in another city. If you have a decent mic/headset combo and your internet connection isn’t terrible, the sound quality is fine. I hate the file transfer though, for 70 MB, it took over 2 hours. I loved the instant messaging. Its not as useful now because no one I know uses it!

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**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-talk-does-anyone-use-this/465865/3 "2008-10-01T00:56:25Z")

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I use Gchat constantly. I’m in Blacksburg, and I can keep in touch with my best friend in Fairfax, my brother in Laredo, my parents in Harrisonburg, my older sister in Williamsburg, and my oldest sister in Atlanta. Granted, this is true for any other IM system as well, but Gchat functions as an extension of my Gmail tab, which I always have open anyway.