[ASLplease]

Regina Regina:

ASLplease check out the Canadian Tire flyer that just came out if you can. They just listed a Vehicle safe that you can bolt or cable to you truck. Comes in two size and the larger one which was on for $48.99 is made to hold laptops. Looked perfect if you need to travel with your laptop.

Product #37-9229-8

Thank you.

Thats an excellent idea.

[ASLplease]

Update:My general thoughts are that my laptop/smartphone combination seems to be the most flexible combination for my needs.

So, I've made a choice to go after the HTC Touch Pro2, is there anyone out there that has a strong feeling towards going with a different smartphone? I would like to hear your views.

[Regina]

ASLplease ASLplease:

Update:My general thoughts are that my laptop/smartphone combination seems to be the most flexible combination for my needs.

So, I've made a choice to go after the HTC Touch Pro2, is there anyone out there that has a strong feeling towards going with a different smartphone? I would like to hear your views.

One feature I have with my laptop and BB is that they Sync together by Blue Tooth. It Syncs my email, contacts and calendar which is very handy.

[ASLplease]

the smartphone that I am looking at has Wifi and bluetooth, and it also syncs when you use a USB charging cable.

I've been looking very carefully at google calendar, tasks, docs, and gmail. so I may use them exclusively which gives me a very fexible means of syncing.

[Canadaka]

The Touch Pro2 looks like a nice phone, my fiance has the Touch Pro. But if your not in a rush I would prefer having the Motorola Driod.

I would find out for sure each telcos tethering policy. That could really bight you in the ass. I'm pretty sure the iPhone on Rogers you can tether, but I don't think you can on fido for example.

[DrCaleb]

Canadaka Canadaka:

I would find out for sure each telcos tethering policy. That could really bight you in the ass. I'm pretty sure the iPhone on Rogers you can tether, but I don't think you can on fido for example.

Yet another reason why Cellular service in Canada sucks. I don't like being told what I can do with something I paid for. They should be helping me use it the way I want, which is better for us both in the long run.

[ASLplease]

I agree, I'll definitely do some homework to find a contract that allows tethering. This one issue could prove more important than the choice of phone.

bTW, I asked a coworker how he likes his iphone that he has had for about a year. He tells me that he has mixed feelings. It's a good phone, but he finds himself cursing the3 year contract because of the way they double charge you, once for the voice plan and twice for the data plan. He is with rogers and is allowed up to 6GB per month, but its costing him over $120 per month for his iphone.,.,,,and as he says...."once the novelty wears off, its just a little web browsing that they are dinging you on."

[ASLplease]

on the telus website, I noticed that one of the iphones was only $50 cheaper on a 3 year contract compared to buying it outright. I must keep reminding myself not to automatically go after the 3 year contract. An extra $50 now could allow someone to move onto another device a whole year early. At $100 per month for the average bill, that would be $50 well spent.

[Brenda]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Canadaka Canadaka:

I would find out for sure each telcos tethering policy. That could really bight you in the ass. I'm pretty sure the iPhone on Rogers you can tether, but I don't think you can on fido for example.

Yet another reason why Cellular service in Canada sucks. I don't like being told what I can do with something I paid for. They should be helping me use it the way I want, which is better for us both in the long run.

I still don't understand the cellphone business in Canada.
It's expensive, I have to buy a new phone when I switch profiders, instead of getting a new SIM card, I can't text to the Netherlands, some people in the US I can't text, and seriously, INCOMING calls cost money! I mean, WTF???

[herbie]

The MSI Wind will go to 2GB. Also has a FN key to over/underclock the chip a little.
That being said, it's flimsy like the Acer. LG same thing.
HP look good, it's discounted everywhere (cuz it's a POS HP...) has 2GB and can run Win7 almost acceptably if you de-crapify it (reformat & take the HP garbage out).
Toshiba is heavy, battery is incredible 9 hours, chip is slightly faster and runs Win7 okay even with the Toshiba crap on it.
The Dell's a complete waste of time.
AsusEEE is still the best of the lot, runs XP fine with 1 GB but will run Win7 fine with 2GB.

[ASLplease]

another update: I spoke with a sales person at best buy and she gave me some advice that sounded pretty good. she felt that if i try to lump my laptop connectivity and smartphone all into one plan, it would end up being more expensive than having 2 plans.

After going through the numbers, here's what I've settled on:

My smartphone can be aquired with a $50/mth plan, but it only allows me 512MB of downloads per month.

Instead of boosting the data plan up to $85 per month for 2GB of downloads, she suggested that I get a 3g internet stick for my laptop. I can get a 3g sierra wireless stick for $35 per month and it gives me 1GB of downloads per months.

So, at the end of the deal, I have a little less download capability but:
- 512MB on my smartphone will be plenty to check my email and calendar, and some light browsing.
- 1GB on my laptop will be enough to do the same, plus spend a bit more time on business related webbrowsing.

Also, Best buy has a SWEET DEAL going on right now, if you get the 3g stick on a 2 yr contract, you get the stick for free, and an Acer Aspire One Netbook for free, too. WUHOO!!!!!

And as luck would have it, they didn't have the smartphone that I wanted, so I ended up leaving the store with the 3g stick and netbook..........and I can always go back for the smartphone, but I think that I might not want one after running this netbook computer for a while.

[ASLplease]

oops I almost forgot, here's another way to look at this.....for the same amount of money per month and the same length of contract, the 2 plans will net me more 'FREE PRODUCT'

[ASLplease]

another update:

- this netbook has been a pleasure to work with this weekend. It runs for about 4 hours on the standard battery pack, and I'm able to comfortable hold it in my hands while stretched out on the couch while my wife and I were watching movies last night.

- the performance is better than my 3 year old desktop, and base on the apps that I use, it runs the same speed as my dual core laptop.

- I have my netbook, laptop, and desktop all syncronizing with gmail, and the other google docs. And, I've installed the 'gears' program so that I have offline capabilities with all computers.

- both my laptop and netbook run fine when i plug the 3G modem into it. And, of course, I have them connected to my wifi router while I am at home.

- An additional bonus, I had given up on my Palm Lifedrive PDA because Windows Vista doesn't support it worth a damn. However, the Netbook runs Windows XP so I've installed the Palm Desktop software and now I have a fully syncing PDA that has offline capabilities, but also can sync with my netbook as long as they are within 20feet of each other.

Frankly, I don't think I need a smartphone anymore. I believe I have more convenience and more functionality than they offer. Sure, someday my equipment will be no good, and I'll upgrade to something like a smartphone. But until then, I think I have a very functional, practical system........

.......ALL at $35 per month!!!

[herbie]

OMG they broke into my shop and swiped a couple HP netbooks that belong to a customer (I don't sell them), so I had to drive 250 miles to replace them with the exact model.
So they they were at Costco for $499.
The whole point of Netbook was small and affordable, so here goes HP making an 11.6" screen w 2 GB, 250HD and Win7. Only 3" smaller than a normal laptop, no optical drive, lame Atom chip and more expensive than a full size....
HP, please go stand in the "just don't get it" line with GM and Chrysler

[ASLplease]

sorry to hear that, Herbie. Theft sucks even at the best of times.