Using a laptop while travelling

Best thing to do is get yourself a Mobile Broadband card for your laptop. We recently travelled for 7 months in our van and took the laptop with the Wireless Broadband modem car. Wherever we could get CDMA reception we had internet access. Best thing about it is you don't have to worry about finding a "hotspot". Because you are using your own computer it is about as safe as the internet ever is. I hope this is of some help. Pop in to a Telstra or Optus store and ask about it.

Happy camping,
Mike.

Beaut thanks for that. It is so hard to know what to do for the best. I will check it out thanks

When buying a laptop you must buy a name brand otherwise you risk service and repair issues. Brands you should consider as follows, in no order..

IBM, HP, ASUS, ACER and DELL , TOSHIBA.. I wouldn't go out of that circle apart from Sony and 1 or 2 others. Wireless is fine with encryption so don't worry.

I found that the cheapest and most reliable way was go to an internet cafe. I have also heard that if you go to a McDonalds car park you can get on line if you have a wireless card

Take care when buying a notebook. Make sure you can get a 12 volt adapter for it. Running an invertor is an alternative but I find I use less power with a 12 volt connector. I used to run a Dell Inspiron. You cant get a 12 volt adaptor for it. I now have a Dell Latitiude. They provide you with 12 volt connector but it powers the notebook down from 90W to 65W. The notbook runs a little slower but it is fine for running Oziexplorer.

With regards to wireless internet. Next G is the way to go but it is expensive. Telstra's datapacks start from $5pm on top of your mobile phone plan. Here is a link to bigpond's charges http://my.bigpond.com/mobile/pricing.jsp. They are not cheap. Accessing one website will chew up most of your download on the lower packs. If you want it just for email, then Next G phones allow you to create emails (similar to SMS's) and this saves on not accessing your email website directly.

Still it was good on our recetn WA trip to look on the BOM site to see if the rain was clearing.

goodday
i use a bigpond modem 240v but irun an inverter in the car
only need next g network and away you go $49.95 per month for 1 gig never reached it yet(been to about 700meg)bill comes over the net and pay it over the net so never miss while travelling and personally i have found there set up and back up service ok while others say otherwise and i think its about the best coverage aussie wide
jmo

steve

I've got a Fujitsu Lifebook 10.6inch screen and a Next G USB modem.

I do a lot of travelling both in vehicles and planes. A couple of points to think about:

1. If you want to use it while actually moving something small and light is the way to go. Who they can actually call a comptuer with a 17inch widecreen a laptop is beyond me.
2. Most laptop's batteries are pretty useless when it comes to using the computer for surfing the net etc. I can get about 5hrs while surfing the net or up to 3.5hrs while playing DVD's for the young one.
3. Don't worry whether or not you can get a 12V adaptor just use an inverter while driving for charging the battery.
4. As others have said Next G can be expensive but after using it you'll be lost without it. I'm currently sitting at Sydney airport typing this post.
5. Modems, some require 240V some don't, plug in cards don't which means your not relying on having power. The other advantage of plug in cards is they can be used overseas if needed.

I believe the cheapest way, if you do not need the modem for the 2 years , is to buy a nextG phone. In my case I have an ADSL2 contract at home.
I bought a ZTE262 on a $30 per month plan with car kit.
When travelling I buy the data pack from Telstra ( nb not Bigpond).
The phone comes with a patch cord and software which is easy to use.
So you get a phone and modem in one for zero up front and $30 per month with 2 year contract , not $299 up front and a 2 year contract for $49 per month for modem only.
You then have to buy data packs when needed which go up to $79 for 240Megs AFAIR. Expensive but OK for a month or two.
Regards Philip A

The laptop is not the important consideration for internet operation when traveling. Any Windows (XP or Vista) or late Mac system with a USB port will connect to a Next-G modem or phone.

The big question is the type of service you desire. Telstra give you a range of options through your phone that may be accessed for short periods but are expensive if used for a long time. On the other hand BigPond offer modems for $250 or $300 and cheaper plans but you have to take out a long term contract - 12 months if you purchase your modem or 24 months if you want a "free" modem bundled with the contract.

I have not considered the short time rates much, some of the others have pointed you to those. I have opted for the large capacity, long term option as I spend considerable periods on the road and I wish to keep dabbling in my news and other groups. For info on the Plans for Relocatable Wireless Broadband see that link

PeterD

Hi Hugheys

we've just started travelling and have a Telstra external antennae (I think it's 6db gain model) and it feeds into a blue Telstra next g wireless modem for internet access.

We have excellent reception. Just ask your self if you have a car radio down and have poor reception and then you raise the arial what do you normally get - better reception!!!! Normally anyway.

Admittedly it cost us $170 from telstra and have an extension cable from Jaycar. Our reception is 5 bars which is maximum on the scale and on the mobiles (next g also) we have had 2 bars indicating reception strength.

Obviously depends on how far you go but I would definitely consider the blue Telsta next G modem (over a card that fits into a slot) and use an extenal antenna.

Email me if you need more info and I'll be happy to explain or assist if I can. This is practical advice only as I'm not a techno nerd.

Cheers Barry

I am posting this reply at the Roebuck road house on the way to Broom.
Using a Compaq Presarrio B1900 with a next G wirless modem

Used our moving map all the way from the Gold Coast 7000km so far. Tanami,King river and GRR. Some very rough roads but it is still going strong

Hi I use HP Laptop
Use Vodafone GPRS and 3G Internet Connection in NZ.
Travelled some of Outback Qld recently, at least as far as the black stuff goes. Vodaphone was limited in Toowoomba perfect in Brisbane, basically a waste of time elsewhere,. Contary to what I was lead to believe before I left. My usual cost is $56.00 a month, two weeks in Aus mainly on trying to get a connection $856.00 !?. Internet cafe Windorah, Winton Isisford bloody cheap
Most I paid was $3.50 hr and could do all I wanted in less than an hr. You only get caught once most times eh.
Russ

I myself have an old pentium800 that i run ozioxplorer( gps) on --

worth about $150 on ebay does the same thing as the newer ones ( except for game play) and at $150 i dont really care if it gets stolen , damaged or need to worry about future service or maintanance work

something to consider before you depart with $3000+ for top of the line laptop that is worth $500 the year after you buy it

Boc