Over the last few weeks I have been pondering costs & practicalities of accessing the internet when away from home. Wherever I go, people seem to have them, but they seem so expensive! I don’t really need one, but as a birthday is looming on the horizon & nobody has offered to buy me a new car or steam loco, my sights have had to be set rather lower.
Reading articles in mags about some of the smaller devices (not ‘phones) they seemed a lot of money for something with a small screen, poor keypad and only wifi access. I wanted something a little bigger, but still easy to carry around, then I came across the Minibook sold at Maplin. There seem to be several similar models, another being the Elonex oneT. Looking at reviews on the internet and youtube it seemed quite useful.
So, a trip to my local Maplin & I was soon back home to “play” with it. Another “headache” was mobile internet access, studying form on prices, suppliers & how much quota I would need in a month, pay as you go seemed best for me. No point in paying a lot each month for a high quota which I don’t use.
Armed with a Vodafone K3565 usb “dongle”, I was soon able to access the internet & send/receive e-mails. It did involve a bit of head-scratching, as other people seemed to have problems with that model of dongle, but I got it sussed very quickly.
To prove a point, I even managed to post a message on my blog after seeing a train today, whilst sat in the car. Computer speed is not fast, but I don’t need speed, not much storage, but I don’t need that either. No ‘phone – well I’ve got my payg mobile in my pocket, the 10 quid credit on it lasted 6 months!! No camera, why do I need one in a mobile ‘phone – I’ve got a proper camera.
Each to their own, my 17″ laptop at home will do the bulk of the work & the 7″ minibook will cope if I need access when I’m out.
