mobile wireless internet

[MaryAnn]

Query: I'm planning a lengthy road trip (several weeks at the least) after I retire, which will be in the next year. I plan to get a laptop, as my imac is five years old, slow, has viruses, and not portable.

a) I'm not really a "mac person" despite owning one, but can get around on one. I'm more of a "PC person" because that is where the majority of my professional time has been spent. In terms of laptops, the mac is waaaay more expensive than the PC, but I'm wondering about total cost here: PC plus firewall/antivirus, or mac plus "something" to protect it. I'm surprised that my imac has some kind of virus, malware, but it does. My mac has required almost nothing in the way of being fixed, despite the presence of whatever malware it has. PCs are notorius for going belly up. So: PC or mac laptop?

b) since I'll be road tripping, obviously my home internet, which is not wireless, is useless. What is out there that *is* wireless that might be of use? Or should I just have the what-with to use internet cafes, or use local libraries, or what? The computer will be used primarily for internet/email. I may work on writing some music, but I can't imagine I'll be doing much of that during the road trip. However, I could, of course and as always, be wrong about that.

Recommendations?

MA

[lgb&dtuba]

I won't speak to the notebook issue other than to say the one I bought last month came in at around $600 and is fairly loaded and Windows 7.

As for wireless with it I tether it to my Android phone when not either wired or using Wi-Fi. I use an application called PDA-Net for that. That way I can connect wherever I can get a 3G signal. FWIW the PDA-Net license is good for multiple pcs and I've used it on my desktop at home when RoadRunner was out.

3G is slower than RoadRunner, but quite adequate for when I travel and don't feel like paying extra at a hotel just to check my email.

Good luck,
Jim

[tbn.al]

I use ATT internet at home/office 6MB. I also have an ATT card that I plug into my laptop for mobile. As long as I am in metro(3G) it is close enough to my 6MB that I really don't notice a difference. Once I get out of the 3G high speed network, ie. 50 miles from city center, it goes to a slower thingie. ATT calles it advantage but it is definitely misnamed. Should be called Disadvantage. It is about 256K at best and you must have at least 3 bars on your phone to make it go. It is not cheap either at $60 a month. If you need to do anything other than email I would look at sat.

[bort]

I say get a Netbook. If for nothing else, it's cheap and will do exactly what you described below. The Samsung and Toshiba ones are particularly nice. Plus for a road trip, it's easy to transport and easy to HIDE in your car.

Public internet is probably your best bet. There are 3G/4G options out there, but depending on when you are going, that might be pretty spotty.

Mac's are fine and all, but totally overkill for what you're looking to do with it. They're expensive and a much better target for thieves.

[Rick F]

Hi MaryAnn,

I can't recommend a wireless service as I don't use one, but as far as AV (anti-virus) goes, I recommend avast! It's FREE and has automatic data base updates about twice each day. It's detection rate is very good too. A new AV comparatives report just came out a week or so ago. Not only was Avast the fastest scanner, but it scored better in detection rate than Panda, Eset, Norton, AVG, Kaspersky, PC Tools and many many more!

AV Comparitives Report.pdf

I have no affiliation with avast, but used to be a moderator for McAfee help forum several years ago (when Version 7 was one of the top AVs). Then it became 'bloat ware' like so many others.

[Tubaryan12]

......but as far as AV (anti-virus) goes, I recommend avast!

+1

[TMurphy]

I say get a Netbook. If for nothing else, it's cheap and will do exactly what you described below. The Samsung and Toshiba ones are particularly nice. Plus for a road trip, it's easy to transport and easy to HIDE in your car.

Public internet is probably your best bet. There are 3G/4G options out there, but depending on when you are going, that might be pretty spotty.

Mac's are fine and all, but totally overkill for what you're looking to do with it. They're expensive and a much better target for thieves.

I am a Mac user and have been for years. I have no intention of ever owning another Windows machine. However, I completely agree with bort's point about netbooks. It'll run you about $300, and will do everything you need it to do. My younger brother has an EeePC netbook he got last year, and although tiny in size (a plus if you're roadtripping), it does everything he throws at it, which is quite a bit. If I really needed to get a laptop (I don't), I would consider one of these, despite the fact that they are Windows based (although, my brother was able to install OSX on his).

[Stefan]

Your Mac vs. PC question is a huge can of worms and I don't know that it is possible to get an unbiased opinion. I have a PC and a Mac at home and I will never buy a PC again - but that's me. I have no experiences with netbooks so I cannot comment. What about an iPad? Very slick and perfect for internet surfing. If you get a 3g model you're set whenever you don't have a wifi signal. As for internet service, if you don't get a 3g iPad you could get a mifi from either Sprint or Verizon. It's pretty expensive, but it's a pretty good service. Like someone else said, some smartphones can also act as a mobile hotspot. So I guess that would be like a mifi, but with all the advantages of a smartphone.

Stefan

[Ricko]

The iPhone and the android devices will do most all the surfing and e-mail tasks you would need outside of a public (McDonalds) wifi connection.

If that's not your cup of tea the various 'air cards' work very well - they are fairly pricey and don't work where there isn't 3g coverage. I've used them with both Macs and PCs and they work well with both so that's not really an issue.

Virgin mobile recently came out with a 'pay as you go' plan which is less expensive than Verizon's. I don't know if the other PAYG providers have jumped on the bandwagon yet.

Sounds like you have an adventure planned out.

Ricko

[PMeuph]

I am MAC user. I really enjoy my iMac and my iPod Touch. To check my e-mail on the road my iPod is great if there is free wifi. But there aren't that many places where wi-fi is free and reliable.

Personally though, I don't think your specific needs require anything more than a Netbook and a sketchbook to write music. With a good 300$ netbook, you can write e-mail on a keyboard, visit Tubenet, and do other basic internet operations you need. If you want to write music, your best bet is to use a sketch book and type it out on a desktop. IMHO. (A good laptop to write music + Sibelius/Finale will set you back over 1000$)

[Shockwave]

I live in the middle of nowhere far from the nearest phone line and have been using sprint broadband for the last two years. I took over the contract from another guy so that I wouldn't have to worry about early termination fees if it didn't work out. When he signed up, sprint promised unlimited access and only later reduced it to 5GB per month. Coincidentally, ALL the providers have limited accounts to 5GB per month in a very anti-competitive gesture. However, I average 30GB per month and Sprint has never done anything about it. The speed is ok, about 180kb/s on downloads.

One way they get you is that the flimsy modems are locked into a particular network and they charge absolutely ridiculous prices for replacements or try to lock you into a new two year contract for a new one. My modem would cost $300 to replace from sprint, but it's considered disposable so I've had to fix it myself several times.

-Eric