Laptop Advice Needed
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Laptop Advice Needed
Folks, I have put off purchasing a Laptop to date but given the mobility of our calling I am at a point when I see a genuine need for one whilst away from home base. I mostly am after advice about an appropriate internet service or plan that suits a laptop whilst I am away, not having had to use one to date (Wireless?). Any sensible advice very welcome. Are there suitable compact printers available to print flight plans?
Regards
Lucky
Regards
Lucky
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i have just got a Dell Mini 9 "netbook" (16Gb SDD) and use my Nokia N95 8gb as a modem on a Virgin Mobile 3g datapack ($10 / month for 300Mb) - it all works flawlessly -
but for better work coverage you would want NextG?
but for better work coverage you would want NextG?
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Our firm just got two new mobile phones from 3 Mobile and while we were discussing the plans with the sales guy he told us about their mobile internet plan.
For $49 per month you get this little usb stick thingy which contains an inbuilt modem. You plug it into your laptop and, voila, internet access with up to 3 gig of downloads per month no matter where you are.
Because I am travelling so much lately I am getting one for my new laptop, go Toshiba. The beauty of the system is though that as long as a computer has a usb port you can plug this baby in and you get your internet access without having to stuff around. Brilliant.
Have fun.
For $49 per month you get this little usb stick thingy which contains an inbuilt modem. You plug it into your laptop and, voila, internet access with up to 3 gig of downloads per month no matter where you are.
Because I am travelling so much lately I am getting one for my new laptop, go Toshiba. The beauty of the system is though that as long as a computer has a usb port you can plug this baby in and you get your internet access without having to stuff around. Brilliant.
Have fun.
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Telstra Next-G would be the obvious choice for wireless. Optus second choice and perhaps the likes of 3 further down the list. Am very happy where I use Telstra's Next-G and have been doing so for quite a while now and it works well in remote locations verus the other companies.
If you're on a budget for a Laptop, JB Hifi (and Harvey Norman) have a full blown Compaq machine with 1 Gig Ram, 160 gb hdd, 15 inch widescreen and Vista for $488 at the moment. Purchased one for family member recently and couldn't be happier with it.
If you have a certain type of phone, say a Nokia N95 you can hook it up to a data plan and use it as a modem for your Laptop through Bluetooth, thus not requiring any dongles or similar for the laptop.
Perhaps a printer like this might suit:
Canon iP100 Portable A4 Printer, Battery, 9600dpi, 5 colour, 20/14 ppm
I've seen smaller but can't seem to find any for you.
If you don't want battery operated and you have a cigarette lighter with you, you can buy one of those power inverters from our friend Dick Smith's for around $60 and power / charge both the laptop and printer.
If you're on a budget for a Laptop, JB Hifi (and Harvey Norman) have a full blown Compaq machine with 1 Gig Ram, 160 gb hdd, 15 inch widescreen and Vista for $488 at the moment. Purchased one for family member recently and couldn't be happier with it.
If you have a certain type of phone, say a Nokia N95 you can hook it up to a data plan and use it as a modem for your Laptop through Bluetooth, thus not requiring any dongles or similar for the laptop.
Perhaps a printer like this might suit:
Canon iP100 Portable A4 Printer, Battery, 9600dpi, 5 colour, 20/14 ppm
I've seen smaller but can't seem to find any for you.
If you don't want battery operated and you have a cigarette lighter with you, you can buy one of those power inverters from our friend Dick Smith's for around $60 and power / charge both the laptop and printer.
Nunc est bibendum
For a lap top, go the Macbook Air if you don't need heaps of memory or can back it up with a desk top at home. Otherwise one of the normal Macbooks would probably suit (smaller screen the better it is for portability) but you're doubling the weight to 2.27kg. The extra kg may not seem like much but it'll make a difference when you're lugging the thing around.
I agree with notmy152 regarding the 3 data plans. They're pretty good but coverage suffers in places like Darwin (nil) where you go roaming onto the Telstra network and that has implications for cost. It depends on your needs I guess.
I agree with notmy152 regarding the 3 data plans. They're pretty good but coverage suffers in places like Darwin (nil) where you go roaming onto the Telstra network and that has implications for cost. It depends on your needs I guess.
Telstra Next-G would be the obvious choice for wireless
I am continually frustrated by the inability of my Next-G usb-modem to get a strong enough signal to function properly. I oftern have to use my phone as a modem. Don't understand why the Next-G phone works but the Next-G modem doesn't!
Can't comment on computers - I am spoilt! I have a Lenovo (IBM) T61 notebook for everyday use and a Mobile Computing LS800 tablet that I use for all of my flightplanning, weather, NAIPS etc and in the aeroplane!
Dr
PS: One piece of advice - install good anti-virus, anti-adware, anti-spyware, firewall software. I have just had a 3 day war with adware and trojan viruses on the LS800, one of which was disabling my anti-virus program. I won - but only just!
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To go with your Betamax and your Leyland P76 !
And if I don't feel like cold booting into windoze, I just run it under emulation. Takes 30 seconds to boot, including NAIPS and FMS launched. With my Unix bank quality firewall. Built in. Now, where was that you tube video of Heathrow approach on XP?
How long did it take you to JUST manage to save your LS800? I have better things to do. 3 days....
Mac is simply better, for Windows too, if you have to.
Just my opinion, of course.
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I assumed that being on a Pilot forum, the poster had no money, so I naturally suggested a $488 Compaq, but sure, it you have a spare $2.5k and a lot of spare time on your hand and spare cash for legal software because NOBODY you know owns a Macintosh to get it from, then the MacBook air is for you!
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Sorry about the earlier rant, to answer your questions better, portable printers are rarely all that portable and quite expensive. It is also difficult to find one that runs on batteries.
Wireless internet-NextG, but check out 3 as well for their plans. They roam on NextG, it may be included in some of their plans. Optus is not so great.
Wireless internet-NextG, but check out 3 as well for their plans. They roam on NextG, it may be included in some of their plans. Optus is not so great.
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LUCKY-1, I can't help you with the laptop itself** but can offer a pretty valid opinion on the wireless broadband. NextG is the only way to go mate as the competition cannot offer anywhere near the coverage, speed and connection stability. There was an excellent review in APC magazine of all the providers and NextG was the clear winner - despite the high cost.
Don't worry about going on a contract with a separate device, if you are an existing Telstra customer just purchase a decent NextG handset and put a "Data Pack" on to your account and use the handset as a modem. $59 for 1 gig is reasonable and you dont have to worry about being stuck on a contract - Using a phone as a modem will also give you better coverage than the USB sticks that are available, as the DrKiller alluded to.
Give me a PM if you want to know details of good handsets etc.
povopilot............No i don't work for Telstra.
**Don't buy a frickin mac if you want your wireless broadband to work pain free.
P.s Dr, curious as to which wireless device you have and what type of phone you are using.
Don't worry about going on a contract with a separate device, if you are an existing Telstra customer just purchase a decent NextG handset and put a "Data Pack" on to your account and use the handset as a modem. $59 for 1 gig is reasonable and you dont have to worry about being stuck on a contract - Using a phone as a modem will also give you better coverage than the USB sticks that are available, as the DrKiller alluded to.
Give me a PM if you want to know details of good handsets etc.
povopilot............No i don't work for Telstra.
**Don't buy a frickin mac if you want your wireless broadband to work pain free.
P.s Dr, curious as to which wireless device you have and what type of phone you are using.
I would suggest a macbook too especially with it being so light. I find it a hassle lugging my Compaq around all the time. However only get a macbook as a travel substitute to your primary machine, as a primary machine they have a number of limitations.
P.s Dr, curious as to which wireless device you have and what type of phone you are using
The modem is a Next G Turbo Modem - Model # USB3-8521
Dr
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DrKiller, The 6120 has the strongest reception out of any phone on the market and as you say it will crap on any of the dedicated data devices - it does lack the capability of an external antenna however. It also has reliability issues but is not a bad overall phone. There is also a firmware upgrade available for the 3 series usb modems that will give you extra speed.
It is soon to be released as a Pre-Paid in the $249-$299 range so could be a very good solution for LUCKY-1's query. E-Bay also a good place to pick up a cheap handset, just make sure that it picks up 850 MHz UMTS/WCDMA and can be used as a modem.
povo......Not meaning to start another FTDK inspired thread hi-jack.
It is soon to be released as a Pre-Paid in the $249-$299 range so could be a very good solution for LUCKY-1's query. E-Bay also a good place to pick up a cheap handset, just make sure that it picks up 850 MHz UMTS/WCDMA and can be used as a modem.
povo......Not meaning to start another FTDK inspired thread hi-jack.
Apple computers, bought by the unwitting who then need to recommend them to their friends because they are, "so good" in order to get rid of that nasty buyer's remorse. You know it's true. 
Get a $500 Compaq (or similar). Just bought two C774TUs and they'll do everything a pilot needs to do (flight planning, DFT, etc) for 1/4 of the price of a mac book.
If you can't find open source programs for windows, you're not trying hard enough!!!
Get a $500 Compaq (or similar). Just bought two C774TUs and they'll do everything a pilot needs to do (flight planning, DFT, etc) for 1/4 of the price of a mac book.
If you can't find open source programs for windows, you're not trying hard enough!!!
......Not meaning to start another FTDK inspired thread hi-jack
Are there suitable compact printers available to print flight plans
So I have just bought a HP Officejet H470b portable printer. Great little machine - battery power and all - but an expensive little sucker - $489 from tricky Dickie!
Dr
Last edited by ForkTailedDrKiller; 25th Sep 2008 at 10:08.