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-   -   In Praise of Internet Tablets (https://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=18461)

bilofsky 2008-03-30 14:18
Re: In Praise of Internet Tablets
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by wv9k (Post 161804)
Yep, someplace with lots of wifi access reasonable could indeed make these things VERY useful.
At home it's free (since I already pay for broadband).

In airports, standing outside an airline club lounge is a good place to grab email.

Many less expensive hotels have free WiFi, and even if it's not, sometimes it's worth it to me. Also, I don't protect my travel router, so if your room's next to mine you might be able to sneak the signal. (Some hotels that charge for broadband have logins though.)

fpp 2008-03-30 15:12
Re: In Praise of Internet Tablets
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by krisse (Post 161840)
That's North America though. Go over to Europe and 3G prices can get very reasonable (at least in some countries). I pay less for my 3G connection than I do for my broadband connection.
Yes, that's what you get for living in "developed countries".

Here in good old backwater France (you know, the land of frog eaters, smelly unsterilized cheese and fast trains...), my DSL landline costs me 30€/mo (used to be about 30$ too, currently 47.40, but still the same to me, right ? :-).

That includes uncapped, unfiltered, un-traffic-shaped bandwidth (20 Mbps downlink, 1 Mb uplink) with fixed IP; unlimited free calls (with a regular phone, not Skype) in France and 70 other countries, with Skype-like rates for the rest; a few hundred TV channels and radios through a set-top box, free, PPV or VOD; and VoIP service that lets me call from anywhere I can use Wifi and a SIP client as if I were at home.

Mobile data used to be a problem though, being either very expensive or requiring clever hacks. Just this month (March 6th) Orange blew a big hole in the local oligopoly with its 9€/mo (that's $14.22 fer y'all) data plan for "unlimited" http/https browsing... without a proxy. That means unlimited anything if you can set up your own OpenVPN endpoint.

The innovative part (for us here) is that it works not only as a monthly option to a voice plan, like all other data plans, but also with Orange's prepaid call cards. In that case the "option" is paid for using the card's credit, and lasts 31 days. You can let it lapse if you don't need it, the re-credit the card and subscribe again with a phone call when needed again. Very convenient, and no bad surprises on monthly bills...

This is on Orange's EDGE/3G/3G+ network, so speed depends on your mobile's abilities and location.

When I bought my first tablet I also believed it would mostly be used with Wifi. But given the relative scarcity here of (free) hotspots, and more reasonably priced data plans, I actually have used it (them) just as much with my mobile phone, if not more...

chrisblessing 2008-03-30 16:09
Re: In Praise of Internet Tablets
 
In reply to bilofsky, let me say that my N800 has become a constant traveling companion as well. I live in eastern Europe and travel extensively throughout eastern and western Europe, and the N800 is about the only gadget I take any longer, aside from my shortwave. I haul along my favorite music and movies/TV episodes, stream favorite stations when I can or listen to local FM broadcasts, check my mail with Modest, and stay in touch with Gizmo and/or Skype. I always have a couple of good books to read thanks to FBReader. For work I export my Openoffice docs to PDF, and make do with Notes for writing. When Abiword becomes stable I'll be able to truly move my work with me. Awesome little machine!

TA-t3 2008-03-31 14:43
Re: In Praise of Internet Tablets
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bilofsky (Post 162372)
Many less expensive hotels have free WiFi,
You know, I don't know if you deliberately wrote 'less expensive hotels'... in any case, that's a good point - in my experience you're much more likely to find free wi-fi in cheaper hotels. The more expensive a hotel room is, the more you have to pay for everything else (wi-fi, water bottles, other services).
Cheap hotel (e.g. Comfort) - free wi-fi.
Expensive hotel (e.g. Hyatt) - lousy, T-mobile wi-fi (and you can't use your laptop and your Nx00 at the same time. Secure IMAP won't work either. Etc. etc.)

sleepkyng 2008-03-31 17:52
Re: In Praise of Internet Tablets
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by fpp (Post 162382)
Yes, that's what you get for living in "developed countries".

Here in good old backwater France (you know, the land of frog eaters, smelly unsterilized cheese and fast trains...), my DSL landline costs me 30€/mo (used to be about 30$ too, currently 47.40, but still the same to me, right ? :-).

That includes uncapped, unfiltered, un-traffic-shaped bandwidth (20 Mbps downlink, 1 Mb uplink) with fixed IP; unlimited free calls (with a regular phone, not Skype) in France and 70 other countries, with Skype-like rates for the rest; a few hundred TV channels and radios through a set-top box, free, PPV or VOD; and VoIP service that lets me call from anywhere I can use Wifi and a SIP client as if I were at home.

Mobile data used to be a problem though, being either very expensive or requiring clever hacks. Just this month (March 6th) Orange blew a big hole in the local oligopoly with its 9€/mo (that's $14.22 fer y'all) data plan for "unlimited" http/https browsing... without a proxy. That means unlimited anything if you can set up your own OpenVPN endpoint.

The innovative part (for us here) is that it works not only as a monthly option to a voice plan, like all other data plans, but also with Orange's prepaid call cards. In that case the "option" is paid for using the card's credit, and lasts 31 days. You can let it lapse if you don't need it, the re-credit the card and subscribe again with a phone call when needed again. Very convenient, and no bad surprises on monthly bills...

This is on Orange's EDGE/3G/3G+ network, so speed depends on your mobile's abilities and location.

When I bought my first tablet I also believed it would mostly be used with Wifi. But given the relative scarcity here of (free) hotspots, and more reasonably priced data plans, I actually have used it (them) just as much with my mobile phone, if not more...
can you provide a link to the mobicarte unlimited data plan?
cheers

fpp 2008-03-31 19:41
Re: In Praise of Internet Tablets
 
It's called "option Internet Max" in Orange-speak, and abundantly discussed here (in French, of course) :

http://www.mobifrance.com/pdaforum/s...hreadid=114236

Texrat 2008-04-02 22:26
Re: In Praise of Internet Tablets
 
In the spirit of the device debates I have decided to concoct a Tablet User's Credo. *ahem*

Quote:
We, the few, the strangely masochistic, the perpetually beta-testing, do hereby publicly and shamelessly profess an inexplicable affection for our not-quite-ready-for-prime-time internet tablets.

We readily acknowledge the protests over OS shortcomings, and stubbornly burn each firmware upgrade anyway.

We begrudgingly accept the API breaks, reinstalling our suddenly-fewer precious apps in spite.

We gleefully look forward to testing half-baked notions, unhildonized game ports and random nightmares.

We swallow hard and make the most of odd hardware decisions, such as usb ports hidden under kickstands and those horrid MiniSD cards.

We smile and nod numbingly at iPhone addicts as they chortle over fingers flicking at icons and simulations of popcorn... then <spit!> and mumble pathetic excuses as to Why We Can't Do That.

We gush enthusiastically over the 3 or 4 internet videos that play well on the things and wail with despair over the billion or so that... don't.

We proudly pump DRM-stripped MP3s over the tiny bass-deprived speakers and scratch our collective heads when friends are not at all impressed.

We shrug and deal with application idiosyncracies like file managers that don't and alarms that fail to realize you're traveling.

We shake our heads sadly over missed manufacturer opportunities and unknown promotions, and engage in endless, mindless speculation over unpublished sales numbers.

But above all, we grit our teeth and tolerate the slings and arrows of naysayers, trolls and never-shoulda-bought-its and just keep on tappin'...

sachin007 2008-04-02 22:29
Re: In Praise of Internet Tablets
 
Exactly the same thing happened when i showed the stereo speakers to my cousins!!


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