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Thread: being totally free?

  1. #1
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    Lightbulb being totally free?

    right,
    the situation: popping out to france for a few weeks, stoppin in me holiday home, the father has decided he needs todo some email'in n' some trigger happy printing, no idea what for, probably due to some business venture hes just gone into in france or something...

    anyway, basically i need to find a way to hook up a laptop (got a few to choose from luckily ;>) to firstly, a portable printer (pref fit in lappy bag for hand luggage on a plane) and secondly, the net .. without any phone lines. (oh noes!)

    for the printer, looking at a cannon BJ-50 ? or maybe the Canon Bubble Jet I80 Portable ? and the only other one i found was a HP DeskJet 350C. (yes i know this isnt the right section for printers i guess, but its all about connectivity and such :> , any experiance with any of those, or recommendations welcomed.. (all the printers were found on ebuyer.com)

    as for the interweb, spent a while searching round the intarweb, google, full of yank sites, managed to find that "vodafone mobile connect" card, the nokia site advertisess a mobile laptop card too (nowhere to be found if you wana buy one though?), other solutions ive come up with were making use of mobiles, bluetooth and such ? ive got a few 6210's i could use to link up somehow, not sure how though .. :| apparently they have a modem built in, so somehow its possible to connect through it, or the final (and costly) solution was something along the lines of a new phone w/ bluetooth & a bluetooth pda, for fetching data, and then bluetooth it down to the lappy.
    <breathe>...</breathe>
    so erm, ideas, advice, experiance? anything welcome :>

    thanks .. oh and "JUST USE A NET CAFE!" is really not very helpful ;x
    -arsen :>
    er, if your northbridge fan is humming loudly, disconnect it. _dont_ kick the side of the case, it _will_ break it.
    i know :/

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    www.evilmunky.com EvilMunky's Avatar
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    Dude in my experience - it aint even worth it.

    I have helped develop run and support systems that worked over laptops and mobile phones for web access and on most occasions it would have been more appropriate using 2 yoghurt pots and a bit of string.

    Also, my experience of trying to do the exact same thing in france (my parents have a place there) was shot to bits .......it was too slow, signal in middle of no where wasnt that great etc.
    I know you said no internet cafes, but is that not an option ? what about taking it to someones house with a phone line.

    These are obviously just my experiences and opinions - but if someone said to me here - have a laptop and mobile fone - go browse the internet..........i would sell it and buy time at a net cafe!

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    Oh no!I've re-dorkalated! Jiff Lemon's Avatar
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    Just to echo the above, accessing the net through a mobile device is good way to increase your stress levels. Sure it's slow. Then you've the joy of international roaming GPRS bills - you could possibly launch your own satalite for less.

    If he's roaming abroad, surely normal dial up access would be a viable alternative?

    Printing? I've found mobile printers are frankly appalling. Again, avoid if possible.

    It all boils down to just HOW important stuff is:
    If an immediate print is required, immediately, and you're happy with less than perfect quality, then yup, the above printers would suffice.
    If an email needs to go immediately, from the back end of nowhere, then a mobile phone link would work - just don't expect to send any attachments in a hurry!

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    Will work for beer... nichomach's Avatar
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    • nichomach's system
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    I have to disagree on the mobile printers, Jiff, we have several i80s in service, and they are SUPERB pieces of kit. The HP 350C is slow and clunky, the 450C unreliable as hell, but the Canon? Fast, reliable, and excellent quality, even printing photos on plain paper.

  5. #5
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    cheers, the net connection is more for collecting and reading emails, not so easy as net cafe using pop3 boxes :> just looked at getting a song p900 with a bluetooth dongle for the laptop, give a bit of mobile connectivity maybe, anyone used a p900? how easy is it to get emails n such? i guess you can download them to laptop for printing n such :> dont really need large attachments, any attachements would be small word docs i guess.
    er, if your northbridge fan is humming loudly, disconnect it. _dont_ kick the side of the case, it _will_ break it.
    i know :/

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