[crimp]

 

there was an old thread about this, but things have moved on since 2009, so rather than resusitate that one I'll start afresh.

Basically, i have no cable tv, and no home phone line, and no intention of getting either (but that doesn't stop that pickle baron branston sending me 4 letters a week for some some 8 years to see if i want a virgin system).

I do my interweb stuff on my mobular phone, which to be fair, is a bit of a shag.

Can i use my phone's unlimited web access through a laptop. My phone be:

Samsung 3G jobby on 3 mobile. Micro USB, Bluetooth. PAYG, for 15 squid i get unlimited internet use for a month.

Can i use something like one of them dongle efforts to use a laptop for interwebbing?

If i can rustle up a free pre loved laptop off freecycle, gumtree, or whatever, what's the minimum spec i should be looking for?

Cheers Ta.

[slackline]

Using your phone as a "modem" for your laptop is called 'tethering'.

Depending on who you got your phone from this may well be blocked by your carrier.  You could possibly root your phone to get round this but it may not work (a friend tried this with his Galaxy S2 from Orange but still couldn't tether his phone on Orange/T-Mobile, conversely I bought my own Galaxy S2 and have a rolling contract with Three and can tether no problems).

You don't really need a 'dongle' as you can connect the phone via a USB cable (and then select to tether it on the phone).  Although I suspect you may be thinking of a 3G dongle which is something you'd buy with a contract and would negate the need for tethering your phone (although you could get a WiFi dongle and set up your phone as a wrieless access point).  This may be worth considering, but check coverage in areas you are likely to wish to use.

If you stick with your phone however, you will almost definitely find in the small print of your contract with Three that its unlimited 'subject to fair usage' which they normally cap at 1Gb/month.

As for the spec of a laptop, its quite hard to advise as it very much depends what you want to do.  If its just browsing t'web and sending a few emails you won't want/need anything fancy.  Intel Core processor, couple of Gb RAM, whatever size hard-drive.

[crimp]

Hi slackline.

Just checked my 3 mobile account. They say their all you can eat internet access add on is the only genuine unlimited one on the market. No fair usage, etc.

Also, i can tether my phone to laptops as a modem.

So, all i need is an old computer, and a cable.

Yes, just dog general web stuff, like this, youtube, etc. Nothing flash, burning music and films to disc probably about as technical as i need.

[slackline]

CD ripping is easy (although I can't advise on a program to use under M$-Win).

Ripping films requires a bit more grunt in terms of processing power (so look for laptops with higher CPU frequency and lots of RAM) unless you don't mind waiting a while, and it will also fill up your hard-drives faster (although external USB drives are cheap).  A good program to do this (that is cross-platform) is Handrbake.

[crimp]

Cheers

being a techno dullard, I'll have to go all Columbo, and ask just one more thing.

Is there anything about screen resolution or them pixies that i need to be aware of? Or are they all as good as tv screens? I want to watch vids in clarity (don't wanna miss those weighted runners, dabs and bristol heels)

[slackline]

Is there anything about screen resolution or them pixies that i need to be aware of? Or are they all as good as tv screens? I want to watch vids in clarity (don't wanna miss those weighted runners, dabs and bristol heels)

They're all better than a TV screen....



Perhaps something from Wikipedia : Display Resolution might be more informative (you could also try out the Wikipedia Application on your phone).