PDA or Laptop

If you have a data plan with a GSM phone (AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.) buy an unlocked aircard. Then when you want to use the laptop switch the SIM card and you are using the phone's data plan to get internet to your laptop.

I use an iphone and I love it but it can't do everything. I can either use my iphone as a wifi hotspot (search for software calle pdanet) or switch my sim card into an aircard ($70 for an unlocked one several places on the internet) The best part is I only pay for one plan for voice and data.

 

I say tether with the iPhone and get the old man a durable laptop--a higher end Mac is the most durable. My old powerbook has taken a lot of bumps and drops over the years, such that I've replaced the power supply cable twice but the pwr spply port is still good. The recent models are even better as they have cast one piece aluminum case for the body and another for the screen. I do my banking on-line, even at a T/A or Pilot because they do have a secure link as part of the fee. I had for six months a USB aircard, but for $60- a month I found it really wasn't worth it, so I turned it in and got a back-up phone (just in case my cherised iPhone screws up or gets lost). My iPhone, which has true UNLIMITED access for only $30- a month is a God send! Plus, it has Wifi capability, so I can always choose my broadband connection. Starbucks and McDonalds provide free Wifi, for example. But for the best iphone, you have go through the process to "jailbreak". This procedure allows me to access all sorts of additional features (e.g. improved GPS programs, videocamera capability) not officially approved by Apple and AT&T, but the most powerful is the ability to use the phone as a wireless modem with my laptop. My jailbroken iPhone uses the 3G signal better than my USB aircard did, and interestingly it doesn't close down access to the phone when it's being actively used as a modem. In other words, I can dial and receive calls and chat on the phone while I'm using the modem cability to browse the internet on my laptop! My iPhone GPS provides another way to study my routes in a restaurant or on the bunk without fumbling around with my big screen Garmin, and naturally, the iPhone apps for finding restaurants, historical landmarks, off-leash dog parks, and dozen of other commercial services are really great. What I would like to see though is more trucking apps for the iPhone, especially OO stuff that works with the Mac. Trucker software companies don't seem very aware of the iPhone and Mac yet for some goofy reason.

 

I use a cheap laptop with a Verizon aircard, so I can access the Internet about anywhere. In the past four years I’ve only found just three places so for where I couldn’t access the Internet. One was at the I-79 Truck Stop in Jane Lew, WV, another one was in Moorhead, MS while being loaded, and another one was in Pennington, AL while waiting for my load. Needless to say, I make sure I don’t spend the night in Jane Lew, WV anymore. Those were the only three places in over four years. Even out West in the mountains I have always been able to get on line. In any event, I pay $59.95 a month for my aircard service and I find it well worth it.

I also use my laptop for all trip planning, routing, and navigation, for all my logging, to email in my logs and trips, and to send and receive faxes. I couldn’t do without a laptop. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t spend $3000 for a Panasonic tough book. You can buy 5 of them for that price. In any event, my last laptop lasted me a little longer than 4 &1/2 of years of hard service as I used it everyday all day long. It also was a cheap laptop.

 

Not to thread jack, but any ideas about plain old cell phones for web surfing/e-mail capability?

Are there cell phones that surf adequately?

If this needs a new thread someone move it.

 

I love my iphone. I can do just about everything I need on it. (They don't have Quicken for it as far as I know) Also has the best web browser I've seen yet.

 

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Avoid a public venue to access financial accounts, eBay accounts, etc. Port scanning takes seconds and you can take over a PC in no time at all. Bad juju.

Have your father talk to someone at the bank for their preferred method. Chances are the bank's security department has developed a policy and has educated the branch manager and staff to work with their customers. Larger banks have excellent security departments.

It's a dangerous world out there in Cyberspace, especially in a mobile society.