One-box solutions
A one-box solution is a smart way of getting online. Rather than having a handheld computer connecting to a mobile phone via infrared or Bluetooth, the one-box solution gives you everything you need in one package - in other words, a handheld computer with a built-in phone, or a phone with built-in email/web software. Particularly popular in this area are the following:
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o2 XDA - Combined Pocket PC and mobile phone
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SonyEricsson P800 or P900 - A Symbian-OS powered smartphone with built-in web browser and email software
The real advantage of the one-box solution is the simplicity - there's a lot less fiddly setup needed, and the solution just works.
Two-box solutions
Two box solutions (a seperate phone and computer) tend to be cheaper options, and if you're really budget-conscious and not looking for the most up-to-date stuff, end-of-line models, or even second-hand machines can be the way to go. The down-side is that in order to connect the handheld computer to the phone, you need to connect either with a cable, or more commonly, wirelessly using either infrared or Bluetooth - all of which can be a little fiddly to set up.
Ways to connect
If you're using a one-box smartphone, you'll probably have all you need already. For a two-box solution, you'll need to have the following:
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A handheld computer that has Internet / email software
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A mobile phone with a built-in data modem
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A way of connecting the two - most commonly you'll need both boxes to have Infrared. You can also connect via Bluetooth, or in some cases via a dedicated cable connection. Infrared is the most common, requires the two boxes to be in line-of-sight with each other, and is the least complcated to set up.
You'll also need an Internet service provider (your existing provider should be fine), and a mobile phone account with a network operator (such as Vodafone, o2, Orange, T-Mobile, etc). Note that your mobile phone service must be "data-enabled". A phone call to your network operator will get this done, and there's normally no charge for setup.
Running costs
The most common way of making a connection to the Internet when on the move, is via a dial-up service... In other words your smartphone or pda/mobile dial a phone number supplied by your Internet Service Provider (Tiscali, BT, Freeserve, etc). You can expect to be billed for every second that you're online. Some things to note:
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In the mobile phone world, don't expect a low-call 0845 or a local-rate dial-up number to be cheaper... Commonly you'll be paying the standard rate for a call to a landline number (check your network operator's tariff)
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Your mobile operator may offer you free minutes, but internet numbers may not qualify - so check your contract/tariff to confirm this. If you don't get free minutes, consider shopping about for a new tariff.
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Connection over a dialup service from a mobile phone is slow. You're looking at data speeds of 9.6kbps - a PC modem is 56kbps
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Consider using GPRS instead of a dial-up service. GPRS is faster than standard dialup, but is billed differently (per megabyte, not per second). It's also not available on all handsets, has to be enabled by your network operator, and can be a little quirky to set up.
Case Study 1: Two-box solution
PDA: Dell Axim Pocket X3 Pocket PC
Phone: Nokia 6100
The Dell Axim X3 is one of the cheaper Pocket PCs on the market, but has excellent reviews and contains a fair amount of power for it's size and cost. This comes with all the software that you need to connect to the Internet. For the handset, we're using the Nokia 6100, which is a medium-range handset with a built-in modem and infrared connectivity for use with the Pocket PC.
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