Rookie needs hhelp!!!

[fuzzduzz]

Just received my X30 now i'm looking for a wireless provider. So far at&t wireless is the only one that has anything close to what i need (12.99/4mb) What service providers do you guys have? I just need access to the internet about 1/2 hr. per day 5 days a week. Can you overcharge and wreck anything by leaving the battery charger on too long???
Thanks for your time and efforts :)

[powder2000]

On the topic of charging your pocket pc, you won't ruin it by leaving it connected to the charger for a while. I think, if you leave it for a couple of days, it might cycle through charging/stop charging. I have at&t but don't use the data plan because it seems excessive. T-mobile definitely has the best plan at unlimited for 10-20 bucks a month (I think it got lowered).

[Sven Johannsen]

Since your new X30 has BT and WiFi wireless capabilities, are you looking for a WiFi Hotspot provider for high speed access, but at limited locals? Or are you looking for a provider that can get you on the internet via BT and a cell phone, at lower data rates, but more freedom?

T-Mobile and ATT can do either, but they are distinct offerrings with different costs and requirements.

What do you want to do on the internet. Not sure if it is still there, but just getting to standard web sites and retrieving PoP3 e-mail has been free on T-Mobile when you have a capable phone. The pay service also allows instant messaging, VPN, secure sites, i.e. premium services.

The charging circuitry in PPCs expects the PPC to sit on the cradle a lot. Mines been on their days at a time, keeping a trickle charge going. No problems. LithiumIons prefer that.

[fuzzduzz]

I'm just lookinf for a wi-fi connection to the internet a 1/2 hr. per day 5 days a week. No hotspots no bluetooth just (wan). T-Mobile is $30/unlimited not as good as at&t is offering.

[ADBrown]

I'm just lookinf for a wi-fi connection to the internet a 1/2 hr. per day 5 days a week. No hotspots no bluetooth just (wan). T-Mobile is $30/unlimited not as good as at&t is offering.

Any service which doesn't need you to be at a hotspot is going to require a Bluetooth link to a cell phone. There just isn't wide enough deployment of WiFi yet in most areas to do what you're talking about.

[Sven Johannsen]

Wifi is a short range system. In most cases you need to be within 100-200ft of an Access Point. Yea the specs go farther, but in reality, most WiFi setups are for a fairly close area, such as a Starbucks, and not much around it. Areas with more coverage like airports tend to have multiple access points and higher gain antennas, but they are still generally not designed to cover you in the parking lot.

Unless you are in one of the handfull of cities that has a municipal program to blanket the town with WiFi, or are on a similarly equipped business campus, and are an employee, or an academic campus and are a student or faculty, if you want WiFi, you have to go to a hotspot.

GPRS over a cell phone, connected to the PPC over a cable, IR or BT is at this point the only location independen way of connecting to the internet. Even that is dependent on cell phone service.

[fuzzduzz]

the guy at at&t wireless says i can connect to the web every where they have service (nationally) with the wi-fi that's built in to the axim x30. He says he has a dell and is using the service.

[ADBrown]

He's wrong. The 4 MB for $13 that you outlined earlier is a GPRS data plan, like what you would get with a cell phone. To get internet access anywhere AT&T has service, you would need a Bluetooth cell phone to act as a modem. AT&T also has a WiFi hotspot service, but it's only at a relatively few locations. He may have meant that, or that he was connecting his Axim to the AT&T's nationwide internet service through a Bluetooth phone. Salepeople are rarely clear communicators, unfortunately.

By the way, if you end up going with a cell phone solution, you might want to consider Cingular instead of AT&T. They have unlimited internet access for just $20 a month. Plus Cingular and AT&T are merging, and Cingular's going to become the brand image, so it might save you having to change your plan later anyway.

[fuzzduzz]

1. I live in a rual area 1 hour north of detroit. There are 2 hotspots in the city of 30,000 but I won't be anywhere near them.
2. I want to get on the web each business day (5 days a week) for about 1/2 an hour to check the stocks I own and are thinking of buying.
3. What do I need to have to do this (smartphone, cell phone, pda phone ???) Thanks for your time and efforts and putting up with my lack of knowledge.

[ADBrown]

What you want is a Bluetooth cell phone and an internet plan for it. Then you can connect the Axim to the phone via Bluetooth, and you have an internet connection anywhere you can get a cell signal.

[fuzzduzz]

And the bluetooth capibilities that's built into this dell axim that I have won't do that on it's owm??? Thanks again.

[bmurphy]

As far as I understand it... bluetooth isn't a modem... you either need a wireless setup with modem (Apple airport)(if you are restricted to a dial-up connection and not near any cable or highspeed provider as country service usually is) ,and an internet package from an internet provider... If you are in your home, and then the wireless in the Dell will automatically work; or as the post before said, a cellphone (bluetooth) that has an internet package and the two bluetooths talk to one another, and the dell uses the cellphone's internet through the bluetooth connectivity. Probably the cellphone is the better choice if the dell is your only computer..

[ADBrown]

And the bluetooth capibilities that's built into this dell axim that I have won't do that on it's owm??? Thanks again.

No. Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology, designed for interconnecting devices like headsets, phones, laptops, and handhelds at a range of up to 30 feet. If you want to connect to a cellular network, you need a phone to act as a modem.

[PetiteFlower]

I think you're a little fuzzy on what bluetooth and wifi are. Both of them are WIRELESS CONNECTION technologies. Neither of them are internet access on their own. Each can be used to connect you TO something that will get you on the internet. Wifi can connect you to a hotspot or to a wireless network in your home (if you have a wireless router or access point at home). Bluetooth can connect you to a cell phone which can act as a modem to get you online, or it can also connect you to a BT access point similar to the way a Wifi access point works.

If you want to be able to get on from anywhere, then you need a cell phone modem connection. This can be accomplished with bluetooth, or alternately with cables such as from www.gomadic.com. I use a cable because I have an X5 with no wireless capablities, it works pretty easily and there are more phones that support this type of connection then there are bluetooth phones right now, so it's worth checking out as an option. Verizon offers unlimited wireless web for $5 a month, but the minutes you are online are shared with your voice minutes, so that's probably not going to work for you :)

Clearer now?

[fuzzduzz]

It's all comming together slowly but surely. Thanks for your time and efforts, all of you guys. Is there any kind of software out there that could be downloaded on the dell axin x30 that would act as a dialer or modem??? Sounds to good to be true :(

[ADBrown]

It's all comming together slowly but surely. Thanks for your time and efforts, all of you guys. Is there any kind of software out there that could be downloaded on the dell axin x30 that would act as a dialer or modem??? Sounds to good to be true :(

All the neccessary software is already built into the Axim, all you need is the Bluetooth phone.

[Sven Johannsen]

It's all comming together slowly but surely. Thanks for your time and efforts, all of you guys. Is there any kind of software out there that could be downloaded on the dell axin x30 that would act as a dialer or modem??? Sounds to good to be true :(

Dialer yes. Modem no. A modem is a hardware function that is not built into any PPC. You can get SD or CF card modems that attach to normal phone jacks, and then you dial an ISP # just like you would from a PC with an internal modem. That sometimes precludes services that require you to use their own dialer software, that may not be available for the PPC.

Incidentally the AT&T guy wasn't wrong, He just forgot to say you can get access anywhere they have WiFi service (nationally). AT&T does have a WiFi service independent of their cell service, just like T-Mobile does. The WiFi at Denver International Airport is supplied by AT&T and you have be subscribed to, or pay as you go, to AT&T for that WiFi. Has nothing to do with your having AT&T as a home or cell provider. (Except maybe a price break)

[ChemNerd]

For the idea your painting you need, as many have said, to buy any bluetooth phone with cingular, at&t, or T-Mobile. If you already have a cellphone plan with any of these companies then I recomend you add the service and upgrade your phone as you often get a discount on the internet service if you have a voice plan with the company.

Get your bluetooth phone and partner/friend the two devices and you can pretty much go from there. You can set the bluetooth to share net and just do what you need to do for whatever phone you get.

It's not bad as you can leave the phone in your pocket and access the net fine and dandy. It's truely a unique experience. The only drawback is that you'll have to make sure the phone is charged in order for it to work - but it's a minor thing.

Good luck!