Internet and Mobile Devices for Mobile People

[ickkii]

Hey I joined the forum a few days ago. I have plans for an 800w solar powered sprinter over in the conversion forum. While I haven't began vandwelling yet, I'm pretty young and an app developer so I think I can help a few of the older folks with computer related stuff. <br><br><strong>Internet</strong><br><img rel="lightbox" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/07/clearspot-4g-apollo.jpg" class="bbc_img"><br>I highly recommend the clearwire 4g apollo hotspot. You'll have to check clearwires coverage area to see if it's usable for you. This hotspot uses a $40 a month 4g data plan and converts that signal into wifi for all of your computers to use. It has a built in battery and charges over usb, so you can either plug it into an ac adapter, or a usb cigarette receptacle for dc. If your computer has a usb port you can use that as well. <br><br>Why this hotspot instead of their cheaper ones?<br><br><img rel="lightbox" src="" class="bbc_img"><br>You're not going to get great signal inside of a metal van are you? This antenna is compatible with that hotspot and can be mounted outside to get better signal. It connects to the hotspot and the wifi in your van metal will be great since the signal will be more concentrated inside your metal box.<br>http://www.ebay.com/itm/Booster-Ant...et-More-Speed-4G-NEW-/160904722825#vi-content<br><br>If clearwire isn't available in your area, t-mobile is the next best bet. They have more affordable data plans compared to at&amp;t, sprint, and verizon. The service isn't quite as great as clearwire's, but still good. They also don't sell data to law enforcement, which is a practice I'm sure we can all appreciate considering the run-ins with police a few of you receive. <br><br><strong>Mobile Devices</strong><br>My first thing I want to get out of the way before starting this topic is that I'm not an apple guy. As an app developer this platform is so locked down that it makes getting serious work done more difficult. So while I have this bias, I want to state that iOS on ipads or iphones can be a little more friendly for older folks without much experience, but if you're a quick learner (which I assume most of you are) android is quickly taking apple's marketshare and is a lot more open and cheaper to use. Android is a free operating system made by google which is free to use by manufacturers, iOS is a proprietary operating system by apple limited to only devices made by apple. There are tons of android devices which range in price, and a limited selection of iOS devices which are more expensive and generally less featured than similarly priced android devices.<br><br>So with that said lets get into devices.<br><br><img rel="lightbox" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02215/tf300a_2215267b.jpg" class="bbc_img"><br>The first device I want to recommend to this forum is the Asus Transformer 300 (TF300). This device gets some of the best battery life on the market&nbsp; with a whopping 12-16 hours of on screen time per charge. The reason it gets so much battery life is because the tablet has a removable keyboard dock with an additional battery inside of it. It also has 3 storage expansion options, micro sd on the tablet, usb and full sized sd on the dock. Do not underestimate that usb port, because you can connect a 2.5in external hard drive to it and have a terabyte of storage space! The keyboard is small, but usable if you don't want to type on touch screens. It has wifi to connect to the 4g hotspot, but no 3g/4g antennas of it's own (keep in this can save battery life). This device is great because if you charge it at a coffee shop while you get your cup of joe each morning, you'll have enough battery life to last you the rest of the day... never requiring van power.<br><br>This device runs around $300-400, the dock is purchased separately. If cost is an issue consider looking for aftermarket devices on ebay or craigslist, it can really save some cash vs a new unit.<br><br>I personally have a transformer prime (TF201) which is the model before this. It uses an aluminum body instead of plastic like the tf300, which can be worse for signal strength if you're trying to siphon someone's wifi, but it's solid as a rock. I've dropped this thing over 6 times and still can't seem to break it (once on tile, twice on concrete, 3 times on wood).<br><br>Since the topic of accidents was mentioned, squaretrade offers extended warranties for $70 which cover accidents drops and spills for 2 years - which insure you for what you paid for the device. I picked up one of these as well. If this interests you, be sure to do it immediately after buying your (new) device, because you have a short window before your device becomes ineligible (they can't insure your ancient Pentium machine for what you paid for it lol).<br><br><img rel="lightbox" src="http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEyLzA2LzI3LzExXzIxXzQ1XzM1Ml9maWxl/408f2b18" class="bbc_img"><br>Another device worth mentioning is the nexus 7, it's also by asus - but commissioned by google. The strength of this device is that it's dirt cheap ($200 new) and one of the more powerful tablets on the market. If you're a phone hacker like me, you'll find that the community support for this device is amazing over on xda-developers.com. Because it's a google nexus device, it runs on open source android and is pretty stable because it's running a clean OS that hasn't been skinned by another manufacturer. Since it's cheap it does come with a drawback, it doesn't have many storage expansion options (apple devices have 0) apart from the mini-usb port which charges it. Fortunately a few adapters are made for it, so you'll have to search around.<br><br>There are plenty of other android tablets that are worth recommending, but I'm going to keep it simple with these two. I use the TF201, my girlfriend uses the nexus 7. <br><br><img rel="lightbox" src="http://www.techspot.com/articles-info/372/images/5b.jpg" class="bbc_img"><br><br>I also have a lenovo thinkpad x220 for programming in a linux or windows environment. I highly recommend lenovo's devices because they're built like bricks and made for business use to last, there are even videos of nerds pumping lightning from tesla coils into older t40s - the thinkpad booted right back up. <br><br>The drawback from having a laptop, is that x86/x64 processors aren't as power efficient as android/iOS SoCs. My laptop battery life is less than 25% of what the tablets can get. Granted, it's an i5 powerhouse - computing is quickly moving towards a mobile platform of phones, tablets, and convertible tablets like the transformers. Another gripe is powerful laptops generally run at 3x the price as powerful tablets. If you're not a programmer, consider switching your computing uses over to more efficient tablet computers, if there's software you're hooked on, it's likely ported over to android, or will be in the future. <br><br>With that said I'll conclude this topic. If you have a device worth mentioning or an ISP worth recommending, please feel free to share it in this thread.<br><br>

 

[blars]

Clear and T-mobile's coverage areas are close to useless for me.&nbsp; Millenicom's resold verizon plan is what I use.&nbsp; (they also resell sprint)<br><br>Thinkpads quality has dropped since ibm sold it to lenovo, but it's still better than most laptops.&nbsp; My x120e is still doing ok after 8 months, but the battery life is noticibly down.

 

[Ballenxj]

ickkii, thanks for posting this.<br>Blars, I'm using a Lenovo Thinkpad. It seems OK, but I'm curious what your thoughts are on it? My backup is an ipad II. <br>-Bruce

 

[caseyc]

<span style="line-height: 16px;">Hi ickkii,<br><br>Thanks for posting. I'm pretty much very like minded as you regarding this topic. &nbsp;Although I have and use numerous Windows laptops over the years, I've been steadily moving over to mobile, energy efficient devices such as my Lenova A2109 Android tablet, Samsung 7.7 Tab Android tablet by Verizon, Samsung Note 2 Android phone by Verizon, Fujitsu Q550 Windows PC tablet, etc. &nbsp;I particularly like devices such as my Lenova A2109 Android tablet, and the Nexus 7 tablet because of the simple fact that it's powered by the popular micro-USB outlet. &nbsp;This means the same USB cord that charges my smartphone can also charge my tablet, and vice-versa. &nbsp;I have so many micro-USB chargers in my vehicles that I can easily charge such devices. &nbsp;But trying to charge devices that require electricity (eg: laptops, etc) can be a pain for many reasons. &nbsp;I'm even thinking of getting the new Lenova Windows 8 PC tablet with a 10" touch screen and stylus pen that is charged by a micro-USB outlet. &nbsp;Granted the micro-USB outlet is probably slower to fully charge a device, but just the convenience of it is a big plus in my opinion. &nbsp;By the way, I don't use a wifi/mobile hotspot device, instead I'm using my Samsung Note 2 Android smartphone and have PdaNet/Foxfi app that provides "free" wireless tethering to my many mobile devices such as my tablets and laptops while on the road. Since I have grandfathered unlimited 4G internet data through Verizon, my wireless tethering speed is quite fast, relatively speaking. &nbsp;By the way, like yourself, I way prefer Android versus Apple devices, because all the apps I really like that lie, cheat and steal aren't available in the Apple store! &nbsp;Haha! &nbsp;With Android, anything goes! &nbsp;With Apple, unless you have Steve Jobs' blessing from the grave, you can't download certain apps without having to sideload/jailbreak, etc. &nbsp;I can "proudly" proclaim that I don't own/use a single Apple product, haha! &nbsp;However, my disclaimer is that I love and own Apple stock which I've had for years. &nbsp;Go Apple stock, I need you to get back above 700 again! &nbsp;Cheers! Casey<br><br></span>

 

[Cubey]

As much as I don't like tablets I may end up getting one since I do like to spend a lot of time online and the battery can last better than even a netbook. I have an Android phone for Virgin Mobile (unlimited data for $35/mo, add WIFI tethering for $15 more) but being on such a small screen, it can get old really fast. That's where the WIFI tethering comes in handy.<br><br>Of course... it's not hard to find a library to plug up your laptop and phone (if they don't have open WIFI) and spend many hours there daily without anyone bothering you. Free, open WIFI is everywhere these days... even Lowes has it for an hour or two a day, based on your device's MAC address.<br><br>It's going to be a long time before I need one, however. I'm going to be on the grid mostly so I can do fine with the laptop I have now (which is a big power hog, it has a gaming GPU).

 

[ickkii]

I agree with the thinkpad battery life. I don't really expect much out of a power hungry laptop because it's going to be short compared my tablets no matter how good it is. I view the laptop as more of a work machine and the tablet as my general use computer. When I post long comments I tend to open up the laptop for the full sized keyboard because it's a bit easier for me to edit posts on it than it is the tablet. But casual browsing and media consumption is 100% the tablet for me.<br><br>I think I mentioned somewhere around here that blacking out the interior of your van will help save battery life by lowering brightness, the screen backlights tend to eat alot of power and it's not the greatest for your eyes to have really bright lights shining in them.<br><br>As for the smaller size of the tablet, I think this gets offset by pinch to zoom, my mother is in her 50s and she loves the pinch to zoom with her glasses off. <br><br>I'd recommend one additional purchase for anyone getting a tablet that has a good pair of headphones - a headphone amp. There are apps that can do this but the preamp tends to lead to audio distortion, and the amp will really let you get those load volumes you'll want. I have a $30 fio e6 headphone amp for my tablet and it's working great with my audiophile grade headphones. Very portable as well with a built in battery. <br><br>As for the coverage areas, I wasn't expecting everyone to be able to use clear - but it's the best bang for the buck if you're eligible. Also check out republic wireless, I've seen them mentioned before - they piggyback sprints networks. They aren't very friendly towards tethering, but as long as you don't make it blatantly obvious you'll be able to get away with it.<br><br>Casey, as a developer I tend to lean towards google because it's cheaper to publish apps to their market ($25 liscense vs $90 a year on the appstore) plus I'm free to distribute on 3rd party websites since sideloading is an option with even stock devices. Many companies I've built apps for in the past tend to prefer this as well, since they want apps built that can be loaded on the devices without having to publish them online.&nbsp; Since the operating system can be customized they get more of what they want out of the devices. For customers the appstore can work, for employees not quite as much. My google stock hit 800 a share a few days ago so no complaints here considering I bought it at 600 last year. I may look at selling it while I'm ahead since you mentioned falling apple stock.

 

[ickkii]

oh and here's that thinkpad video I mentioned in OP.<br><br>[video]

 

[Guest]

got an old t42. second one. love this thing, but backlight went out. have to use external monitor. got some inverters cheap, have to sit down and try to fix. have used newer laptops but love my older thinkpad. use linux also. used to haul this little gizmo everywhere. i like the keyboard. fits my hands good. not bulky.

 

[ickkii]

heh I had a similar arrangement to yours for 3 years meg, not in a van but I managed to pick a t40 up for $30 off a friend when they we're only a few years old. The catch was it had a cracked display. Got around to fixing it a few years later and made $150 off it on craigslist, they're still a desirable laptop for a lot of linux guys.

 

[Seraphim]

Ickkii

It's. Nice of you to be willing to help us older folk, though it might not have occurred to you some of us older folks have been involved with computers since the TRS-1 first hit the electronic stores...

...exactly how old are you?

*grin*

And I agree with you - Apple has lost its moat, so unless they come out with something really groundbreaking (again) that no one else has, I don't see their NAV increasing again on any significant level.

Cubey

Unless you have an essential program which requires a specific platform, I think pads are the way to go. All my boxes were Linux powered, but once I got the IPad, Everything else pretty much got packed up.

 

[caseyc]

I'm not exactly a senior citizen myself...yet &nbsp; At age 47, that makes me what?&nbsp; Middle age, I guess, haha!&nbsp; My first computer that I actually bought was an IBM 286 desktop Windows computer with that pathetic 3.5" storage diskette.&nbsp; Prior to that, I had used computers with 5.25" floppy storage diskettes that really was literally "floppy" (bendable), haha!&nbsp; Back in those ancient, dark, dinasour days, in order to do a simple mail-merge for letters and envelopes, you had to make sure you inserted commas in exactly the right spot in the long list of addresses, or else everything gets screwed up!&nbsp; I actually had to use DOS commands prior to Windows becoming popular.&nbsp; Although I enjoyed using computers, I was certainly no programmer.&nbsp; I even failed "Basic" programming language, never mind Cobal or Pascal, haha!&nbsp; My first Windows PC&nbsp;laptop that I purchased&nbsp;around 15+ years ago&nbsp;literally cost $6,000 for a Toshiba Tecra 700 model, and the specs on that laptop would be laughable today in terms of specs and speed!&nbsp; Back then, internet speed was measured with a word called "Baum" (i think), and 56k phone modem speed was considered fast!&nbsp; I remember my first wireless modem subscription many years ago by a company/manufacturer called "Riccochet Wireless".&nbsp; I had to attach a black rectagular modem the size of a small brick to my laptop, and the modem received a signal depending if there was a transmitter attached to a telephone pole nearby your neighborhood.&nbsp; It literally took a few minutes just to get the home page loaded because the speed was soooooo slow!&nbsp; Plus it was expensive monthly service too.&nbsp; Boy that was considered cutting edge technology way back then!&nbsp; Was anyone else a sucker here to have subscribed to that service?&nbsp; If I also recall correctly, 15+ years ago, the built-in memory for the Palm Pilot PDAs was such that if the battery went to zero life, all data would be lost!! Years later, the newer technology battery was installed so that the memory/data would be retained even if the battery went dead.&nbsp; That would explain why I'm so paranoid about battery life, even to this day!&nbsp; That's also why I have so many portable batteries that can charge up my electronic devices, and I have numerous batteries ranging in size and power output.&nbsp; The smallest portable battery I have only puts out 1500 Mah (sp?), and the largest portable battery I have literally spits out 16,000 Mah !&nbsp; It's a disease, I know! Haha!<br><br>Edit: I also had one of those silly pagers that cost an absurd $75 monthly. The sales guy who sold me the pager said only doctors and lawyers have pagers because it's so high tech!&nbsp; I was only a college student way back then.<br><br><br><br>

 

[rokguy]

<EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">I'm still using a Asus Eee PC 10in netbook model running good ol windows xp. Why? cause it works I like the fact xp was more business orientated and less social media like the later window 7 - 8.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">I can do all my qouting and invoices on the road using free Open Office now since I freed up a heap of space and deleted word.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">What I really like about this PC is it runs straight 12v&nbsp;and has a battery life of 10 hours (which I'm still getting out of it) some of the newer ones are 18v.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">I do like the 18v Asus Transformer ickkii mentioned. &nbsp;I was&nbsp;looking recently at the upgraded touch screen one, running android OS. </SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">What I didn't like was&nbsp;I could not plug my usb 3G broadband drive into it, (it is only wireless)&nbsp;apparently Android can't run these 3G sticks like windows can.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">&nbsp;Its funny to see the faces on the sales staff when you ask them what the DC voltage is, the blank looks on their face is priceless especially when you tell them its to run&nbsp;on a DC solar system.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">I do like Android and use a Samsung Galaxy S smartphone which charges nicely from the&nbsp;USB on the Asus plugged into the bank.&nbsp;</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">(I charge the smartphone up on a portable PowerMonkey solar charger when I'm in the field.)</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">I like using the marine nav software on it which alerts me to ships AIS transponders, giving pos, speed, distance, track and a collision alert.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Google is great with the free transport apps too. You can get all around any place these days without carrying maps and timetables anymore.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Good thread ickkii. interesting.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Geoff</SPAN></STRONG></EM>

 

[offroad]

great discussion. would add to consider the used market for this technology. used IPAD specifically. they can always be repaired. then add a keyboard and good to go.<BR><BR>yes apple development is combersome. you can get into a cheaper apple development by just creating for jailbroken market. if that will help you get software out there.&nbsp;<BR><BR>ICKKII - pretty good pricing on the hotspot.&nbsp; Comcast is charging $30 monthly for a land line connected internet connection.&nbsp; But if I got a hotspot, could drop the $20 I pay for ipad on verizon, and the comcast too.

 

[caseyc]

I forgot to mention, I also have these 2 portable solar batteries to charge my small electronic devices, such as my smartphones and tablets.<br><br>Power Monkey Extreme Solar Charger (with full size USB outlet)<br>This device&nbsp;has a full size USB charging outlet, and I use this to charge my Samsung 7.7 Tab Android tablet.&nbsp;<br><a href="http://www.earthtechproducts.com/po...PMEXT001&amp;gclid=CLGZ2cfZ1rUCFYXc4Aod4kkAwQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.earthtechproducts.com/po...PMEXT001&amp;gclid=CLGZ2cfZ1rUCFYXc4Aod4kkAwQ</a><br><br>Solar JOOS Orange V2 - Personal Solar Charger (with micro-USB outlet)<br>This device&nbsp;has a smaller micro-USB charging outlet, and I use this to charge my Lenova A2109 Android tablet.<br><a href="http://www.earthtechproducts.com/solar-joos-orange.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.earthtechproducts.com/solar-joos-orange.html</a><br><br>I bought both solar charging devices at a local REI sporting goods store, but I'm sure you can get these cheaper online.

 

[lampliter]

ickkiii:<br>Do you have knowledge of the HP Slate due to go on sale in April?

 

[adi]

Just wanted to chime in. <br><br>I currently have both a tablet and a laptop. Like ickii, my laptop is a power guzzler, so it only gets used when I have access to 120v, or when I know 120v will be available shortly. <br><br>I have the current generation Asus Transformer Infinity, which I'm starting to use more than my laptop. With a wireless keyboard and mouse with the docking station, I can have it set up comfortably, and again, it has 15-18 hours of battery life with the dock. It took me a while to find apps that I liked, but right now I'm happy with my ebook reader, office/doc app, and drawing app. Even my password manager works on Android, which I was very happy to find. Even holding the 10" tablet itself to read is comfortable for 3-4 hours for me. I've also hooked it up to a TV via HDMI and could watch youtube or movies from it. <br><br>I looked at other 10" tablets, but they had certain features which I see as a requirement. Vs the Nexus 7/10, the microSD slot on the Asus is a requirement if you don't have constant/reliable internet. Unfortunately Google would like you to push everything to the cloud, but if you want access to your content, you need an internet connection, which doesn't work for me. Vs the Samsung, it was much closer, but the dock and screen resolution sealed the deal for me. <br><br>It only pulls 18w at 120v, compared to the 40-90w of my laptop. <br><br><br>

 

[ickkii]

Seraphim, I'm 22 - sorry if OP was condescending towards older folks, totally didn't mean it that way.<br><br>Glad you mentioned portable batteries Casey, this one has been on sale for $50 for a few months and has 10ah of capacity with 5v, 9v, and 12v settings. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1PP0F11357<br>As for carriers charging $70 for pager service, just goes to show they've historically been crooks haha. I used to game online and I'd always hear my european friends brag about how cheap their service is compared to mine. It's ridiculous. <br>For solar panels, what motivated me to get back into an 800w solar sprinter setup was actually researching little panels like that and deciding to just go all out. <br><br>Rokguy, if you have a 12v laptop you might want to check that portable external battery I posted above. Definitely could be an asset to you if you don't have one. Just curious, which eee pc? I was watching them religiously when they were announced years ago, but moved over to the tablet/phone market shortly after.<br>It's not really that android CAN'T run your stick, it more than likely is capable with the usb supported devices, just driver issues as I'm sure you've figured out by now. Not really android's fault is all I'm saying <img rel="lightbox" src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" class="bbc_img"><br>Fortunately most newer usb devices are gaining android support.<br><br>offroad, my parents have already done this at their house and it's working great for them. First time in years I've seen them have consistent internet access because the pricing works for them.<br><br>lampliter, I like others in the android community haven't been closely watching HPs tablets due to their history in the tablet market with the touchpads. One of those wait and see type things in my opinion. I'm more stoked about the tegra 4 devices around the corner. Likely to be what my next upgrade is. <br><br>adi, good to see another transformer guy in here. I decided to hold off on the tf700 since I prefer to upgrade when new processors/socs come out. Gotta say though I'm glad they changed the microsd and headphone jack to be on a flat surface in that unit, my prime has it on a curved angle, not a huge deal but it's not optimal for a 100% secure connection. MicroSD is a pretty big deal for me too. Not so much for my girlfriend since she can just use solid explorer to set up an easy ftp connection to my terabyte external drive whenever I'm not using my laptop or tablet. I think there's an adapter for this too but I just haven't bothered since she transfers most of her music to her gs2 with sd card slot. It's a good tablet for people who don't need huge amounts of storage. I have money invested in a 64gb microsd card so it's not an option for me.<br><br>Also adi, minor correction - its 18v at 1amp (can also charge off 12v 1.5a). The transformer is kind of odd since it needs to detect over 11v to enter normal charge. The nexus 7 can charge off regular 5v usb.

 

[adi]

18w from the wall according to my kill-a-watt, not the voltage of the unit itself. I use this to measure active power consumption (eeePC I could get down to 10w, current laptop to 30w disabling wifi/low power profiles). Just a common measurement if I need to run them off of an inverter (like the laptop).

To be honest, I wouldn't want to sit around waiting for it to charge over a .5a PC usb connection (~18 hours?).

Even with the new headphone jack placement my headphone adapter extends past the screen, not a huge deal but an odd thing to want to find low profile headphone jacks.

 

[Seraphim]

Seraphim, I'm 22 - sorry if OP was condescending towards older folks, totally didn't mean it that way.

Not all! I was merely having a chuckle lol. I've gotten spoiled by Apple iPhones and iPad, and I'm out date in many areas. Use to program a bit in C, but I couldn't write an app to save my life. Strictly a user now. Glad to have you here.

 

[highdesertranger]

ickkii any suggestion for internet out in the sticks&nbsp;i looked into that clear thing it seems only a big city type thing.&nbsp; inexpensive is a plus too.&nbsp; highdesertranger