Christmas is approaching which means I’ll be heading to the UK for my Turkey dinner soon. It also means that I’ll be checking out mobile broadband and 3G netbook availability just in case I feel the need while I’m there. Here’s a few news items I found as I was checking out offers today.
Virgin Mobile is introducing a pre and post-pay option to their mobile phone tariff which gives you a full day of web access (We assume that it’s a port-80 proxy service here) for just 30p. OK, it’s only 25MB and you can’t officially tether your phone to a PC but for using something like Opera Mini on the occasional day away from home, it’s more than enough. If you’re looking to use the service on a more permanent basis though, the per-week and per-month option from 3UK are probably going to work out better as they have less restrictive limits. More info here. Via Informatics Online
The ASUS 901 is now available with built-in 3G from Orange UK on a 24-month contract. This must be the same as the 901 GO that’s available in other countries. The device is free but the monthly charge is 25 pounds. I highly recommended this item a few months ago and I stick by it. If you want one of the more mobile netbook options, this is the one to go for. It comes with XP and 16GB SSD. More info at Orange. Note: The same device is available, contract free, in Germany for 449 Euros.
Clove Technology has the Blue Samsung NC10 marked up at 343 pounds and due on Dec 12th. I can’t find any info about a 3G-enabled one though. This is the product I’m hoping will launch soon but it looks like I may have to wait until after Christmas.
Update: There’s a Samsung NC10 HSPA available in Poland now.
The Advent 4213 (ECS G10L) is available for 322 pounds. It has the 3G module built in but comes with a relatively small battery. Its not the device i’m looking for.
Got any UK mobile internet product tips? If so, let everyone know in the comments below.
The black hsdpa nc10 is already available in Poland :) really nice device.
I pay £5 for 1 month 3G internet on 3 UK ‘pay as you go’ on my Nokia phone. They never seem to know how much data I use (they state 1GB limit). They also don’t seem know when I connect through my laptop.
The service quality / availability varies a lot though. They say they use GPRS from another network when their 3G isn’t available but generally it’s so bad it doesn’t work.
Also heard that their USB modems use a specific SIM that gives higher data speeds than their regular phone SIM.
It’s ok for the money unless you really need to have internet everywhere.
The Virgin mobile 30p price looks good, but I think it’s just for pay monthly people (i.e. not me). From the website:
“If you Pay Monthly, you’ll be saying… hello to one simple rate for accessing the Mobile Web on your phone.”
My UK mobile tip: three.co.uk seem to have come up with a really good value mobile broadband starter kit:
http://www.three.co.uk/personal/products_services_/mobile_broadband_/starter_kit.omp
This is £100 for a 12 month limit of 12Gb, with the dongle included. This is way better than their pay as you go option, which costs £50 for the dongle then £10 a month (ie £170 for the first 12 months), which gives you 1Gb per month which you can’t carry over or bring forward. Is this really great value or have I missed a catch somewhere?
Not wanting to mislead people, I wanted to correct something I said. The Virgin 30p per day DOES work with pay as you go. I know ‘cos I’ve tried it!
I too am waiting for the NC10 to have built in unlocked 3G.
peejay, cheers for the heads up, that’s a decent deal, I paid £80 6 months ago for my 3 dongle.
Update on that NC10 3G here….
http://www.umpcportal.com/2008/12/samsung-nc10-3g-already-available-in-poland
T-mobile has 3 gb (every month) for 5 pounds on pay monthly. I use Nokia E90 with Joiku software and Advent 4212. Works brilliant.
Suppy, I can’t find reference to that on the t-mobile website. It’s saying £15 per month (£10 per month for the first three months):
http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-broadband/data-plans/pay-monthly/mobile-broadband-laptop/plans/
Oh, sorry. I meant Web’n’Walk tarrifs on pay monthly; mobile phone’s tarrifs. I just took G1 with unlimited (3gb) internet. I also have Nokia E90 and Joiku software (works on any s60 3rd device) and use it with Netbook. The thing is, You can’t use your phone/sim like a modem, but with Joiku it works great (makes Wi-Fi acces point).
I should say that it is not just for the broadband contract; sorry for that.
FWIW, I’ve been using a web-n-walk USB modem with my UMPC (which doesn’t have 3G/HSDPA built in) and it’s so-so. Firstly, whilst the software takes every oportunity to pop up a window saying “3G 7.2Mbps connected”, I find the average is 100Kbps, with 200Kbps for brief spikes. The bigger problem is that I seem to have the connection get into a state where no packets are recieved by the OS (I haven’t investigated which bit seems to be at fault yet) which requires loading up the manager and manually disconnecting and reconnecting. This means downloading anything over about 2MB is almost certain to fail. (There’s also the guff that they technically talk about outdoor service in all their documentation; being indoors where it’s the warm is not a conforming situation.)
I haven’t any experience with the other UK mobile internet services so this may be the standard level. I just thought I’d mention it for anyone who, like me, isn’t in a position to get land-line broadband (changing address too often) and expects UK mobile internet to be their primary internet connection.
Been using the 3 5Gb/month mobile “broadband” package which I got via Quidco for £7.50/month (usual price £15/month). If you don’t mind getting 25kbps upload and 200kbps download then it’s fine.
Put the usim in a Samsung i600 so it can be used via bluetooth to a laptop or straight on the phone.
Anyway, just got a Medion E1210 form of all places Argos for £250 (web only deal). Basically, it’s a MSI Wind that’s £20 cheaper than from the Medion shop and £50 cheaper than buying an MSI.