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Cell Phones for Laptop Users?

Posted by Cliff on Wed Apr 26, 2006 09:25 PM
from the sync-charge-and-dial-up dept.
Communications Portables Apple
ZiZ asks: "I'm looking for a cell phone that will do three things well: make calls, sync with my computer's address book/scheduler, and act as a wireless (3G) modem for my Apple laptop. I'd forgo the USB networking if I could, but my 12" Powerbook doesn't have a PC Card slot. I don't really care about Bluetooth one way or the other, so the question of what Verizon does or does not allow Bluetooth to do, for instance, doesn't really apply to me - I'd rather plug my phone into a USB port, have it charge up, sync, and connect me to the Internet. Unfortunately, most of the information floating around the web is all about Bluetooth's DUN, and almost none of it about USB charging or USB connectivity. What US carrier and compatible phone would you get to fulfill these simple tasks?"
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  • If you could look up a Verizon -> USB/Ethernet/PCMIA card for a 15 1/2" laptop I'd be much obliged. :D

  • Verizon e815 (Score:4, Informative)

    by jokell82 (536447) on Wednesday April 26 2006, @09:30PM (#15209281) Homepage
    I'm using a Verizon e815 that has been "hacked" to allow more bluetooth functions. It works great as a bluetooth modem when I'm on the road.

    Howard Forums [howardforums.com] is a *great* resource when it comes to stuff like this.

    • Re:Verizon e815 (Score:4, Informative)

      by PaulK (85154) on Wednesday April 26 2006, @10:45PM (#15209592)
      It is against the Verizon TOS to tether any EVDO phone for access without a broadband plan. It's ok with the x1 only phones, (710, etc), IIRC.

      Whether you do it or not is entirely your decision, but people should not run out and buy an E815, razr, 8100, or 9800 for this express purpose without planning to spend a chunk of change.

      They have introduced a plan that will allow you to tether for an additional $59 per month. Story here [pcmag.com].

      I use the E815 as well; I love the BT obex under linux.
      [ Parent ]

      • Re:Verizon e815 (Score:3, Informative)

        by Fez (468752) *
        I've got an e815 from Verizon and I love it too. Apparently if you want the full bluetooth functionality on a Mac though, you have to first hack it on a PC.

        It's not against their ToS to use it as a modem to connect to a dialup ISP, it's just not very effic

  • SprintPCs all the way (Score:5, Informative)

    by Flimzy (657419) on Wednesday April 26 2006, @09:40PM (#15209318)
    My main suggestion is to get a regular phone (as opposed to a pc card from Sprint, then get a USB cable. Why? I'm probably shooting myself in the foot here by posting this on Slashdot, but to my knowledge, they are the only company that gives you "free" unlimited Internet useage over USB.

    If you get their PC card, they charge you a hefty amount per month for Internet access. But if you get a USB cable (check eBay), which they don't officially admit exists, and sign up for their "unlimited" vision plan ($10/mo), you can use unlimited internet.

    This was my only Internet connection for nearly 12 months while I was unemployed. They never complained (altho the slashdot effect might change that now!)

    As for phones that let you sync... I have no idea. But I'm sure you can find one of those. That's just a feature I've never cared about.

    • Re:SprintPCs all the way (Score:4, Informative)

      by pintomp3 (882811) on Wednesday April 26 2006, @10:06PM (#15209432)
      tmobile lets you use your phone as a modem without extra cost too. i frequently use mine as a bluetooth modem.
      [ Parent ]
      • seconded. I have a samsung t809 and can use it as a USB modem if i so wished, although I have no dialup account to dial into, but that's neither here nor there :-)

      • I BELIEVE if you are using your phone as a modem to (for example) call some other ISP then I think you are correct, but of course you use up your "minutes" then.

        On the other hand, if you have any kind of phone plan with them, for an extra $19/month you ca

        • u can dail up to an isp and use the phone like a traditional analog modem (csd), you would only get 9.6kbps and it would eat your minutes. doesn't require a data plan though. i was refering to getting a data plan and going using the phone as a gprs modem (

  • all the info you need (Score:4, Informative)

    by scenestar (828656) on Wednesday April 26 2006, @09:40PM (#15209319) Homepage Journal
    can be found here http://tuxmobil.org/phones_linux.html [tuxmobil.org]

    • Just avoid Verizon like the plague. They like to charge you money for things you can do with your hardware for free. They also like to bait-and-switch: I was promised that I could use my phone as a laptop modem. I bought the plan. Tech support explaine
      • I haven't read the entire agreement, nor do I care to. My attorneys will, and they'll then recommend my course of action.

        Binding arbitration, forgoing your day in court.

        You did have "your attorneys" read it before you signed it, right?
  • I've always used SprintPCS for data. Pricing seems to be the most fair of any provider and they are always on the leading edge of high speed wireless.

    From the SprintPCS site for their Power Vision phones:

    Phone as Modem Capable
    Use the included USB cable or

  • Sprint (Score:4, Informative)

    by MBCook (132727) <foobarsoft@foobarsoft.com> on Wednesday April 26 2006, @10:22PM (#15209510) Homepage
    I'm not a big fan of Sprint (although I hear Verizon is worse), but they are my company so here is what I can tell you. I have used two phones with my 15" PB: the LG 325 (my current phone) and a Sanyo 8200 (I think that's it).

    When using a USB cable, you just plug the phone in and for the modem kind choose "Sprint PCS". The dial-up number is #777 and that's all there is to it. Works fine. The 8200 was very fast (ISDN speeds) where the LG is dial-up speeds (same area, same everything else). Things really do vary by phone.

    With Bluetooth on the 325, it is just like above only no cable. You just have to enable DUN on the phone each time, and turn the phone on and off in-between dial-up uses.

    It works ok. The 8200 worked quite a bit better. As for syncing phone data (contacts, etc) you are basically up the creek without a paddle. Neither phone does that (they also don't charge when you use the cable). I don't know of any that do (except perhaps the Palm/PocketPC ones) on Sprint. I've heard much better things about the kinds of phones one can get from Cingular on that point.

    Where is the iPhone when I need it?

    As for other help, the people on the Sprint Users forum [sprintusers.com] are nice and can answer almost anything.

    Good luck.

  • I Asked Slashdot the same thing about a year ago (Score:4, Informative)

    by Silas (35023) on Wednesday April 26 2006, @10:31PM (#15209543) Homepage
    Just FYI, I asked Slashdot pretty much the same thing [slashdot.org] about a year ago. Got some interesting responses, but I still haven't found a good enough recommendation to pursue. Hope that helps...

    Silas

  • You need to relax your requirements (Score:3, Informative)

    by Eric Smith (4379) * <eric@@@brouhaha...com> on Wednesday April 26 2006, @10:34PM (#15209553) Homepage Journal
    I'm looking for a cell phone that will do three things well: make calls, [...]
    You can find any other combination of features you want as long as you're willing to give up that first requirement. AFAICT, there are no phones that do that well. That's probably why they compete on how many other features they can cram in.

    I expect eventually to see a product announcement for an amazing new "cellular phone" that has an incredible set of features, but doesn't actually place or receive phoen calls.

    Anyhow, I'm pretty happy with the Treo 650. It makes calls about as poorly (or well, depending on your point of view) as any other cell phone, it syncs with my desktop, and it will act as a modem. Though it doesn't do EDGE or UMTS/HSPDA. I'm hoping that their next GSM Treo that runs PalmOS will do HSPDA.

  • GoMadic (Score:2)

    by antdude (79039)
    GoMadic [gomadic.com] has stuff for this.

  • T-Mobile with the V360 (Score:3, Informative)

    by Ke (8063) on Wednesday April 26 2006, @11:19PM (#15209744) Homepage Journal
    I just recently had my cell phone die on me, so I switched to T-Mobile and got a Motorola V360. This phone has bluetooth as well as the ability to act as a USB modem with a data connection (dial *999 or something, check online for the recipe to get connectivity). It supports EDGE as well as GPRS, and works with the cdc-acm linux driver. While it is not fully supported by moto4lin, I can use kdemobiletools to download my address book, make calls and send SMS messages. The phone needs to be switched to modem mode to be used this way, as the default is to provide USB mass storage access to the microSD card in the phone.

    So all in all, works better than I would've expected. As with anything, YMMV.

  • LG VX6100 (Score:2)

    by wed128 (722152)
    I've got a verizon LG VX6100 that let's me sync and usbmodem, in linux no less!. I would start with the compatability list for BITPIM and narrow your search down from there.
  • How hard would it be to get two cellphones with a free mobile to mobile calling and have one at home wired into your broadband connection and then use the other as a modem on your laptop to call your home cellphone.

    I'm sure it would be slow, but it in theo
  • Like an internal modem (card device), but like an internal wireless device in notebooks/laptops. Do they exist in U.S.?
  • I just got a Nokia 6230i to replace my old Siemens S55. Now I get a camera, MP3 player, Edge connectivity on bluetooth (150 kbps on average) but the address book and organizer do not synchronise with my powerbook 12" (maybe 50% of Nokia phones are recogniz
    • The fact that the Treo 650 is an underfeatured piece of crap?
      PalmOS hasn't advanced in years, the bluetooth implimentation is crippled, the camera is garbage, there's almost no RAM, and the keyboard only works if you're a dwarf.

      • Do expound (Score:3, Informative)

        by bill_mcgonigle (4333) *
        Mine works fine for the OP's requirements. Bluetooth DUN on Verizon, good sync software available (Missing Sync for PalmOS). The camera is chintzy, but I don't know of a good camera built into a phone. Maybe it exists, but I carry my Sony T1 with me whe
    • Let's see. Price is still kinda high. Price is high for a lot of features (it is a PDA after all) he wouldn't need, and Sprint doesn't necessaraly have the best coverage (Sprint, T-Mobile, and Cingular don't offically work in my town). Yeah, that would
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