Notebook/laptop + Gprs

[apetley]

Hi, just want to pick a few more knowledgeable brains than my own.

As I am spending more and more time in Thailand and will be there permanantly as of next year it's time to buy a notebook/laptop rather than continue using the sister in laws pc.

As our home will be outside of Kanchanaburi in a small town has anyone any recommendations as to the best notebook/GPRS package, in their opinion. As there is only a very limited selection of computer shops in Kan I guess a trip to BKK will be needed.

Will be used only for basic surfing, email and sending the occasional pic home. Games, streaming video etc are not a requirement.

Thanks for reading.

[billzant]

Hi, just want to pick a few more knowledgeable brains than my own.

As I am spending more and more time in Thailand and will be there permanantly as of next year it's time to buy a notebook/laptop rather than continue using the sister in laws pc.

As our home will be outside of Kanchanaburi in a small town has anyone any recommendations as to the best notebook/GPRS package, in their opinion. As there is only a very limited selection of computer shops in Kan I guess a trip to BKK will be needed.

Will be used only for basic surfing, email and sending the occasional pic home. Games, streaming video etc are not a requirement.

Thanks for reading.

Dear Apetley,

How are you?

In terms of the internet package I don't know but I would guess the best thing to do is to seek advice in your own area. I might be wrong but I don't feel the internet package is affected by which model notebook you buy.

As to buying a notebook, before I lived in Thailand I would visit Pantip Plaza in Bangkok for my computer goods. You can find all prices for notebooks there but check that it has product recovery discs. If you are not sure buy one that is properly packaged to ensure it is legitimate.

Because of the nature of the computer industry I would personally buy the most up-to-date but based on your requirements this is not necessary as any new notebook you buy will be able to do it. In general the newer the model the faster the surfing but that speed is mainly based on the internet package.

Hope you are keeping well,

All the Best

Bill Z

[monty]

Looks like for your requirements pretty much any laptop will be OK.

Acer has models from a little over 25,000 Baht, on which I would just add a 256Mb memory stick to bring it up to 512mb. Just to keep running WinXP smooth...

As for the GPRS access, check which provider (AIS, Dtac) has the best reception at the place you are going to use it mostly... Low signal seriously degrades the speed/stability of the connection!

Then get yourself either a GPRS capable phone or one of those GPRS PCMCII cards (Aircard).

Pop in a one2call or Dprompt simcard in, get the gprs package and of you go...

Access is cheap (less then 10 Baht/hour) and you can expect speeds equal to dial-up on a good day...Adequate for e-mails and a bit of surfing without the heavy graphics...

[silvero]

If you haven't already, I suggest you check with TT&T whether they can supply ADSL, you might be surprised where they can install it.

[Plus]

Or check if Hutch CDMA works in your area - speeds should be a lot faster than from upcoutnry GSM providers. Hutch has a USB modem-aircard to use with a separate SIM card, or some of their regular phones can be used as modems as well.

Check if the mobile phone you are using now can be connected to the notebook, but unless it's a bluetooth connection, speeds can be very very slow, even with USB cables, depending on the phone.

Generally speaking I'd recommend Hutch USB modem - works straight out of the box with any notebook. Otherwise it could be a pain matching phones with computers and fiddling with settings.

[apetley]

Thanks everyone for the advice, I really appreciate it.

Gives me enough to think about and find out for now.

Andy.

[Guest Reimar]

Hi,

upcountry the speed of GPRS is limited to 40 kbps. The best (cheapest) ISP is here DTAC around THB 900 or so per month unlimited.

Which Laptop doesnt matter but I recommend to use a Mobile Phone (Handy) like a Nokia because if you came to bangkok for some visit, the connection speed from DTAC is 153 kbps and you directly has a Phone as well. AIS is expensive: 25 MB cost THB 800.00 from my own experience! Some Handy like Samsung limited to 48 kbps but Nokia has high speed.

Hutch (CDMA) not works in Kanchanaburi.

Reimar

[Gary A]

I have a VERY old Toshiba lap top. It works just as well for the Internet as my high powered desk top EXCEPT when I use the Bluetooth dongle. It may have to do with the USB port on the Toshiba being the old USB 1. My desk top has USB 2 and is much faster using the dongle. I use my Nokia 6230 to connect to the dongle. Using a Xircom 10/100 plus 56 modem card with dial up or Ipstar I can tell no difference between the lap top and the desk top. IR is much slower than the Bluetooth dongle. I would guess that the new laptops with built in Bluetooth would be at least as good as the GPRS service.

[silvero]

Re Hutch CDMA, last time I asked them, about 1 year ago, they said it works anywhere from the Kanchanaburi city up to Sri Sawat...

[Crushdepth]

DTAC now has much cheaper options than its unlimited GPRS plan, which is good but basically far more hours than normal human beings need.

I changed down to a 40 hour / month package which costs 200 baht, but there are even cheaper options if you need less time.

[EdgeThailand]

Hi, just want to pick a few more knowledgeable brains than my own.

As I am spending more and more time in Thailand and will be there permanantly as of next year it's time to buy a notebook/laptop rather than continue using the sister in laws pc.

As our home will be outside of Kanchanaburi in a small town has anyone any recommendations as to the best notebook/GPRS package, in their opinion. As there is only a very limited selection of computer shops in Kan I guess a trip to BKK will be needed.

Will be used only for basic surfing, email and sending the occasional pic home. Games, streaming video etc are not a requirement.

Thanks for reading.

I would recommend buying a prepay SIM from Dtac, 199 baht and a netSIM from AIS, 250 baht and trying them out. Go with the one that gives you the best signal strength, reliability, service, etc. in your location.

One of the advantages of GPRS is that you can always change provider's if you are disappointed with the service. This is something that cannot be done with any other system.

The major cities and some of the rural areas are being upgrade to EDGE, so buy an EDGE enabled GPRS card if you can. EDGE will give you up to 140kbps, rather than the standard 30 - 40kbps of GPRS. A GPRS card can also be used for excursions outside Thailand: Laos and Cambodia now have GPRS, while much of Malaysia has been upgraded to EDGE. Just buy a SIM when you cross the border and get connected.

If you are buying a new computer beware the new PCI Express standard. It is not backward compatible with PCMCIA. Your collection of PC Cards will be useless if you go with PCI Express. The good news is that there are bargains to be had if you stay with PCMCIA and also more choice when it comes to buying cards for the PCMCIA standard. It is early days for PCI Express; there are few products available at this stage in the game.

Regards

Tim

[astral]

If you are buying a new computer beware the new PCI Express standard. It is not backward compatible with PCMCIA. Your collection of PC Cards will be useless if you go with PCI Express. The good news is that there are bargains to be had if you stay with PCMCIA and also more choice when it comes to buying cards for the PCMCIA standard. It is early days for PCI Express; there are few products available at this stage in the game.

Regards

Tim

I think you are getting muddled here.

PCI Express is a relatively new standard for I/O cards on the PC.

It is already replacing AGP for graphics.

It is not the same as the PCMCIA standard for small plug in cards on notebook machines!!

This is also off topic and should have been posted as a new topic.

[billrussell]

Why a laptop?

When I moved to near Ubon with my TW, I took my desktop PC (less monitor) in my luggage from the U.S., and bought a monitor here.

It's a lot easer to use and upgrade than a laptop.

[EdgeThailand]

Hi, just want to pick a few more knowledgeable brains than my own.

As I am spending more and more time in Thailand and will be there permanantly as of next year it's time to buy a notebook/laptop rather than continue using the sister in laws pc.

As our home will be outside of Kanchanaburi in a small town has anyone any recommendations as to the best notebook/GPRS package, in their opinion. As there is only a very limited selection of computer shops in Kan I guess a trip to BKK will be needed.

Will be used only for basic surfing, email and sending the occasional pic home. Games, streaming video etc are not a requirement.

Thanks for reading.

I would recommend buying a prepay SIM from Dtac, 199 baht and a netSIM from AIS, 250 baht and trying them out. Go with the one that gives you the best signal strength, reliability, service, etc. in your location.

One of the advantages of GPRS is that you can always change provider's if you are disappointed with the service. This is something that cannot be done with any other system.

The major cities and some of the rural areas are being upgrade to EDGE, so buy an EDGE enabled GPRS card if you can. EDGE will give you up to 140kbps, rather than the standard 30 - 40kbps of GPRS. A GPRS card can also be used for excursions outside Thailand: Laos and Cambodia now have GPRS, while much of Malaysia has been upgraded to EDGE. Just buy a SIM when you cross the border and get connected.

If you are buying a new computer beware the new PCI Express standard. It is not backward compatible with PCMCIA. Your collection of PC Cards will be useless if you go with PCI Express. The good news is that there are bargains to be had if you stay with PCMCIA and also more choice when it comes to buying cards for the PCMCIA standard. It is early days for PCI Express; there are few products available at this stage in the game.

Regards

Tim

PCI Express is becoming the new standard for laptops. Dell adopted it earlier this year for all there notebooks, Acer have also adopted it for their higher priced machines.

[silvero]

AKA ExpressCard, been around since 2003 apparently...but becoming more prevalent now

http://www.expresscard.org/

[EdgeThailand]

AKA ExpressCard, been around since 2003 apparently...but becoming more prevalent now

http://www.expresscard.org/

Hi Silvero

Yes, it's a shame that the PC Card standard is being ditched. An ExpressCard slot looks exactly the same as a PC Card slot from the outside. It's only when you get home, after buying your new notebook, that you realise that all your PC Cards are now junk because PCI Express is not backward compatible with PCMCIA:

http://www.pcmcia.org/pccard.htm

Regards

Tim

EdgeThailand

[silvero]

Yep there's going to be some hacked-off people due to this change, and I'm sure some people considering new gear will benefit from your post Edge.

On the flip side, there'll probably be some perfectly good 2nd hand GPRS/EDGE PC Cards going for a song over the next year, I'll be keeping an eye on the classifieds section.

[Firefoxx]

Well, just like PCMCIA was like the ISA bus on the desktop and CardBus was like PCI, we now have expresscard, which is equivalent to PCI-Express on the desktop. Cardbus cards couldn't be used in PCMCIA slots, too (although the other way around worked). The standard was unchanged for several years, so there was bound to be a change... it couldn't stay that way while all the other components kept getting faster.

Although the first notebooks that had the chipset to support the expresscard (915 on the Pentium M) didn't have the slot itself, most new notebooks now have the slot, although many seem to opt for the smaller version. There will be a transition period (there always is) but consumers will get over it.

[jcgodber]

I have been using the Solomon USB modem for both my laptop and PC it is almost "bulletproof"

I have used it everywhere in Thailand that has cell service.

The prices have also come down. The speed is "good enough" for email and light surfing.

In villages such as mine there IS NO alternative as there are no landlines.

Go to their web site at-

http://www.solomon.com.tw/download/english...ucts/index.html

Jim

[JohnC]

I agree with above, I live in Pattaya but over the highway and our village has no phone connections my laptop had a pcmia slot and I tried that but it would not work so went back to the company that supplied it and they swapped it for a solomon gprs modem which apart from one hiccup has worked very well. I use ais as my mobile is on that network and I have a 500baht a month scheme where I get 400 hours, more than enough for my needs. I have uploaded and downloaded some big files with out a problem. My only recommendation would be to install some freeware to speed up downloads and something like http://www.yousendit.com/ for uploading bigger files. My usual speed is 115.2kbps which again is fine for my needs. I had broadband in the UK which was great but came at a price so I am happy with my current setup until such time that the village gets phone lines!