Looking for a portable, wireless Internet accessible computer (not a laptop)

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Reply to
NetSteady
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It would be nice to know what OS and applications you plan to run on this machine. Such minor details largely determine the horsepower required.

I've built a few machines based on mini-ITX motherboards. Low power consumption was the major requirement. See:

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some examples (right hand "Projects" side menu). Some are really bizarre. For example, the "Attache Server" seems to fit your description:
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's one built into a Windoze XP software box:
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should give you a clue as to the size.

There are Linux drivers for at least the Via EPIA series of mini-ITX boards.

I don't understand the requirement for a "wireless phone". Do you mean running VoIP over 802.11b/g wireless? No problem.

Anyway, see if any of the projects above jog your imagination.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

I'm looking for a wireless phone/Internet accessible computer that is small in size and has the following functionality:

  1. Need high-speed Internet access. The faster the better.
  2. Need to be able to attach a keyboard at least. Mouse and monitor would be good. Should have a build in tiny keyboard.
  3. Linux friendly would be good.

Essentially I'm looking for a small client that I can use instead of a laptop.

--Ram

Reply to
Ram Samudrala

Thanks--that's an interesting page. The Attacheserver is a good one in terms of computing but I also need a phone line with it, and am also looking for an one-stop solution for the phone and the wireless Internet services.

The other post pointing me to

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what I was looking for, but the reason I posted was because all these choices leave me confused. I was hoping to get some feedback as to good ones to check out before I physically went into stores and tested them.

An interesting choice I've come across is the EVDO technology with a laptop. But this makes the phone capability somewhat cumbersome. Essentially the functionality I'm looking for is a snappy mobile phone (where I can actually log in to my machines here and check e-mail using elm, edit using emacs, etc. without too much hassle) with EVDO-like technology for wireless Internet. This "mobile phone" essentially acts as a phone, or as a dumb terminal and peripherals such as a mouse can be connected to make its use easier.

--Ram

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Reply to
Ram Samudrala

I've researched this issue thoroughly. The reason I want to do this now is that for the first time, there's a technology called EVDO that allows for broadband access speed over cellphone frequencies

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.This is what I've learnt: Most current Blackberries (in fact, all, as far as I know) do not have broadband speeds that arises as a result of the phone (i.e., not wi-fi). Verizon is the only company that has the most roll-out--in other words, I can get this speed in most major cities in the country and then some. And Verizon has two phones that can do this, including a Samsung (which is a Blackberry-like device).

So there are two solutions, and I've decided to go with both:

  1. A Samsung SCH-i730 phone/portable computer which is about 0.00 with a two-year contract. This would be combined with a voice/data plan costing /month.

  1. A PC card for my laptop which provides the same functionality without voice capability (Verizon Wireless PC 5220) which should be about 0 with a two-year contract and a data only plan that costs /month.

This is the technology I've been waiting for. I hope it works as promised.

--Ram

Reply to
Ram Samudrala

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