Finally, it’s actually looking like full mobility

Rudolph Muller

Rudolph Muller is the editor at MyBroadband and covers telecoms and broadband news. Rudolph comes from an academic background, but left the University of...

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Until quite recently notebook computers, despite the mobility they provided, generally had to be tethered to an Internet connection via a cable.

But PC manufacturers are now building wireless networking technology directly into their machines, which means you can use them wherever you can connect to a wireless network.

Hand-held computers and smart phones have always had wireless connectivity but have been severely limited in their ability to browse websites, as well as upload and download e-mails.

The netbook represents a convergence of these technologies. Companies like HP, Acer and Intel have all released netbook PCs. They are pared-down yet fully capable versions of traditional notebook PCs, but rely almost entirely on wireless technology. They are cheap, efficient and give users a feeling of working with the more familiar laptop computer while relying heavily on wireless broadband technology.

Cellphone companies, meanwhile, are capitalising on the increased power of wireless networks and miniature technology to ensure a meeting of capabilities. Many users now have to decide whether to buy a netbook or to significantly upgrade their cellphone so that they can process data on the move.

There is a good case for either option. Netbooks have keyboards that are about 95% of the full-sized option most of us are used to. They also have loads of memory and big hard drives that hand-held devices like cellphones simply can’t emulate yet. They also have big colour screens and use a familiar interface like Windows.

On the downside, while they are lighter than laptops, they are still not small enough to slip into a pocket — you need a bag to carry them around.

Smart phones and hand-held computers, on the other hand, are lightweight and increasingly capable, but have rather small screens and keyboards that are fiddly to work with and which may require multiple inputs to type single letters.

How to decide? Power users are likely to opt for a netbook which, in most cases, will rely almost exclusively on an ability to connect to a wireless network. This is fine if you have a wireless network at home or in the office, and is useful in airport lounges, for example.

However, to save weight, they don’t have features like CD ROM drives or DVD drives that you may be used to for installing software.

That said, there are external USB products available for this purpose. In general, there has been a shift towards solid-state storage devices like USB flash drives which are light, increasingly inexpensive and easy to carry and use.

On the mobile phone front, smart phones are getting increasingly clever. Micro flash drives with a decent capacity are now supplied standard with many high-end models and there are mini QWERTY keyboards that make input a breeze once you get used to them.

Realistically, mobile warriors will want one of each. Netbooks will allow them to do anything from giving presentations and running spreadsheets to watching movies in airports and storing masses of data. Smart phones have the advantage of being small and very easy to transport, while also letting you stay in touch, play movies on the phone and respond, albeit in a basic way, to e-mail messages and browse the web.

Three good options for netbook PCs are the HP 2133 mini-NotePC, the Acer Aspire1 Netbook PC, and the Asus EeePC. These all have a reasonable battery life, good storage options, and wireless connectivity second to none.

If you are looking for a good smart phone, on the other hand, a good way to go is the BlackBerry Storm, or Nokia’s N96. Although they have radically different ways of doing things, you will soon work out which one is more comfortable for you.

The concept of convergence has been bandied about in technology circles for some time. But the coming together of telecommunications technology, wireless and broadband technology and computer technology itself, is finally becoming a reality.

However, some fine-tuning is still required before you will be able to carry just one device to meet all your computing and mobile needs.

Mobility discussion