iBook > mobile phone > internet
Andrew
I want to be able to dial-in and collect emails when I'm out and about
with my iBook (500 running 10.2.6). How?
My current mobile is a Siemens A50 which is not Bluetooth equipped, if
that's relevant (I suspect that this Bluetooth business is something I
need to understand at some point.) If I need a new one, any
recommendations for the cheapest, least-frills phone that will do the
job? Thanks.
Jon B
There are several ways of connecting mobiles to your laptop, by wire,
BlueTooth or Infrared, and all three options work out around the same
price, ignore IR as it's a PITA balancing your phone and the IR receiver
in line with each other. Cables are OK but nearly everytime you change
your phones you'll need to change your cable. BT should hopefully work
with any future change of phones.
The other factor is your phone needs to be able to handle data which I
don't think yours can (the A55 can't) so you can't connect your phone
via a cable anyway.
So ideally you should be looking at a BlueTooth phone and a usb BT
adapter (from around £30 depending where you shop). Cheapish options
would be the Sony/Erricson T68i, Siemens S55, Nokia 6310i though I'd
recommend one of the first two over the last one (I own the latter and
wish I'd got one of the former).
Actual config will depend on your network but www.taniwha.org.uk is a
good source for the config and scripts to get the phone talking to the
iBook as a modem.
HTH
--
Jon
jon.br...@btinternet.com
Seamaster
Play it safe and get an Ericssony T68i.
--
Seamaster: but I work for them, so feel free to disregard that
Chris Ridd
1fv7ngr.1j5y58i1huujkxN%jon.bradbur...@btinternet.com, "Jon B"
<jon.bradbur...@btinternet.com> wrote:
> So ideally you should be looking at a BlueTooth phone and a usb BT
> adapter (from around £30 depending where you shop). Cheapish options
Is there any reason to go for particular BT adaptors, or does OS X support
them all? What about range etc?
Cheers,
Chris
Jon B
Apple have a special D-Link BT adapter, but it would seem most work, if
you do a search on ucsm in google you'll find most of the ones that work
listed, it's how I found the Belkin one worked (cheapest I could get
from my regular supplier). Range is reckoned to be about 10m think I've
pushed further than that though, I had mine linked to the works desktop
and as I drove down the drive, the phone beeped to say it was
disconnecting (but that's about 20m so it's not as far as it may first
sound).
--
Jon
jon.br...@btinternet.com
Elliott Roper
<seam...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
> Andrew wrote:
>
> > I haven't been paying attention for a year or two...
> >
> > I want to be able to dial-in and collect emails when I'm out and about
> > with my iBook (500 running 10.2.6). How?
> >
> > My current mobile is a Siemens A50 which is not Bluetooth equipped, if
> > that's relevant (I suspect that this Bluetooth business is something I
> > need to understand at some point.) If I need a new one, any
> > recommendations for the cheapest, least-frills phone that will do the
> > job? Thanks.
>
> Play it safe and get an Ericssony T68i.
I can confirm that the T68i and the Apple Bluetooth adapter work most
of the time.
It seems a bit better under 10.2.6 but I have had one or two 'moments'
when the adapter had to be torn out of one USB slot and put into the
other to get it to come out of a sulk.
The user interface on the T68i itself is dire.
Missed calls 1 View now?
yes
Keys locked, press C to unlock
C
Turn off keylock?
Yes
Missed calls 1 View now?
Yes
it then flashes through
(a) 01xxxxxx (2) implying correctly there are 2 missed calls
(b) the time of the last of them
(c) the name associated with the number in the SIM or Phone
possible replies are NO (it does nothing and returns to the splash
screen) or YES It dials the goddam number without further warning, or C
where it asks Delete? if YES it deletes both of them. No chance to get
the time of the earlier call.
followed by C for more than two seconds to produce a menu offering
1. Turn on Silent
2. Turn on Keylock
Severely irritating in everything it touches.
How about setting up a divert?
No. Life is too short to type in all the bewildering byways it forces
you through. 12 keystrokes. And that's for divert to the number you
last diverted to in and out of keys locked. And using previously set up
shortcuts, which it calls 'My Shortcuts'. Why does that get up the
nose of your average Mac user?
A second major challenge awaits if you try to use the address book to
choose another divert target.
The Bluetooth is excellent however.
I still have not mastered the GPRS. At Vodafone's prices, I'm not in a
great rush either. It works excellently on circuit switching though.
Sorry. that developed into a curmudgeonly rant.
flavio
"Elliott Roper" <ell...@yrl.co.uk> wrote:
>> Play it safe and get an Ericssony T68i.
>
> I can confirm that the T68i and the Apple Bluetooth adapter work most
> of the time.
>
> The user interface on the T68i itself is dire.
having just got myself a T68i to replace a moribund nokia 6210, I can second
this.
I don't know about the adapter as it's currently talking to my PB12 which
has BT built in
> Severely irritating in everything it touches.
yep. it does work with the mac, sending sms from the mac is dangerously
easy, saving things from the phone is ok although you cannot 'browse' from
the mac but have to 'print' them (hey?) from the phone.
I have experienced most of what elliott describes except in s l o w
motion..
>
> How about setting up a divert?
> No. Life is too short to type in all the bewildering byways it forces
> you through. 12 keystrokes. And that's for divert to the number you
> last diverted to in and out of keys locked. And using previously set up
> shortcuts, which it calls 'My Shortcuts'. Why does that get up the
> nose of your average Mac user?
> A second major challenge awaits if you try to use the address book to
> choose another divert target.
just write a textie which is not a reply to a previous one, and see what it
comes up with: 'Number' and a little arrow pointing at the address book icon
so you press that, so up comes a menu headed by 'Phone Book' so you choose
that then you're staring at a 'Find' heading and a blinking cursor, at which
point you are only three more steps away from the number you want and one
more to send the thing
another thing was that tonight my phone was a bit low in battery and it
couldn't get signal so I thought it was damaged, thinking going back to the
shop etc, put it to charge, nothing, 'searching', no green light; after ten
minutes or so it had signal. Well my old 6210 didn't pull that trick.
>
> The Bluetooth is excellent however.
it is. It nearly makes up for all the previous. But not quite.
>
> I still have not mastered the GPRS. At Vodafone's prices, I'm not in a
> great rush either. It works excellently on circuit switching though.
>
> Sorry. that developed into a curmudgeonly rant.
that's quite ok, gave me an excuse to join in:)
--
flavio matani
classical guitar tuition/performance
take the obvious bit out to reply...