AT&T To Offer 50$ Laptops

Cerberus

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AT&T will begin selling netbooks with integrated wireless Internet cards, selling them for as low as $50 — with a data plan contract, of course. The rollout will begin in Atlanta and Philadelphia.

AT&T is also looking to enter the e-book market, according a company exec quoted by Bloomberg at the recent trade show in Las Vegas hosted by industry organization CTIA Wireless:
The Kindle, which lets users download books over Sprint Nextel Corp.'s network, has done a "phenomenal job," and AT&T wants to be part of that market, Glenn Lurie, head of emerging devices at AT&T, said today. — Bloomberg.com

Verizon has also expressed interest in entering the e-reader fray, saying it had been approached by five (undisclosed) companies interested in a wireless connection like that of the Kindle.

The takeaway: AT&T's netbook announcement, along with an earlier one from Verizon, suggests these tiny laptops are increasingly being positioned as much as an additional mobile network-connected device as a supplemental computer.

It's unclear if the AT&T exec's remarks on e-readers are anything more than an off-the-cuff response to the success of the Kindle. But the notion of another carrier joining Sprint — the carrier the Kindle uses — in the e-book business is intriguing. Wireless access to content is one of the most compelling aspects of the Kindle, giving it the edge over competitors like the Sony Reader (which we've covered in the past). The other is access to the huge library of e-content — Amazon's 250,000 Kindle titles in the case of the Kindle. And to offer a compelling option to the Kindle, AT&T, Verizon, or any other carrier, will need to find a content partner with a competitive library. It isn't immediately clear who might be able to offer that (perhaps other than Sony, with its Reader library.)
 
I question this. They are pretty hush hush on the computer itself. Knowing AT&T , The service to use it is going to be expensive. I am betting the laptop will be as basic as it can get.
 
It won't be a notebook/laptop as we know it. It'll be a "mini" notebook, similar to this. You'll be able to surf the web with it and snag email, but don't expect to be able to use it as a normal notebook. Screen sizes average around 8-10 inches. Some will be even smaller.
 
I agree. Probably no bigger than 1GB. I am more concerned about brand name and price. It just might be a decent mini-top to do those small projects and compact enough to carry around.
 
It's perfect for those on the road that just want something to browse and snag email. For those types of applications, these netbooks will be perfect.
 
Right now its all impossible to say what it will be good for. Its all hearsay til they share the specs and OS of them.
 
Seems like every year around Christmas time chinamart has laptops on sale for $350. I almost picked one up year before last as a backup. My co-driver bought one and was happy with it.

I dont know about buying anything that must be used for a companies internet access only. It just rubs me the wrong way. Buy one and I look to them to jack up their rates.
 
Seems like every year around Christmas time chinamart has laptops on sale for $350. I almost picked one up year before last as a backup. My co-driver bought one and was happy with it.

I dont know about buying anything that must be used for a companies internet access only. It just rubs me the wrong way. Buy one and I look to them to jack up their rates.


Yep, that is there plan. There is a upside though. Now drivers won't have to use truck stop internet anymore. I do wonder if they will make a higher priced one with capabilities to go wireless on another server.
 
That's just it. I dont see any reason to jack up the price so anothers server can be used. It's not as if there's anything special about others servers. It's all in the software.

I've been off since Oct, but flying gyp access was $5 per day. That's not too bad, IMO. Unless they raised their rates since then. They are the only ones that I never had trouble with.

If you want free internet though, you can get it, if you know how and can park within line of sight of an AP.
 
The advantage to using the aircard inside the netbook is it can be used anywhere there's a digital signal for the carrier. Speeds won't be that spectacular outside of the city, but you're not limited to Wifi points as you would with a standard notebook without an aircard.
 
That's just it. I dont see any reason to jack up the price so anothers server can be used. It's not as if there's anything special about others servers. It's all in the software.

I've been off since Oct, but flying gyp access was $5 per day. That's not too bad, IMO. Unless they raised their rates since then. They are the only ones that I never had trouble with.

If you want free internet though, you can get it, if you know how and can park within line of sight of an AP.


I always got free wifi when i was out there. Sometimes i had to get more creative than other times but i never paid for it. Certain states have free wifi at rest areas and most hotels/motels offered free wifi that was easy to tap into as long as i parked close enough to them. Even a few fast food places offered it. With so many options , i refused to pay for it.
 
@ Biker

True. But I had a bad experience with them. Back when you could buy them at Petros at their kiosks (I forget the vendor name). I was paying them there, I got receipts, but they never passed on the money to the company. They said I owed several hundred $$$. I pulled out that card and literally ripped it in half. Never again.
 
I always got free wifi when i was out there. Sometimes i had to get more creative than other times but i never paid for it. Certain states have free wifi at rest areas and most hotels/motels offered free wifi that was easy to tap into as long as i parked close enough to them. Even a few fast food places offered it. With so many options , i refused to pay for it.

You can also make an antenna to extend the range. You just need a USB wifi adaptor and some basic hardware.

I used a heat lamp. It's roughly parabolic. Put the adaptor at the focal point, and point it at the AP. You'd be surprised at the range you can get and the number of signals you can pick up.
 
You can also make an antenna to extend the range. You just need a USB wifi adaptor and some basic hardware.

I used a heat lamp. It's roughly parabolic. Put the adaptor at the focal point, and point it at the AP. You'd be surprised at the range you can get and the number of signals you can pick up.


I picked up something like that from compusa and it works great. I was amazed how far i could be and still get wifi.
 

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