Post: #26

Gmanifesto: You have cash flow so I strongly recommend you give the Mac world a shot and see. It's not about being on Steve Jobs dick or Bill Gates. Fcuk them both. It's about who has the product that causes you the least hassle and meets your concerns. It's business.

A female friend of mine bought one about a year and a half ago and she is a total tech noob (she asked me how to sum up a table once using Excel and looked at me in awe when I did this).
She downloads like crazy and does all other sorts of B.S on it and it is going strong for her without any hangups or hiccups.

It is a different world but you won't have to worry about things slowing down from viruses, popups and all those sneaky add-ons designed to make Windows users miserable.

Gmanifesto, why not start off with an Ipad and see? And of course you can type on an Ipad. You can do everything on that little bitch.

The ipad was going for 750 bucks when it first came out. Not sure what the Ipad2 will cost but it's worth the investment. Spend some money and SAVE yourself the hassle.

My friend has had it for a year now with heavy usage and she is loving it fully from a noob perspective.

Look it into it. Fcuk the speculation. Just get it.

I'll buy you some Cubans if that shyt don't work out.

Post: #27

Thanks for all the responses.

I got my tech guy looking into these.

Keep flowing the ideas. I need to get this locked down.

As far as the Ipad, I took a look at one of those last night.

Does anyone have real experiences using that thing for biz?

I see hipsters in airports slapping around on those like chimpanzees but I kind of doubt they are doing big deals on those things. It kind of seems like they are just facebooking or tweeting or some crap.

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

I like some of the Wifi ideas. Keep those flowing for sure, because the more I think about it, that is the key for me.

Hell, I don't care if I need to travel with a 20 ft tower, as long as I got crystal clear Wifi to make calls back to the States.

Post: #28

G, Ipad isnt good for anything other than surfing web, using useless Apple apps, and looking pretty, it really is pretty bad for typing stuff. It isn't even good for media(the damn thing does NOT even have Flash)
seriously, Steve Jobs is so against Adobe he's a fucking idiot.
get the Asus Bamboo, (previous post), Asus is a good company, put that SSD in, and get a separate wireless adapter.
Good luck.

Post: #29

Buy the Macbook Pro 13". Its not much bigger the the IPad and does many more things. Ipads are gimmicky - there somewhere between a phone and a computer. Buy the laptop.

Post: #30

ASUS U35JC or Macbook AIR 11/13. Done.

Post: #31

G, go with a windows laptop unless you are comfortable with using a Mac. My mom has a mac and I personally don't like it because its a bit harder to get around then windows. If the adjustment period is worth than go for it. Windows is usually better for productivity and Mac is great if you are an artist. So if you are just making business deals I suggest Windows because you already know how to use it and I'm sure you have better things to do than get acclimatized to a new OS which can take a while to do.

Also, the virus threat is overrated, get a decent antivirus and don't download suspicious files and you'll be fine. Windows 7 is really great and I highly suggest getting a fast dual or quad core laptop with plenty of memory so its fast.

Post: #32

(03-23-2011 01:59 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  Does anyone have real experiences using that thing for biz?

I have an Ipad 2, and do not rely on it heavily for business other than checking e-mails, and chat sessions. The ipad is sufficient for biz as fas as using citrix go to meetings, outlook e-mail, daily planners and smaller stuff. Otherwise, the Macbook Air is a great choice because it is very light, and thin. Great for travelling.

A lot of the suggestions I am seeing here from other members do not take into consideration the very important things you mentioned when making recommendations:

1. You are NOT technical, so therefore, you need something that is not going to take up your time learning and setting up. Like installing virus software, scheduling Virus checks that you'll deal with in Windows 7.

2. You want this for travel only! Carrying a big ass laptop taking up room is NOT ideal for heavy travel (I rack-up close to 100K miles per year). I hate carrying around a heavy laptop, and just take my ipad and iphone - voila!

Finally, a lot of members here say Windows 7 is solid. Yeah, that may be very true now ('cuz Windows XP was a nightmare), but IT IS A BORING OS IMO! You don't see Windows/PC stores full of customers playing with PC's/Windows 7 on a Monday afternoon at 2PM like you would at ANY mac store worldwide.

My .02


MIxx

Post: #33

Again, I second Mixx's statement. I repeat, my female friend uses a MAC and had never used anything close to an apple before. She LOVES it. She has NO technical background.

I am not sexist best believe, but if a non technical woman can use a MAC, there is no fcuking way a male certified G should have any problem with it.

Go for the Mac and done.

Nuff said.

Post: #34

(03-24-2011 10:18 AM)Moma Wrote:  I have an Ipad 2, and do not rely on it heavily for business other than checking e-mails, and chat sessions. The ipad is sufficient for biz as fas as using citrix go to meetings, outlook e-mail, daily planners and smaller stuff. Otherwise, the Macbook Air is a great choice because it is very light, and thin. Great for travelling.

A lot of the suggestions I am seeing here from other members do not take into consideration the very important things you mentioned when making recommendations:

1. You are NOT technical, so therefore, you need something that is not going to take up your time learning and setting up. Like installing virus software, scheduling Virus checks that you'll deal with in Windows 7.

2. You want this for travel only! Carrying a big ass laptop taking up room is NOT ideal for heavy travel (I rack-up close to 100K miles per year). I hate carrying around a heavy laptop, and just take my ipad and iphone - voila!

Finally, a lot of members here say Windows 7 is solid. Yeah, that may be very true now ('cuz Windows XP was a nightmare), but IT IS A BORING OS IMO! You don't see Windows/PC stores full of customers playing with PC's/Windows 7 on a Monday afternoon at 2PM like you would at ANY mac store worldwide.

My .02


MIxx

Here we go again... Windows 7 is boring? lol if you think it's boring then install some games and play them, oh wait can't you just do that on the MAC? No I'm sorry Mac doesnt support almost any games at all.
By boring, I still don't understand how an OS can be "boring."
Whether or not you're bored on the computer is up to what you do.

How is virus software even hard at all to manage? All you do is install, and then.... .. nothing. Because that's all you have to do.

As long as you're not downloading from limewire you'll be fine..

As for the store, only reason people are "playing"around with shit
is because everything looks flashy, not to mention all products are made by that company, hence they can put everything in one place.

If you even tried to understand how many gadgets there are for the pc, you'd be highly overwhelmed by the sheer "FUN" factor of them.

As for lightness, are you suggesting that ALL non-mac laptops are heavy??

There several options for light PCs.. don't know why you're making these claims.

MAC is just a toy that looks pretty.

Post: #35

(03-24-2011 10:48 AM)drymarro Wrote:  Here we go again... Windows 7 is boring? lol if you think it's boring then install some games and play them, oh wait can't you just do that on the MAC? No I'm sorry Mac doesnt support almost any games at all.

By boring I did not mean games, I meant OS design. Since you bring it up, the Iphone's line-up of games can kick ass alone, and that's all a travelling player needs.

However, I am to busy chasing women to play games on a computer or Iphone for countless hours getting fat and growing a beard. (I do own a PS3, but my nephews spend more time on it than I do)

You like MSFT Windows, I get it. This argument is silly. Talk to me about fucking women around the globe noobie.

Mixx

Post: #36

MiXX: exactly, you don't need "fun" on the computer if you're busy with girls, and I would talk to you about girls but this is a tech advice thread not a gaming thread.

Post: #37

apple, apple, apple. i got the new macbook pro and it flies. not too heavy, good battery, great wifi. you can type on an ipad and you can also get a bluetooth keyboard if you want to type normally.

and the applications that you can buy on a macbook or ipad are great for travel. great translation tools, flight applications, etc.. i have one app where i speak into in english and it'll translate it into another language. great if you're in a pinch. i got another where you take a picture of something in another language and it translates it for you on your screen.

Post: #38

Short of the whole getting stolen thing, MacBook Air is what you want for travel. If your hanging out in hostels then stick with something else. I have a second gen and I travelled with it for a while. I loved being able to throw this thing and a change of clothes in a backpack and head off to the airport.

MacBook Pro is going to be unecessarily heavy and unless you are doing something that requires serious hardware forget it.

iPad is great for specific tasks but not a computer replacement, yet. I use mine 95% for web browsing, reading Kindle books, and watching movies. If you really want to type on it, you can just get a wireless bluetooth mac keyboard and your set. Its like a giant iphone, if you don't think you can do it on an iphone, you probably can't do it on the iPad.

Post: #39

I never imagined a mac vs windows debate reaching this forum.

Here's my laptop: http://amzn.to/etxcFL

Good value, fast, lightweight, and great battery life. My only complaint is the keys are a bit stiffer than I would like. Took me 2 months to get used to it.

Post: #40

Alright, a tech genius here. Let me bump in.

To the original poster:

Quote:Also, is there any computers that "amplify" the WiFi in the room?

This would be key because I make a lot of WiFi phone calls back to the US.

What do you need the amplifing the WiFi signal in the room for? If you are not a techie, chances are, you don't need to. Amplifying an WiFi signal will not get you a better Internet connection or WiFi Internet call quality, but rather, it will extend the range of WiFi signal.

Amplifying a signal already in a room in the same room will do nothing for you. Absolutely nothing.

Let me give you an example.

Say you're in a room where you'll be using your computer with a WiFi connection on it. If the WiFi signal is too weak it won't reach your laptop, you place a WiFi amplifier in a physical location between your laptop and the source of the WiFi (i.e. router).

If your laptop can detect and connect to the WiFi already, using an amplifier won't improve a WiFi Internet call quality. When you have a weaker signal, what you get is slower Internet because the information carrying capacity is smaller. However, on WiFi, even the slowest is far more than fast enough for just voice calls on the Internet via WiFi. This means if you can connect to a WiFi and browse the Internet, it's more than good for voice call over the Internet. Nothing you do will improve a voice call quality in that case.

Search "WiFi or 802.11a/b/g/n amplifier" on Amazon.com or Google it. These devices are cheap, but you do need some technical knowledge to set it up.

Also, making a phone call via the Internet from overseas is bound to have a worse phone quality because of the nature of the Internet. There's just no way to get around it. For example, if you make a call from London to California over the Internet, the delay in signal can be as high as 0.5 second, although it's usually 0.2 to 0.3 seconds, and surprisingly, the human ear can and will detect the delays or lags of that magnitude. There's nothing you can do to totally eliminate those delays or lags. Even light and electronic signals to take time to travel around the globe .

Quote:Hell, I don't care if I need to travel with a 20 ft tower, as long as I got crystal clear Wifi to make calls back to the States.

Again, WiFi is digital, meaning that boosting a WiFi signal WILL NOT improve the call quality. Rather, boosting a signal will introduce a slight delay because now the signal must pass through 2 routers instead of one. But, that delay won't be noticeable to the human ear.

Even at the lowest connection speed, a WiFi connection capacity (i.e. bandwidth) is more than adequate for Internet voice calls.

Why do you need to boost a WiFi signal in a room? How and why did you come up with the idea? What's the reason why you've thought of the idea?

Quote:Anybody have any ideas on "Also, is there any computers that "amplify" the WiFi in the room?

Get a WiFi amplifier. It's a small box that require a power supply.

Quote:Basically, I need the "International Playboy" laptop.

What do you mean by this exactly? To me, Apple product designs are way cooler than an Windows laptop design. Then again, some Windows laptops do have a sick design.

Visit an Apple store (search on Apple.com) and check out three products (a physical store I mean, in a shopping mall, etc.):
-Macbook Pro
-Macbook Air
-iPad 2

Grab a store employee there and ask about those products, and mention your needs, and he'll answer you.

They do have all those products in an Apple store for display and hands-on demo. Get your hands on each. Feel out the products.

It's safe to assume that what you can do on PC, you can do on Mac as well. The real difference is in the design (i.e. looks and feel) and ease of use (Mac is easier to use).

iPad 2 is a tablet. It's not a personal computer, unlike Mac or PC. It's power and functionalities are lower than that of a personal computer, yet it does many things pretty well, not to mention it's easier to carry it around and have a longer batter life (10 hours as opposed to 4 hours on a laptop).

Quote:As far as the Ipad, I took a look at one of those last night.

Does anyone have real experiences using that thing for biz?

What kind of business are we talking about? Yes, businesses do use iPad to get their job done.

Biz can mean a million different things. Elaborate please.

If you're just surfing web, receiving and sending emails, making calls with Skype (Internet phone call), yes, an iPad 2 will do.

However, from what I know, you probably do heck a lot of posting and typing on websites, and iPad 2 isn't an ideal device for making a lot of typing on it. Again, visit an Apple store and use one. You'll see how it works. It's basically typing on the glass screen. You'll have to actually physically touch it to see whether it can work out for you. Ask an Apple employee to show you how.

Quote:It kind of seems like they are just facebooking or tweeting or some crap.

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

More or less, you're right. Unless you have a set of "killer apps" you use on iPad 2, it's not as good as a laptop in terms of capability, horse power, and functionality.

But once you do have your killer apps on your iPad 2, heck, the experience is far better and more pleasant than using a laptop, provided you don't do an insane amount of typing on the device.

It all comes down to what you do. Why carry around a 5 pound laptop when you can do the exact same things on a 1.3 pound device (iPad 2).

Elaborate what you "intend" to do, and I might be able to provide more input.

It seems your needs are:
1. Making calls to the U.S. over the Internet (what application are you using specifically? Skype?)
2. Typing a lot of comments on websites. (now, this already rules out iPad 2 as a viable option. Please do visit an Apple store, check out an iPad 2 and see how it feels for you. More importantly, check out if it can do all things you need to do on a computing device. They have usable demo units there.)
3. (What biz uses are we really talking about here? Excel spread sheet? Microsoft Word? If you use those two, then iPad 2 is definitely out.)

Does design and coolness factor matter to you? Have you actually held a Macbook Air in your hands? I can't imagine an international playboy carrying around that grey thing, however. A custom suit and a Macbook Air is just a funny picture to imagine.

What color do you specifically have in mind?

If you list out the applications you will be using, that'll help pinpointing the hardware best for your use. Every single device mentioned so far (iPad 2, Macbook pro, Macbook Air, Windows 7 laptop) of course have web browser and email client. On iPad 2, however, there is no Flash, meaning that you WILL run into problems on the websites with videos and elegant overlay ads--you just won't see them. You can watch YouTube without problem on iPad 2, however.

Post: #41

^Good post.

Post: #42

Adventure21c -

Thanks for the post.


"1. Making calls to the U.S. over the Internet (what application are you using specifically? Skype?)"

Thru a T-Mobile "hot spot" on my phone. I don't use skype. Does this make a difference?

I have noticed when I have a good WiFi connection, calls works great. When it is weak, calls suck.

Hence the need for the "WiFi amplifier". Make sense?

"Typing a lot of comments on websites."

Not really, I don't care about that at all. I want to be able to send emails. I checked out the Ipad and there is no way I could use a touch screen, sot that one is out.

"Does design and coolness factor matter to you?"

No. I don't care if it looks like a purple rhinoceros as long as it hits my earlier points.

As far a "coolness", I have no idea even how to gauge that on electronics. So no.

"If you list out the applications you will be using"

Hell, I barely know what an "app" is.

Seriously this is all I use:

The clock on the computer
Maybe the calculator
Email
Internet

That's it.

Post: #43

I used a NETBOOK for my travel purposes. I was traveling and working for 15 months and my ASUS Eee 1000HE was perfect.
The biggest pro was the 9.5 hour battery life and the solid wifi.

Post: #44

Quote:Also, is there any computers that "amplify" the WiFi in the room?

Thru a T-Mobile "hot spot" on my phone. I don't use skype. Does this make a difference?

I have noticed when I have a good WiFi connection, calls works great. When it is weak, calls suck.

Hence the need for the "WiFi amplifier". Make sense?

It's a vital piece of information. I've checked out T-Mobile Hot Spot.

A few additional pieces of information about that:
1. Again, amplifying a WiFi signal at the point of usage will do absolutely nothing for you.
2. Because you need to log-on to a T-Mobile Hot Spot, chances are, there is no commercially available WiFi amplifier that you can use to log on to a T-Mobile Hot Spot (If you really want to know why, I can explain this). Then again, this is a moot point, because of the reason #1.
3. You're pretty much stuck with what you've got with T-Mobile Hot Spot. A T-Mobile Hot Spot you get in a restaurant, air port, etc, is a part of a network infrastructure. There could be a load of reasons why the signal at a particular T-Mobile Hot Spot is weak or the call quality is bad.

Then again, as anything in technology, there's always more than one way to skin the cat...

I've got some more questions:
1. I'm still unclear on how you can make a phone call, on your phone, via T-Mobile Hot Spot. Give me some more information. What's the phone model? What do you exactly do to make a phone call that way? What button or icon do you press? (I'm thinking it may not be T-Mobile Hot Spot you're using to make a phone call, but T-Mobile's phone network. I could be wrong. I need more info on this.)
2. Can you give some specific examples on when the phone call quality is bad? Are the phone call qualities bad only when you're overseas calling America? What do you mean by "bad phone call quality" exactly? Noises? Delays in voices? Dropped sounds with gaps?
3. Why do you want to make a phone call via the Internet on your laptop when you can do it on your phone? What's the reason?
4. If T-Mobile Hot Spot connection is bad, why not try a WiFi connection in your hotel room?
5. How do you access the Internet now when you're overseas? Do you already have a laptop?

There are many ways to make a phone call on your laptop, and T-Mobile Hot Spot doesn't have to be it. I'll provide more info as I get answers to the above questions.

At this point, the idea of "amplifying" WiFi signal is really out. One, it involves great hassle. Two, most importantly, it won't do anything for you. There will be other ways to improve the Internet phone quality from overseas if you really wanted. I'll post more info on that.

Quote:"If you list out the applications you will be using"

Hell, I barely know what an "app" is.

Seriously this is all I use:

The clock on the computer
Maybe the calculator
Email
Internet

An app is an icon you click on your computer to do something. You click on "Internet Explorer" to access the Internet. You click on the calculator to launch a calculator.

How do you access your email? Do you do it from your Internet browser, say Internet Explorer or Firefox?

For your use, any laptop will do.

Quote:Long Battery
Light (not super important)
Durable (not super important, although I don't want some frail crap)
Really receptive WiFi (very important)
Fast

When you get a weak WiFi on a laptop, it isn't the laptop's fault; rather it's the condition of the network at the moment. Every laptop has the exact same WiFi capability, and tinkering with a WiFi infrastructure isn't something a non-techie can do, and in many cases, a pro won't be able to do anything either, when a serviced corporate network infrastructure like T-Mobile Hot Spot is involved. So, any laptop is good for your purpose.

If you want a better Internet phone quality, there are other ways to improve it.

For your laptop, I'd recommend Macbook Air or a light Windows 7 laptop.

However, I seriously recommend Macbook Air for your usage. For a variety of reasons.
1. It has a damn long battery life for a laptop. (5 hours.)
2. It's super light. (2.3 pounds only.)
3. the aluminum casing is super durable and has a really nice feeling to it.
4. fast for your use.

Check out a Macbook Air, physically touch it, and see how it feels. A Mac is easy; you don't really need to be concerned about switching from Windows to Mac. It'll be transparent. Simply put, there's no laptop lighter and sleeker than the Macbook Air. It's awesome for travelers.

If Mac really isn't your thing, check out some slick laptops by the following vendors, but I seriously recommend Macbook Air.
http://www.dell.com
http://www.hp.com
http://www.asus.com
http://www.acer.com

Do not rush and buy a laptop until you have sorted out the WiFi/Internet voice call issue. There are a few factors involved that could influence your buying decision.

Personally, I hate making phone calls on laptops. A phone is more comfortable than that. Why do you want to make a phone call on a laptop instead of a phone? You can even use an iPhone to make phone calls via the Internet.

This "Internet phone call" seems to be the only remaining issue.

Post: #45

(04-03-2011 01:37 AM)yourboychris Wrote:  I used a NETBOOK for my travel purposes. I was traveling and working for 15 months and my ASUS Eee 1000HE was perfect.

I have been using an MSI Wind 100 about 16 hours a day for the last two years while I work and travel. It has been a fantastic computer, and the only problems I have ever had with it were caused by me, not the computer.

It is a small enough to throw into any bag and nobody would know you are carrying a computer, and weighs less than 3 pounds. The screen is small but large enough to work on and the keyboard is compact but you get used to it quickly.

The only drawbacks were that some programs need too much processor power for the Atom to keep up, and with a 120gb hard drive if you are using it for music and video it fills up quickly.

I paid $500 for mine when they first got to Peru, but you can buy one today for under $300. I have gotten a ton of use out of it so far and when I get a new laptop the MSI netbook will stick around.

Post: #46

(04-02-2011 02:05 PM)Adventure21c Wrote:  Even at the lowest connection speed, a WiFi connection capacity (i.e. bandwidth) is more than adequate for Internet voice calls.

Not to nick pick on an overall excellent post, but this is technically not correct. VOIP(Internet phone calls) is all really about latency(the time it takes a packet to travel back and forth). If the latency between Gmanisfesto laptop and where he's calling is more 150ms, all the high tech laptops,wifi boosters and Fly honeys in the world will not make a world of difference. What matters is the quality of the underlying Internet connection that the Wi Fi router is connected on that makes a difference not the strength of Wi Fi singal, laptop, wifi boosters.

The problem is a lot of hotels in the third word and even in Western countries are cheap and use consumer grade connections to connect to the Internet(Cable, DSL, wireless, Satellite) rather than high quality, high reliability but expensive connections like T1, T3,fiber etc(these are the lines that land lines and pay phones phone calls are carried on). Consumer grade Internet tend to be oversubscribed(shared) at pretty much every fucking level. The hotel router level(with their shitty Linksys router), the ISP router level, The POP router level, The peering partner router level and so on. All this over subscription adds a shit load of overhead to the traveling packets which contributes greatly to latency that is just too damn high to be useful. In the US and Europe you don't really noticed it because the servers you are trying to reach more likely are a few high quality router hops away but overseas that's where you literally can hear every router hop in the call. If I need to make an important call and I am overseas, I won't chance it with wifi/cyber cafes phone booths. I'll go to a pay phone and pay the minute rate even if it is $3 a minute.

As for the Ipad, you can connect a blue tooth keyboard to it and type away. I own several tablets, to me they are more a compliment to a laptop rather than a replacement. I always travel with my laptop and my tablet. I use the laptop for business and the tablet to bullshit around(Reading ebooks, check email, facebooking, playing Angry Birds.).

Post: #47

Adventure21c-

Basically, a T-mobile phone can toggle on to WiFi.

This way I can make free calls to the US through the WiFi (or make calls without using minutes in America).



1. "What's the phone model?"

Blackberry

"What do you exactly do to make a phone call that way?"

Login into the Wifi and dial.

2. "Can you give some specific examples on when the phone call quality is bad?"

When there is a weak Wifi signal.

"Are the phone call qualities bad only when you're overseas calling America?"

Only when there is a weak Wifi signal.

"What do you mean by "bad phone call quality" exactly? Noises? Delays in voices? Dropped sounds with gaps?"

All of above and cutting out and dropped calls.

3. "Why do you want to make a phone call via the Internet on your laptop when you can do it on your phone? What's the reason?"

I do make the call on my phone. Not my laptop.

4. "If T-Mobile Hot Spot connection is bad, why not try a WiFi connection in your hotel room?"

I do use the Wifi connection in the hotel. For the situations it is weak, I need it "amplified"

5. How do you access the Internet now when you're overseas? Do you already have a laptop?

Yes.

Does this make sense?

I think you were misunderstanding when I was saying "Tmobile hot spot"

Post: #48

Alright, this is getting to be a heck a lot of information processing. Without getting too technical, let's get this done.

Quote:I do use the Wifi connection in the hotel. For the situations it is weak, I need it "amplified"

I'm telling you, amplifying a WiFi at the point of usage will not make any difference whatsoever for your particular predicament, T-Mobile Hot Spot or not.

If the signal is weak, and you get bad WiFi phone quality, it's not the problem of the WiFi signal. WiFi signal strength mean only one thing: channel capacity. As I said, Even at the lowest connection capacity (i.e. the worst signal strength), it is more than adequate for Internet voice calls. If your WiFi phone quality is bad at a weak signal spot, the problem can't be solved by "amplifying" the WiFi signal. Even if you manage to amplify the WiFi signal, all it does is increasing the total channel capacity between your Blackberry and the WiFi router, and that'll do nothing for you for your need. The only time when amplifying a WiFi signal for a WiFi phone calls is justified is when the signal is so bad, your WiFi connection drops. If the WiFi connection stays on, then amplifying the signal for a WiFi phone call will do absolutely nothing, although a hotel room situation it can be a bit tricky. There is a chance that amplifying a WiFi signal for a hotel room MIGHT improve your WiFi phone quality (although very likely not always): It might be worth giving a shot. (where would you place your WiFi amplifier in the hotel, however?)

Post #46 explains some pretty good reasons on why phone calls over WiFi can be shitty.

Also, amplifying the WiFi signal on your laptop to boost your WiFi phone quality on your Blackberry is a pretty faulty reasoning. It won't make an iota of difference in anything (your laptop would have to be somewhere between the WiFi router in hotel and your hotel room, leaving it unattended), not to mention that there's no laptop that does this, nor does it need to. This is why I initially thought you want to make a phone call on your laptop.

For your purpose, a Macbook Air or a Windows laptop mentioned by other users on this thread will do.

If you still want to brave the Blackberry/WiFi phone call situation, get an WiFi amplifier, and place it somewhere between the WiFi router in the hotel and your hotel room (you have to configure it right though). Again, placing a WiFi amplifier at the physical location of usage will do nothing.

(04-03-2011 11:27 AM)playa_with_a_passport Wrote:  

(04-02-2011 02:05 PM)Adventure21c Wrote:  Even at the lowest connection speed, a WiFi connection capacity (i.e. bandwidth) is more than adequate for Internet voice calls.

Not to nick pick on an overall excellent post, but this is technically not correct. VOIP(Internet phone calls) is all really about latency(the time it takes a packet to travel back and forth). If the latency between Gmanisfesto laptop and where he's calling is more 150ms, all the high tech laptops,wifi boosters and Fly honeys in the world will not make a world of difference. What matters is the quality of the underlying Internet connection that the Wi Fi router is connected on that makes a difference not the strength of Wi Fi singal, laptop, wifi boosters.

The problem is a lot of hotels in the third word and even in Western countries are cheap and use consumer grade connections to connect to the Internet(Cable, DSL, wireless, Satellite) rather than high quality, high reliability but expensive connections like T1, T3,fiber etc(these are the lines that land lines and pay phones phone calls are carried on). Consumer grade Internet tend to be oversubscribed(shared) at pretty much every fucking level. The hotel router level(with their shitty Linksys router), the ISP router level, The POP router level, The peering partner router level and so on. All this over subscription adds a shit load of overhead to the traveling packets which contributes greatly to latency that is just too damn high to be useful. In the US and Europe you don't really noticed it because the servers you are trying to reach more likely are a few high quality router hops away but overseas that's where you literally can hear every router hop in the call. If I need to make an important call and I am overseas, I won't chance it with wifi/cyber cafes phone booths. I'll go to a pay phone and pay the minute rate even if it is $3 a minute.

As for the Ipad, you can connect a blue tooth keyboard to it and type away. I own several tablets, to me they are more a compliment to a laptop rather than a replacement. I always travel with my laptop and my tablet. I use the laptop for business and the tablet to bullshit around(Reading ebooks, check email, facebooking, playing Angry Birds.).

Not to get technical, but if you look at just WiFi speed (I should've said bandwidth, but was trying to avoid technical terms), yes, the lowest speed is more than adequate. If we look at the network infrastructure behind the WiFi, the WiFi sharing status, the network infrastructure latency, yes, it's a different story.

playa_with_a_passport does a fantastic job explaining "the whole voice call" over WiFi situation in a hotel room.

If you want a better phone quality overseas over WiFi, get a dedicated Internet line that only you can use, or try other serviced WiFi network. There's not much you can do "at personal" to improve a WiFi quality at a T-Mobile Hot Spot or any other WiFi spot you have no personal control over. Using an WiFi amplifier cannot be a guaranteed solution.

Post: #49

Addition to the Post 48:

If you really want to take a jab at the WiFi amplification issue, there're several different approaches to that. You can either use a WiFi repeater, or a WiFi amplifier (there are several different types), or something else. It all depends on the situation and the right approach should be picked.

Post: #50

(04-02-2011 06:19 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  Thru a T-Mobile "hot spot" on my phone. I don't use skype. Does this make a difference?

I got confused here. Are you using T-Mobile WiFi APs to connect from your laptop? Or you're using your phone as WiFi access point, which uses the Internet via GPRS/Edge/3g?