Help a pretty girl configure her Lenovo before midnight strikes!

I'm trying to decide whether to get the Verizon Sierra CDMA2000 wireless WAN hardware. Are a lot of people starting to subscribe to this kind of service? Is it worth $105 to get this extra hardware?

I need to order this before midnight, so please let me know ASAP. Thanks a million!

Thanks in advance for your help,
R.

 

Picture for proof! J/K

How shameless using your sexual identity to persuade lonely computer nerds into helping you.

Im guessing thats some kind of thing they offer for the mobile broadband service. Its pretty expensive normally like $70 a month but all you need is a adapter that cost about $80 and then pay the monthly fee for it. If you go to the Verizon site you can view all of the adapter types and there cost/speed and evaluate the one best for your needs. USB for convenience or maybe something like express card for speed? It depends on the service your going to get and the connections your laptop has.

I can personally live without it as there is wifi everywhere, but if you travel and find yourself without wifi often it may be worth it for you.

 

I would recommend the AT&T card instead of the Verizon one. This uses SIM cards for authentication and you can pull your SIM from your smartphone (e.g. Blackberry, iPhone, etc.) to get instant WWAN access w/o buying a separate plan. You should check your terms of service with your carrier though, because if you don't have tethering on your phone ($10-15 more per month if available) you may be in violation and they could cancel your cell contract and hit you with a fee (if they catch you ). You can also get GPS with these receivers as well (if that matters to you).

 

By adapter, do you mean a USB card or something small like that? If it's that small, I would definitely not pay extra for something internal.

Oh, you asked for a photo:

 

Please follow the forum roolz when posting a picture. You have to have your name and the date written on a piece of paper in the photo. Either that or a sign that says "Goodspeed ROOLZ!" will suffice.

 

Dude, that's not even a good photo. Now what about the answer to my question?

 

j/k

 

What question?

 

I asked about how large the "adapter" is:

 

You can get a USB or ExpressCard adapter that will provide much the same functionality from any of the carriers. However, these tend to require you to sign a 2 year contract ($1440 for 2 years service at $60 per month), and are never as elegant as an internal solution.

As I said, get the AT&T adapter (unless you get a break on Verizon service). They were practically throwing them away for $30 when I got my x200 Tablet, and I think they provide more flexibility than a Verizon option (just grab and GSM SIM with a data plan [e.g. pulled from your smartphone] and you have internet on your laptop wherever and whenever you need it).

 

Yeah, what he said. And dooooode...... you said "dude".

 

Jon, thanks for your answer. I'm assuming that the AT&T adapter is an external one, yes? As far as internal solutions, Verizon's is the only one Lenovo offers.

 

Where are you configuring this (and what model [x200, T400, etc.] are you getting)?? AT&T is most definitely offered by Lenovo as an internal option, or at least it was when I configured mine in October. The WWAN adapter is an internal mini-PCI card and the SIM is located in the battery bay.

 

Jon,

I'm buying the X300. Under Mobile broadband, the only option is Integrated Wireless WAN: Verizon Sierra CDMA2000. In this case, do you think it's just better buy an external AT&T adapter?

 

external is more convenient in some ways, no need to open the machine or swap out your old wireless card.

Plus if you get a usb one, you can use it on more than one machine easy.

 

BTW, where does Lenovo ship from?

I ask because I'm trying to decide whether to get the 2 day shipping vs. Ground; I'm in CA, so if they're nearby, there's no point in getting rush shipping.

 

The problem with an external adapter is you generally need to sign a 2 year contract just to buy the card ($1440 over two years) and this nullifies the convenience, and savings, you would get from being able to pop the SIM out of your phone on the occasions you want the full keyboard/screen for internet and don't have access to a Wi-Fi connection.

If you think you will want to use your x300 in a lot of places where you won't have access to free Wi-Fi (e.g. cars, airports, some hotels) then a WWAN plan may make sense (especially if an employer is willing to pick up the service fees). In this case I would get the WWAN card internal as it is easier to use, there's nothing to lose, and you may get better battery life/signal strenght than using an external adapter. You should also get GPS (even without a plan) by getting the WWAN card.

I don't mean to talk you out of the x300, but one other option is the x200. This is available with the AT&T card (I just checked), is more powerful than the x300 (2.4 GHz vs. 1.2GHz, and on the newer Montevina platform), offers up to 9 hours of battery life (much more than the x300), and is between 3 and 3.6 pounds depending on battery choice. This is a very good computer and offers some things the x300 doesn't (SD card reader [cameras or easy removable storage], docking stations, expresscard 54mm (for extra ports or WWAN)]. You would lose the optical drive, touchpad, and 1.2" of screen size if those are important features to you though.

Lenovo generally ships straight from the factory. This is in Shanghai, China. However, anything better than ground won't do you much good. The delay in getting a laptop is in the building phase, not the shipping. My x200 went from Shanghai to Ohio in less than 48 hours and I opted for "Ground shipping". It went from Shanghai to Alaska to Kentucky by air, and was only on a truck for the last 100 miles.

 

I'm looking for a very light laptop, and my understanding is that the X200 is about 0.5 pounds heavier than the X300. Is that right?

 

I can see how it's probably a better deal, but the X200 doesn't have a touchpad. I rarely use an external mouse and prefer touchpads, so that's a dealbreaker for me.

 

To each their own, but I think if you tried the TrackPoint for a week you really would like it. TrackPoints are much more precise than touchpads, and require very little finger movement (especially if you can touch type). Additionally, the touchpad on the x300 is pretty small.

I wouldn't let weight disqualify the x200. The x200 with 4 cell is 3 pounds (this is the same as the x300 with 3 cell battery and weight saver instead of DVD). The x200 with 6 cell gets more battery life than the x300 with 6 cell and weighs the same at 3.3 pounds (6 cell batteries each).

The x200 is a little bit thicker (about 0.3-0.4 inches) than the x300, but it has a slightly smaller cross section and is very portable. The x200s is smaller/ligher still, but it doesn't offer WWAN at all.

 

I used a Thinkpad with a trackpoint for a while and while it was more precise, I liked it a lot less than the touchpad.

Thanks very much for your help, Jon!

 

No problem, enjoy your new ThinkPad.

 

I don't see no photo!

 

Rule 34!!!

 

am i the only one who noticed how dodgy this sounds?



jkjk

 

Can I interest you in some zircon encrusted tweezers?