ibook and bluetooth phone?

[Cindy]

I've had my ibook for about 6 months now and love it. But I would really like to use the bluetooth for a wireless connection with my cell phone. Right now I don't have a bluetooth phone - just a regular one by verizon.
I've had customer service problems with verizon BUT I'm in a 2 year contract and won't be done til 2007
I understand (let me know if I'm wrong) that I will still need an adapter that will go in a USB port from my ibook to the phone - correct?
And if I get a signal (from my phone) I should be able to surf the net and pick up emails?? That's what I want to do anyway.
I'm used to slooow - I'm on dial up.
I'm still looking at prices (I really don't want to spend a ton of money). I can get out of my contract for 175.00 and go with another company - OR I can buy a new phone from verizon at full price.
I get fair reception from verizon in my area. Actually it is very fair. Most of the time the reception is terrible inside my house - I have to go out on the porch - which I find ridiculous!
But I wouldn't be using the bluetooth in my home anyway.
Ok - let me get to my point and question.... Can you suggest a phone from verizon or another company that would be a good choice for my ibook?
I'm getting NO-WHERE with the phone companies out here concerning this since no one uses Macs! So frustrating. I had people telling me that nothing would work because there is no port for a card to get wireless. I kept trying to explain to them (I even had my laptop with me) that it is built in but they didn't understand at all.
There is a Mac store from where I bought my ibook from that I could go to during the week but I thought I would start here to get at least some idea.
Cindy

 

[Applespider]

So frustrating. I had people telling me that nothing would work because there is no port for a card to get wireless. I kept trying to explain to them (I even had my laptop with me) that it is built in but they didn't understand at all.

Actually, they're kinda right since you're talking about two different kinds of wireless. You're talking wifi (aka 802.11) which is what Airport runs on.

Most cell companies when they talk about wireless are talking about GPRS or 3G - which currently come in cards that slot into a PCMIA slot on a laptop - which with an iBook, you don't have. You may already have Bluetooth built-in on your iBook - I can't recall when it became standard. Check in System Profiler. Some of the newest phones are coming out with normal wifi built-in but not sure how they're going to work quite yet.

You can do what you want to do but it will be very, very slow - much slower than dial-up. My SE k700 and k750 have both done it after a fair amount of tweaking and hair-pulling to get the modem scripts working. When you first set up the phone using BT, OS X will walk you through the option of using it as a modem - you just need to know how to dial into the appropriate number with the appropriate passwords and modem scripts. The number/passwords, you should be able to get from your ISP or cell operator, the scripts you might have to hunt out.

You'll also want to check your phone tariff since some of them charge more for 'data' calls than voicecalls.

To be honest, if you want to check your mail on the go, you'll be better off checking for wifi hotspots in the areas you are going and using those services. Faster, probably cheaper and much less hassle.

 

[Cindy]

Applespider: Ah - that's what I was afraid of. I've read some old posts on this subject and not too many people had good reviews using their bluetooth phone for this same purpose -- connecting onto the internet.
So, tell me.... what can I use the bluetooth for?? I have my ibook and I have a desktop eMac (older computer) which has limited capabilities.
I don't have a wireless mouse and don't have a need for it either.
I'm just dying to use the bluetooth tho.

On these hotspots that you meantioned.... are you talking about places like Starbucks? Don't you need an account from people like T-Mobile for that?
I know there are free places around but I've never tried them.
Cindy

 

[Applespider]

So, tell me.... what can I use the bluetooth for??

Well, I use Bluetooth on my Mac and phone. Primarily via iSync to get my contacts/calendar organised. That does make life a lot easier when you get new numbers from one to the other. And when it comes to new phone times, it's amazing.

I also use the BT connection between them to transfer music/picture/video files from the Mac to the phone or vice versa. But you're limited to how much space your phone has if you're going to do that a lot.

And on occasion, I use Sailing Clicker to change the iTunes song from the other side of the room if I'm tidying/sorting through somethign away from the Mac.

On these hotspots that you meantioned.... are you talking about places like Starbucks? Don't you need an account from people like T-Mobile for that? I know there are free places around but I've never tried them.

JWire can tell you if there are free networks in areas you are going to - or there are a few widgets out there than you can activate and it will tell you if you're in range of a network - if your iBook hasn't already picked it up and connected

Some are 'pay for' - although even buying 10 hours worth of time is going to be cheaper than a new phone and possibly the call time rates. Some places offer you free usage if you buy coffee/sandwich. Others are free entirely; like Apple Stores.

 

[Cindy]

[QUOTE


JWire can tell you if there are free networks in areas you are going to - or there are a few widgets out there than you can activate and it will tell you if you're in range of a network - if your iBook hasn't already picked it up and connected
[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the JWire tip. I checked a few things out on it. Not many free sites. But for example I looked for some spots at airports for when we are traveling. They show access providers and for example... my local airport shows:
Airpath
iPass
Sprint
T-Mobile

So, I'm assuming I'll need to purchase thru one of those providers. What is iPass - do you know?
Are any of these worth the air time?
I was hoping airports would have some free time but I guess not. It sure would pass time while sitting at an airport waiting for the flight.

 

[Applespider]

So, I'm assuming I'll need to purchase thru one of those providers. What is iPass - do you know?
Are any of these worth the air time?
I was hoping airports would have some free time but I guess not. It sure would pass time while sitting at an airport waiting for the flight.

Since I'm in the UK, I'm not sure what the current rates over there are. One thing I do know, is that just because they're all listed doesn't mean they're all available all over the airport. Some might be in specific terminals/lounges/bars. Most of these things you can either subscribe to for x hours a month, or buy a fixed amount that runs out in an hour, a day, a week.

Usually, you go, open up the Mac and see if there's a signal. Then just try to open Safari, it will go to the hotspot page where there's usually a link to what payment options are available. Buy what the package you want, and then you can browse virtually anything (be aware though that it's not a secure environment so be wary of putting anything to do with passwords or credit card details)