[ale] OT - Smart Phone [AT&T]

[Mark Wright]

Hi Ned,

I was impressed with your plan.  I'd like to get the $20 data plan  
from Tmobile but I can't find it on their web site.  You mentioned  
negotiating it.  Is it a deal that they will make if you press them  
but they do not make it available for uneducated shoppers?

Mark



On Dec 27, 2007, at 9:31 AM, Ned Williams wrote:

> Ok the only way to get what you ask cheap is to do a little work on  
> your part...but since you want it to work well with Linux, then  
> that should not be an issue.
>
>
> 1- Get a locked GSM treo 650 or above off ebay, make sure you get  
> the USB cable with it and power plug
> 2. Pay 20 bucks (or less sometimes) to one of the many online  
> unlocking services
> 3. Now if you want Wifi, you will need get either the hacked SD  
> card wifi card for it, or the tray.
> 4- Get the Tmobile 20 per month unlimited internet, its EDGE but  
> its 20 bucks flat rate.
> 5. If you insist on Mico or Mini SD then get anyone of the trillion  
> adapters out there if you get a 650 or older treo,,,otherwise just  
> use SD like eveyrone else in the world.
> 6. Now get any of the various Linux-Palm utilities and go to town.
>
> I use my treo as my on the road internet for my Nokia 770 tablet 
> (Debian based) all the time, works like a champ and beats paying  
> the ridiculous wifi rates at most airports. Also with a bluetooth  
> dongle or bluetooth enabled notebook it works great as a ppp device  
> to get you online via edge when you need that as well.
>
> One caveat, TMobile officially does not support the 650/680/700 so  
> if you call in tell them you have a 600 if they give you any flak  
> most of the techs no the newer units and dont have any issue  
> working with you.
>
> cost breakdown
> 1-treo 650 right now is about 100 on ebay unlocked, if you can get  
> the unlocked cheap that negates the need to buy the locked phone,  
> historically locked phones are always cheaper since people think  
> they can only sell them to people on their network.
> 2-J-Unlock or similar service, if needed 20 bucks
> 3-USB bluetooth dongle if needed, 20 bucks.
> 4-Wifi sled/SD card, 50-100 I havnt looked in a while since I just  
> just the nokia's wireless and larger screen if I want/need 802.11
> 5-Tmobile internet plan 20 per month you can get it without voice  
> if you choose, but then you have to negotiate the contract, if you  
> have tmobile already you can just add the service to your sim and  
> slap it into your new phone.
>
> One additional note, there are several palm apps out there that  
> will let you use the treo cabled via the USB, this makes it appear  
> as a usb modem to linux and is easier to set up than the bluetooth  
> route, I can speak to Knoppix has a build in wizard for this if  
> your new to mobile networking, I can only assume Ubuntu does as  
> well. The speed you will get via the cable will be slightly better  
> since the treo does not have to pass the information over BT stack  
> but only slightly since we are talk about 128kps esque speeds.
>
> good luck,
> Ned
>
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> On Dec 26, 2007 11:34 AM, Michael B. Trausch <mike at trausch.us> wrote:
> On Tue, 2007-12-25 at 19:01 -0500, David Tomaschik wrote:
> > I'm a current AT&T customer, but I'm looking for a new phone, and
> > would
> > like to move into the smartphone market.  I'd like to find something
> > that supports bluetooth (PAN for Internet connectivity to my  
> laptop),
> > WIFI, and has a full qwerty keyboard.  I'd also like it to have a
> > micro-SD slot for memory and video/audio playback capability.  One
> > more
> > thing: I'd like it to play well with Linux for internet, file
> > transfer,
> > and addressbook/calendar synchronization.  The last bit is that,  
> as a
> > college student, I don't have a whole lot to spend on this,
> > unfortunately.  Any suggestions of a phone?
>
> AT&T is GSM, right?
>
> What about the Neo?  It is open and easily extended, so it should be
> very possible to get it to do everything you need---and then some.
>
> http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Neo1973
>
>        --- Mike
>
> --
> Michael B. Trausch                                   mike at trausch.us
> home: 404-592-5746, 1                                 www.trausch.us
> cell: 678-522-7934                       im: mike at trausch.us, jabber
> Ubuntu Unofficial Backports Project:    http://backports.trausch.us/
>
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