Any UK supplied netbooks with built in 3G?

[Marf]

I've just started up my own small IT company offering IT services to small businesses and home users, and I want to get myself a netbook to use on site.

I'd like it to be mobile broadband enabled, but I dont want to have to use a dongle. I've seen that some of the more popular netbook brands are available abroad with built in sim card slots, are any officially available here yet? I've not managed to spot any

Cheers

Marf

[RedLeicester]

Bloody hundreds of them.... Sony, Fujitsu, Asus, Samsung, the works. In fact as far as I'm aware Apple are about the only people that don't offer one!

Vodafone, Tmobile et al even do deals on them with Mobile Broadband contracts.

Edited by RedLeicester on Friday 23 October 11:51

[Marf]

And all of these machines do not use a USB dongle? I'm specifically looking for a machine with a sim card slot built in.

edit: I dont want to go on a contract, I'd be using a paygo sim as the data useage I'd require wouldnt be very high.

Edited by Marf on Friday 23 October 11:59

[Doug Phillips]

The newer Toshiba NB200 has 3G buit in, we use the here at work. And very nice they are as well, we run XP pro on them with Vodafone contracts.

[Marf]

Doug Phillips said:

The newer Toshiba NB200 has 3G buit in, we use the here at work. And very nice they are as well, we run XP pro on them with Vodafone contracts.

Cool, thanks. Any more for any more?

[Doug Phillips]

Here is a link to the old one without 3G http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/... , I think the 3G ones have only been in this country for about 3 weeks (we had some of the first batch in). I use the old (now) NB200 and it works very well, its just that I have to have a 3G dongle sticking out at the side.

[Marf]

Thanks Doug I'll check them out, had a brief read of a review on RegHardware, sounded pretty good and I like the look of the machine overall.

[RedLeicester]

Marf said:

And all of these machines do not use a USB dongle? I'm specifically looking for a machine with a sim card slot built in.

edit: I dont want to go on a contract, I'd be using a paygo sim as the data useage I'd require wouldnt be very high.

ALL of those manufacturers make Laptops with SIM card slots built in. You're in IT?!

Hell I've had 3 emails today alone from companies trying to flog me laptops with built in SIM slots - Sony, Acer and Samsung today.

[Marf]

RedLeicester said:

Marf said:

And all of these machines do not use a USB dongle? I'm specifically looking for a machine with a sim card slot built in.

edit: I dont want to go on a contract, I'd be using a paygo sim as the data useage I'd require wouldnt be very high.

ALL of those manufacturers make Laptops with SIM card slots built in. You're in IT?!

Support, not supply, but hey, thanks for the inference that I don't know anything

I'll look into it a bit more then, from an initial google all I can find is the world and his wife offering me a free laptop for a £25 a month 24month contract, which I do not want.

Edited by Marf on Friday 23 October 15:20

[Digger]

Seems like they are working out how best to make money. Thinking out loud here it would be interesting if the tech allowed two sims to run on the one contract thus allowing to use say a mobile and a netbook's sim on the same data plan. I pay t mobile extra £5 per month so I can use my phone as a modem on an unlimited data tariff and use Joikuspot to turn mobile into a pseudo wifi AP. Having said that having the option built into my eeepc/netbook's would be preferable

didn't Dell have a tie-up with vodafone at the beginning of the year to bundle a 2 yr contract with their Mini 9 and it's built-in 3G sim capability? Or was that USA only?