How does a laptop work, please?

[crestwood]

Hi, I am thinking of perhaps purchasing a laptop to take it out of my home with me and then I will have an opportunity to check my email, etc. I have an Acer Desktop (I am very pleased with it) at home which connects thru my phone land-line and AT&T DSL is my Internet Service Provider.

I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about laptops and I was wondering if someone could tell me how they would connect outside of my home, and what ISP I would use. For instance, would I have to get another ISP that works outside of my home, and does a laptop have to connect thru a phone line as well?

Thanks very much in advance for help provided.

[crunchie]

Hi. One could get a mobile broadband setup and be able to use the laptop wherever you go. You simply go to your ISP and tell them what you want. There is a device that is similar to a flash drive that you plug directly into a usb port and away you go :).
If your home computer has an external modem or router, you can also plug your laptop into that and use your home internet connection.
If you wish to use both at home, you should consider a wireless router as most laptops have built in wireless and it's then a simple task of making the connection.
Hope this helps :).

[Paul Komski]

Laptops connect in just the same way as Desktops. Certain hardware and certain Ports tend to come as standard on one but not on the other but most can also be added if they do not currently exist. A laptop with no dial-up modem can have one added as a USB or as a PCMCIA cardbus or use a serial modem if there is a serial COM port. A desktop with no WiFi card can have one added as a USB or PCI expansion card. Any PC without an ethernet or a USB port can have them added as cardbuses or expansion cards. And so on.

In the absence of BroadBand the Mobile HighSpeed devices (a mobile phone on a USB "Dongle") alluded to by crunchie can be good if you have good mobile coverage and particularly with laptops that you need to bring here and there. They can also be plugged into and used by a number of computers (both desktops and laptops) under the same monthly rental.

[crestwood]

Thanks so much. I am mainly interested in just having a laptop where I can plug into when I am not at home to check my email. I presently have AT&T DSL Yahoo as my ISP on my Acer desktop at home and I pay approximately $14.99 monthly for this service. If possible, I would like to have a laptop that I could carry around with me and plug into, maybe into an electrical outlet? Would there be a charge for doing so? I am unfamiliar with WIFI but I have heard folks say that it is available at libraries or Starbucks.

Added thought, what is the difference between a laptop and a notebook computer? Thanks again.

[Paul Komski]

Laptop and Notebook are used interchangeably. Netbooks are smaller usually 10" laptops (usually with no CD/DVD drive and sometimes with a solid state hard drive) that are designed to be easily moved around to access the "net" hence their name. They are cheaper than laptops and usually run WindowsXP or Linux Ubuntu. Any modern Laptop or Netbook is liable to be internet ready by both cable and wifi. Dialup modems can be added by USB.

[crestwood]

Thank you. A visiting friend (here from Arizona) just bought a Acer laptop from Costo and he took it to the Library where they have Wifi but he is not able to use it for some strange reason and log onto his Cox email account. In the meanwhile, I am trying to learn as much about them as I can and I so appreciate this web site. (I didn't know that laptops to not have a mouse).

[crunchie]

You can use a usb mouse on the laptop if you wish. I personally do not care for the touchpads. I find them too awkward.
If your friend was able to connect with the wifi network at the library, he should also have been able to connect to his email.