What is the best 'gadget' for me?

boatman

Have a play with someones iphone or touchscreen smartphone, see if you get on with the screen size, you could get a Apple iTouch or the Orange San Francisco smart phone is only £100 and can be unlocked for £3. The only thing about using a phone rather than a netbook/tablet is that some web pages don't show correctly.
http://shop.orange.co.uk/mobile-phones/San-Francisco-from-Orange-in-grey

gonzo127

jackieblack wrote: »

I wouldn't need to make calls - I was thinking I'd just want to connect whatever it was to the internet using wi-fi.

I wasn’t thinking so much for calls, the big bonus of something like a smart phone over a netbook (although some netbooks do have a feature to allow this) is that if you cant find a WiFi hotspot you can use the mobile phone network to access the net which is what the sim card would be needed for to allow you to pay for the data charges over the phone network

jackieblack

ringo_24601 wrote: »

You could always get one of these.. http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/16255707/Disgo-Tablet-6000-2GB-7-Touch-Screen-Android-2-1-Tablet/Product.html#

But i hear they're not that great.

:rotfl:
Thanks for the suggestion

jackieblack

gonzo127 wrote: »

I wasn’t thinking so much for calls, the big bonus of something like a smart phone over a netbook (although some netbooks do have a feature to allow this) is that if you cant find a WiFi hotspot you can use the mobile phone network to access the net which is what the sim card would be needed for to allow you to pay for the data charges over the phone network

Ok, I understand.
Most hotels seem to offer wi-fi these days - everywhere we went this year we were given passwords at check-in to access wi-fi (just a shame we didn't have anything to access it with....)

boatman

ringo_24601 wrote: »

cheapest option is probably a netbook, sadly tablets aren't quite cheap enough yet - they will probably be by next year though.

You could always get one of these.. http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/16255707/Disgo-Tablet-6000-2GB-7-Touch-Screen-Android-2-1-Tablet/Product.html#

However, they are all underpowered with less CPU speed than a high-end mobile phone (like the samsung galaxy s or the desire). Personally, i'd be using a phone + wifi.

I'd agree with the processor/memory comment, it seems that you need 1Ghz processor and at least 512mb memory. I think there are a few people waiting for a great tablet to come out at around the £250, supposedly some coming out before xmas.

jackieblack

boatman wrote: »

Have a play with someones iphone or touchscreen smartphone, see if you get on with the screen size,

I don't think I know anyone know who might have one of these

Chorlie

If all you'll want is wifi access then an Apple iTouch could be the answer.

I used my iTouch, iPhone & iPad in the USA without problems

jackieblack

I know I sound like an idiot but..... is an iTouch the same thing as an iPod Touch?

Someone has offered me an HP iPaq they no longer use, would this be a good option?

These smart 'phones..... I don't really understand how they work do they use some kind of mobile phone version of windows/internet explorer? and what is android?

23n1th

http://www.android.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_%28operating_system%29

Android is very easy to learn and the phones are a lot lot cheaper than iphones. I'd take a rain check on the hp thing.

Chorlie

jackieblack wrote: »

I know I sound like an idiot but..... is an iTouch the same thing as an iPod Touch?

Someone has offered me an HP iPaq they no longer use, would this be a good option?

These smart 'phones..... I don't really understand how they work do they use some kind of mobile phone version of windows/internet explorer? and what is android?

Yes iTouch is an Apple iPod Touch

As for the iPaq, I used to use the Dell Axim which is the Dell version of the HP iPaq. I never really got to grip with it, the internet and connecting was hard to use, I bought the first iPod Touch the day it came out and within 5 mins I was doing things on it I never could get the Dell to do in the 3yrs of owning it.

The beauty of Apple products is they work out of the box and they are easy to use, down side is the cost (there tends to be cheaper products) and Apple tend to have more control, but for a basic user that can be a blessing because it makes things work easier.