iPhone vs netbook...help

denise

The world is a book, and those who do not travel,
Joined
Jun 22, 2005
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I have come to the experts....I need your help......

My laptop is old, slow, huge and weighs a ton. It WILL not be vacationing anymore. I have thinking of getting a netbook to take on vacations. This would be used just to check emails, surf the web & make sure the bills are paid on time. I really like the ease that a netbook offers. We are cruising next year in the Baltic and I want to keep current on my bills for sure!:)

Right now I own a iPod Touch. IF there is wifi I can check all my emails, go on FB, search the web, and Monday I will be able to use the DIS app. :love: I have not paid bills from my touch though.

So my question is: Do I get an iphone or a netbook. Has anyone paid bills with an iphone/touch? Just how secure is it? On the cruise board people have helped me with the costs of wifi on the Magic. So if I have an iphone would I be able to use the wifi pay per use plan on the cruise instead of paying ATT for usage? I have started reading reviews of netbooks and came across an article saying the iPhone does just as much. I had never thought of it like that before so I need the opinions of the experts here.

I can upgrade to an iphone next month (17th). I just never thought of the iphone and netbook on the same level.

The price will be about the same. But what to do????? :confused3
 
A netbook is a one-time purchase.

An iPhone you have to pay for every month.
 
A netbook is a one-time purchase.

An iPhone you have to pay for every month.
True, I think the data plan is about $30. a month...
I just wonder about checking my bank accounts and paying bills...
 
I think a netbook would be much more flexible for bill paying and such, unless your bank has iPhone apps.

If you can get BOTH ... then it'd be even better!
 

I just talked to someone with an iPhone. He uses it topay all his bills using apps or the company's website.

Do have to pay the monthly iPhone bill. He said he and his mother each have a phone for $120 / month.
 
I actually have both and I would recomend going with the netbook. My wife and I went on our honeymoon last year with just the iphone and I thought I was going to go nuts just having the iphone after 9 days. I love my phone but it is not meant to replace a computer.
 
I think a netbook would be much more flexible for bill paying and such, unless your bank has iPhone apps.

If you can get BOTH ... then it'd be even better!

Never thought about the apps...I was just thinking of going on the credit card site thru the web.

BUT, I do like your idea to get BOTH!!!!:woohoo:
 
I actually have both and I would recomend going with the netbook. My wife and I went on our honeymoon last year with just the iphone and I thought I was going to go nuts just having the iphone after 9 days. I love my phone but it is not meant to replace a computer.

Which netbook do you have?
 
Never thought about the apps...I was just thinking of going on the credit card site thru the web.

BUT, I do like your idea to get BOTH!!!!:woohoo:

My bank has been pushing the mobile web lately (ie for mobile phones). The demo I looked at was specifically highlighting the ability to pay bills via your mobile phone. They were saying that it worked exactly the same as if you logged into the website and used the pay bills feature.

Take a look and see what your bank is offering. I was surprised at mine!

Having said that, I have no idea about the security of the transactions on the phone versus the transactions over the web. Please don't flame too hard if I'm wrong, but I thought I'd read that the iphone wasn't as secure?
 
I think any situation where you're using a public, unsecured WiFi connection has some security risk, depending on how it's set up. Just something to think about. You would want to make sure you had your security settings on the netbook set to make sure that other people on the same network can't access your computer. In some ways, the iPhone has security advantages in that regard. If you were able to use an app for your bank, etc., I would feel pretty secure about it. The way the iPhone is set up, apps for the most part can't access each other's data, so it's unlikely that someone is going to hack into your (un-jailbroken) phone. As for transmitting the data over the WiFi network itself - again, you would want to make sure the network itself was secure.

As for iPhone v. netbook - there are some overlapping uses, but each would have different pluses and minuses. I feel very comfortable traveling for a few days with my iPhone only and leaving my laptop behind. I don't pay bills with it, but it's just fine for email, etc. If I need to be able to access work stuff, I have no choice but to use my laptop because of the software I need to use.

One thing to be aware of if you are cruising/traveling internationally - international data rates on the iPhone are crazy. You could rack up thousands of dollars in bills very fast if you're not careful. If you go that route, make sure you know in advance what the data situation is going to be where you're going. You can get an international data plan for the duration of your trip from AT&T, but I don't think any of those are unlimited. The iPhone sucks data like crazy, even when you don't think you're using that much. You may be able to get AT&T to data block your phone while you're traveling or you can make sure the phone is set to be in airplane mode (of course, in that case, why not just bring your iPod touch). I have also heard of people on cruises who are in port getting hit with international rates because of which cell phone tower they happen to be accessing.
 
You want a netbook and then get a mifi (Mini WiFi) from your cell carrier. This way you have the best of both worlds. Your Itouch will work on MiFi as well as the netbook. The price for Iphone internet is about the same price as a data plan. You can use the MIFI on 5 things at once.

I have both and I can tell you each serves a purpose. I love my netbook because its so light and easy to use. I use my Itouch when I want something even smaller to bring.

Then you need Cinemin. LOL I just ordered it for my boyfriends Iphone and my Itouch for Christmas. Its a portable projector the size of your palm. :rotfl2:
Got to love the Toys :banana:
 
I love my phone but it is not meant to replace a computer.

This. I love, love, LOVE my iPhone - and while it does a lot of things a computer can do, a computer it is not. I'm going on a two week trip to CA at the end of the month and I'm bringing my laptop - no way can I be away that long with just my iPhone. If you have to choose one, I'd pick the netbook.
 
If you already have an iPod Touch, I don't see any reason to get an iPhone. Nor though, do I see any reason to get a netbook if the only difference between the two is that you would pay your bills on the netbook. With either the ipod or the netbook, you'd be paying bills over the same wifi after all, right? That said, netbooks are easier to type on and have more memory, so there is that, especially if you're uploading photos or what have you.
We recently decided to look at our use of my previous smart phone, vs. getting an iPhone or an iPod Touch. It turned out that about 85% of the time that I was using my smart phone for data, I was in an area with available wifi, and the other ten percent it was something that I could do using strictly a text message (twitter update, foursquare, contact friend). So we dropped my data plan completely and got an iPod touch, and it will pay for itself in a year.
One thing I would wait on with a netbook is that the rumors are flying fast and heavy that this spring will bring the Apple Tablet, and that might be an even better alternative, esp. if you like the apps, GUI, etc.
 
WOW, everyone sure has some great comments....
I found a netbook that is cute, yes it is also about being cute...
At Walmart.com ....HP Pink 10.1" Mini 110-1129NR Netbook PC with Intel Atom Processor, Sleeve Case & Windows XP...for $358...but...
I just can't make up my mind...so I guess I don't need it? For our next vacation to DL we are driving so the old heavy laptop is still ok...I will have to decide by June for sure.

I added some apps last night to my touch, one is called mint.com or something like that. So now I can check every bank and credit card account at once. It doesn't tell me when the credit card bills are due thought. Is there an app that does? Added my bank apps( what I could find) also. Will have to play with them.
I used to have the greatest app for finding wifi but with the newest upgrade Apple took the app off their site. It found hidden wifi's and it was wonderful! Now I just use the one in the settings until I find another great one.

Thank you everyone for your help. Everyone's answers are really making me think this out even more....
denise
 
I picked up a netbook, because my laptop was starting to feel bulky and stuff on trips. Silly, huh? It's not HUGE or anything, but I guess i wanted the smaller simplicity of the netbook. I went on a 2 week vaca over the summer with my itouch and my netbook, and didn't miss my laptop at all...the netbook was awesome...I loved it.

I also love that I don't have to pay monthly bills for my itouch (considered an iphone too) and I had the ease of a quick and small netbook. It was a great buy...

On the other hand, there are times and apps, I do wish i had an iphone...but then I think of my cell phone bill going up much higher on a monthly basis, and I'm quite happy with my choice - and realize i don't really need those apps, and have enough fun/cool stuff to keep me happy on my itouch.

Good luck on your decision.
 












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