

Poll: Would you pay for an integrated Internet solution to your laptop? - steventruong

For some reason the poll option is turned off so I apologize for not having an actual poll.<p>I am curious if anyone here would pay for an integrated internet solution to your laptop much like a wifi iPad (current laptops) vs 3G iPad (what it could be; replace 3G for 4G or LTE all you want). Basically laptop with internet. Why or why not? Appreciate the responses.<p>I know that some netbooks and laptops had a prebuilt integration but that never seemed to have taken off but I am curious if that had to do more with the netbook market in general vs a mass market option.<p>The current options today are:<p>1. USB Modem or AirCard<p>2. Mobile Hotspot device<p>3. Tether from your smartphone<p>I think each has drawbacks (forgetting to always bring your USB dongle or card, battery life (especially tethering on the go), and wifi is not always available everywhere.<p>So if there was an option to have it part of your laptop without a big dongle attached or a separate hotspot device to carry around, would you pay for that (assume service is still through carrier as normal)?
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maguay
I use a Alcatel USB 3G adaptor for connectivity on my MacBook Air. If there
had been an option to add a built-in data solution, I would have upgraded in a
heartbeat if it was sim-unlocked.

One nice thing: in Thailand, I pay ~$25/month for a 5Gb data cap and unlimited
wifi in most public places from my carrier, on a pre-paid sim.

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staunch
Now that LTE is real this will probably become standard pretty soon. LTE will
replace public wifi for the most part, at least for me.

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malandrew
I've been wanting built in internet in a macbook pro for a while now. It's
frustrating that this still isn't an option except on tablets and phones.

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gates2010
there are already a few outthere that are sold with an inbuild WAN card...

ex: dell laptops sold with wan card
[http://www.dell.com/us/p/d/campaigns/4g-3g-mobile-
broadband-...](http://www.dell.com/us/p/d/campaigns/4g-3g-mobile-broadband-
laptops.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&preview=true&~ck=mn)

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TobbenTM
Yes, at my workplace all the computers have the slot for a sim card. WWAN card
has to be installed for it to function though. Everything from Lenovo
Thinkpads to HP Elitebooks to Dell Latitudes have this.

