Netbook and cheap mobile internet?

So when I do eventually go on holidays, I think I want to stay connected to the internet. Therefore, which service provider will I go with to get this mobile internet? Having been looking for a new beepy phone diary, I think there are some pretty good combo deals out there where you can combine a standard phone deal, and get 1gb of data per month. Given that I have broadband at home, I don't anticipate wanting to download too much stuff when mobile :) Now to do some more research on this...

Cheap Laptop #2

Looking at cheap laptops, my friends pointed out this apparent bargain - A Toshiba A300 for only $849 (plus shipping costs). Hmm - looks like they sold out of the "good one", and have posted up a cheaper laptop - this one is not so appetising. The original one had a bigger HDD, XP Pro downgrade rights, a better looking case (shiny black fingerprint magnet), a fingerprint scanner, as well as wireless A/B/G (this cheap one doesnt have A). Plus other stuff which I probably have forgotten about now. What a shame...

Cheap Laptop

I have been looking at getting myself a new, but cheap laptop.

Not sure if the eeeeeeeee pc is really the right way to go, or some "budget" style equivalent from Acer, Dell, etc. Alternatively, I can look at something a bit more exxy.

For now, I've been offered a loaner - a friend of mine is going to loan me his 7" eeeeeeeee pc to try out. Now lets see if I get hooked on this concept or not :)

TomTom XL GPS

TomTom released a new version (v4?) of their XL GPS.

This is a 4.3" widescreen GPS unit, basically just a stretched version of the TomTom One GPS unit. For people with "fat fingers" like me :) this is a good thing!

I bought this unit as I was sick and tired of the typical in-car arguments that arise from late or unclear directions. This little unit is also good for advising you what the expected speed limit is for where you are driving (note: it is not always correct).

We took this unit up for a drive into the countryside, and it worked brilliantly. One weekend of driving, and not one argument. I would thoroughly recommend getting one of these if you experience any sort of heated discussions during street directory direction giving/taking. This unit will tell you when to turn, AND before hand (like in 200 metres). The best thing about this version 4 unit is the TTS feature (Text To Speech). It will read out the street names for you.

The unit is nice and thin, and the suction cup thingamyjig is nice and sleek. It mounts ok to the windscreen - although in our case, my wife was holding it so she could see it. I tried it out in my dads car, and I stuck it ot the front passenger window, which worked fine too.

All up, I reckon its a great buy - saves a ton of aggravation :)

If you don't have one, get one!