ke4pymPremium
join:2004-07-24
Charlotte, NC Reviews:
 ·VOIPo
 ·Verizon Broadban..
 ·RoadRunner Cable
·Northland Cable ..
| Time for new hardware Hard to believe I've lived with Verizon for 2 years now. Boy, time files when you're broke ... or something.
Anyway, looking to get a new laptop in the not to distant future. Said machine is going to be a Mac Book Pro 17". It has one of those new fangled ExpressCard/34 slots.
Has anyone used the ExpressCard and USB adapter? If so, do you have any thoughts on which one is better? I've been using a KPC650 and it has been rock solid. |
| Il am using the UM USB 150, just for a few days , but works great. From my research, this gives you a better signal reception as it's USB powered. I got one with a 4 foot cord that has 2 connectors to hook into 2 USB ports but mine are on opposite sides. However I have a PowerBook G4 1.67 Ghz. Reception has been excellent, I am in San Diego County. North part and get 3 to 4 lights on a 4 light maximum. I am in a tough area for cell on the side of a mountain. I had them set me up at the Verizon owned store, about 15 minutes, mostly waiting for activation. Of course they knew nothing of Macs. I elected to use their VZ Navigator software, supposedly not necessary as I read later but I would probably install the VZ Navigator. It has an uninstaller if you want to remove it later. I have been seeing 1.4 Mbs down and 250 to 450 up. Much better then my 3 year experience with StarBand or SpaceNet and a lot cheaper up front cost. Aso the monitoring of the use, 5 Gbs a month is much more realistic then the satellite companies monitoring, which is really bad and frankly not accurate.
I suggest getting insurance coverage on the modem , 5 or 6 bucks a month but these modems are $250.00 to $300 bucks and 2 years is a long time to carry one around. It also will carry a 4 MB little disk so you can download to it also. If your in a weak signal area you can get amplifiers to boost weak signals. I am very happy with the UM USB 150. I have really been pushing it, using it 12 hours a day and no complaints. This is a new area so I have a lot of questions too, on setting it up for different areas and tweaking for the best speeds, but it's sitting on a pillow on a couch right now and it's raining in so cal and I am hitting 3 to 4 bars.
A Note on the Mac Book Pro, I have a friend and FWIW, he says in about 3 to 4 months Apple will release a quad core Mac Book Pro. Very fast. But there will always be faster, either way, it would mean a price drop on this current model, which is very good or a really fast machine that will see you through for many years. Good Luck and any use tips from your experience most appreciated.
Geoff |
