from Hacker News

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

by steventruong on 9/25/12, 6:28 AM with 8 comments

For some reason the poll option is turned off so I apologize for not having an actual poll.

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.

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.

The current options today are:

1. USB Modem or AirCard

2. Mobile Hotspot device

3. Tether from your smartphone

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.

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)?

  • by maguay on 9/25/12, 8:13 AM

    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.

  • by staunch on 9/25/12, 8:10 AM

    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.

  • by malandrew on 9/29/12, 1:04 AM

    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.

  • by gates2010 on 9/25/12, 6:53 AM

    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-...