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Will you be able to get a MBP with a builtin 3G-adapter yet? No? Ok, I'll just go back to Dell then. Edit: While my comment may come off trollish, this is a re

by trezor 16y ago

Will you be able to get a MBP with a builtin 3G-adapter yet? No? Ok, I'll just go back to Dell then. Edit: While my comment may come off trollish, this is a requirement for me when buying any mobile gear. That Apple still doesn't provide this for their top of the line laptops still baffles me.

mmt 16y ago
3G? What about 4G? I'm a little irked that there's no system bus [1] slot, into which I could install a 3G/4G combo card. However, in the past, I've turned out to be unwilling to spend the extra money on the dedicated hardware and extra subscription. I'd rather have a (nowadays quite tolerably small) USB dongle that I can use on any laptop or even a battery-powered wireless access point [2] than the sleek convenience of something built-in that only supports what was available when I bought it. [1] e.g. ExpressCard, though, since the 802.11 on the pre-unibody generations appeared to be mini-PCIe, I do wonder if there's hope for a combo wifi/wwan card, even aftermarket. [2] I'm a huge fan of the Cradlepoint PHS-300
- Uchikoma 16y ago
  I second [2]
- daniel02216 16y ago
  There is an ExpressCard/34 slot on the 17" MBPs, and there isn't really room for one on the 15" and smaller sizes.
  - mmt 16y ago
    I'm aware, but the 17" is just too huge. The 15" is just right, and I wouldn't mind it being larger, as in previous generations, if only from squarer corners. I'm not convinced there's an issue of space per se, since the SD card slot is only slightly smaller, and, even there, a card is not completely contained within the chassis when plugged in. Doing this with ExpressCard would be better than having none at all, IMO.
TillE 16y ago
Apple has never attempted to be everything to everyone. Why would you expect anything different? And why not just use a USB dongle?
- trezor 16y ago
  Why not have everything as external dongles? How about an external soundcard? Or external wifi-module? External card-reader? External auxiliary videocard for hooking up external monitirs? There's a value in having stuff built in. Where do you draw the line?
erik 16y ago
I've never understood the demand for builtin 3G for laptops. I don't want to pay for a 3G data plan for my laptop + 3G data plan for my iPad + 3G data plan for my phone. I want a data plan for my phone, and I want all of my devices to be able to access it via tethering.
- trezor 16y ago
  I can get a twin-card for my phone so it's tied to the same subscription and I don't have an iPad. In that case, it makes very much sense to me to be able to use that twin SIM-card somewhere useful. It may not fit your needs, but in the parts of the world where 3G is way more ubiquitous than wifi, it's very neat having. And it's extra neat to have without the need to bring up the phone and setting up tethering. Dell offers it as an option, just like everything else. I fail to see why Apple can't do the same.

by trezor 16y ago

mmt 16y ago

3G? What about 4G? I'm a little irked that there's no system bus [1] slot, into which I could install a 3G/4G combo card. However, in the past, I've turned out to be unwilling to spend the extra money on the dedicated hardware and extra subscription. I'd rather have a (nowadays quite tolerably small) USB dongle that I can use on any laptop or even a battery-powered wireless access point [2] than the sleek convenience of something built-in that only supports what was available when I bought it. [1] e.g. ExpressCard, though, since the 802.11 on the pre-unibody generations appeared to be mini-PCIe, I do wonder if there's hope for a combo wifi/wwan card, even aftermarket. [2] I'm a huge fan of the Cradlepoint PHS-300

Uchikoma 16y ago
I second [2]
daniel02216 16y ago
There is an ExpressCard/34 slot on the 17" MBPs, and there isn't really room for one on the 15" and smaller sizes.
- mmt 16y ago
  I'm aware, but the 17" is just too huge. The 15" is just right, and I wouldn't mind it being larger, as in previous generations, if only from squarer corners. I'm not convinced there's an issue of space per se, since the SD card slot is only slightly smaller, and, even there, a card is not completely contained within the chassis when plugged in. Doing this with ExpressCard would be better than having none at all, IMO.

TillE 16y ago

Apple has never attempted to be everything to everyone. Why would you expect anything different? And why not just use a USB dongle?

trezor 16y ago
Why not have everything as external dongles? How about an external soundcard? Or external wifi-module? External card-reader? External auxiliary videocard for hooking up external monitirs? There's a value in having stuff built in. Where do you draw the line?

erik 16y ago

I've never understood the demand for builtin 3G for laptops. I don't want to pay for a 3G data plan for my laptop + 3G data plan for my iPad + 3G data plan for my phone. I want a data plan for my phone, and I want all of my devices to be able to access it via tethering.

trezor 16y ago
I can get a twin-card for my phone so it's tied to the same subscription and I don't have an iPad. In that case, it makes very much sense to me to be able to use that twin SIM-card somewhere useful. It may not fit your needs, but in the parts of the world where 3G is way more ubiquitous than wifi, it's very neat having. And it's extra neat to have without the need to bring up the phone and setting up tethering. Dell offers it as an option, just like everything else. I fail to see why Apple can't do the same.