I'll be in Australia nd NZ for about a month in April. Is it cheaper/easier to bring a laptop with me (and pay the hotel fee for the connection) or go to internet cafes?
Thank you!

In both Australia and NZ we have found it easy to use internet cafes or local libraries. Charges are fairly low - $A2-3 for about thirty minutes. Saves bringing and looking after an expensive laptop.

Just returned from two weeks on the SI of NZ. Had no trouble finding inexpensive internet access. Best rate we found was at a library. Visitor centers often have computers with internet access as do some museums, and internet cafes are commonplace.

Personally, I refuse to travel with a laptop on holiday - just a big pain in the butt IMO.

It's getting to be common for mid-range lodgings to have an internet computer. The YHA's have reasonable rates for internet access and are in most of the larger tourist towns, and are set up to download pictures to a CD from a memory card. Many of the B&B's I used had free access (although not necessarily for things like uploading pics from a camera to a CD). If that's one of your reasons for bringing one, it was also easy to find a pharmacy that would burn to CDs for a reasonable charge.

I agree - unless you have a specific reason for bringing the laptop, don't.

Internet cafes are plentiful and cheap.

There are lots of photo shops who will burn cd's from your camera and, again, it's not expensive.

IMO, unless you need it for work or some other compelling reason, it's more hassle than it's worth to have to lug it around and worry about damage/loss.

Enjoy your trip

Thank you all for giving such great answers. I appreciate your time and advice.