Do you remember how much the adapter cost for your cell phone?

EastEileen, don't load AOL software unless you intend to use only AOL in the future. It makes changes to settings all through your computer and you may find other software no longer works properly. And you can never totally uninstall it.

Connie, any ISP that offers service around the country will have numbers around the country. ATT, roadrunner, etc.

If you add a network card, you can also take advantage of the hotels that offer highspeed service.

Keith

I find it useful to have a laptop (a REAL computer, not some lame email terminal) just to lookup travel info/hints on the web for places I never went to. I find online resources way better than any guide book, and even though I usually print out a lot of the useful sites info, there is always last minute changes in my schedule so to be "connected" is a great thing. Then again, the word "laptop" can mean either a 3 pound subnotebook or an 8 pound 15" screen clunker. BIG difference among the two.

Stevecat, this is also why we're planning on bringing ours -- we have a program on it that has been extremely useful in creating our itinerary. But, now I'm worried about Keith's comments about AOL interference. We had picked up the "free" CD and were hoping to use that for the times we wanted to get online. Any other suggestions anyone? I don't want to get involved in a yearly contract or whatever just to occasionally get online or to check email.
Do folks know that you can go to local libraries while traveling and use the internet?

Thanks for the info, folks. I've learned a lot about something I've been interested in.

I have used internet cafe's a lot.but we are usually out of town camping and I thought it would be nice to be connected wherever we are.

TxTravelPro, you are one in-touch dude.
What you going to do when your company slashes your travel account budget? No wonder businesses are going under.

I have had Earthlink (in various incarnations) as my ISP for the last 8 years, and they provide pretty good dial-up service nationwide. Note that if you have DSL service (like I do), you are allotted a few hours per month of dial-up for when you're on the road (I think it's 20 hours, maybe less). Their communications software gives you a directory of their nationwide local numbers, along with search functionality and update capability (the numbers change very frequently).

If you just want to check e-mails from a "public" Internet station, you can use mail2web.com, which will pull down e-mails from any ISP, or use Webmail functions on your ISP's website (ex. earthlink.net). This is quick, the service itself is free (you'll pay the station for connect time), and I think it's great for logging in and cleaning out the spam.

EastEileen,

When I didn't have a laptop, I would check on internet access, on the internet, before traveling. Chackeing the libraies websites or sending theman email will tell you if access is available and what there hours are.

If they don't have access, they may be able to tell you of an internet cafe.

Also, some hotels provide access, either free or for a by the minute fee.

Keith

One thing I can add is to be sure to have an email address to give others that can be used anywhere.

When I was in China during 9-11, we were desperate to talk to family and phone calls were very expensive. I had no trouble with a Yahoo address but those who had addresses through their work, etc. could not be reached. They all had to set up a Yahoo or Hotmail address and get it to everyone they wanted to connect with.

We have a Motorola Star Tac phone and we got the adapter/program for about $65 from Verizon. It has been worth the $$$ and we love it!!

Thanks for all the helpful responses. We are leaning toward bringing it along-it is very light weight and I think it will be useful for all the reasons mentioned-there's not a chance we'll do any work while in Hawaii!! We use high-speed at home but it came with a 1 year AOL subscription so we can use those local dialup #'s for access. It also has the capability for a wireless connection where available. This may be a dumb question, but how does this work? I see that we need to disable this option when on the plane-anything else we should know? We have looked at hotspotlist.com for places in Hawaii where it is available. We have never used this before-do you just power up and off you go? Is there generally a charge? We thought it might be fun to try this out if it wasn't too much of a hassle.
Thanks again, Laurie

FYI... jor, I am a chick, not a dude.
Since I make my company millions per year, I don't think they mind that I have to travel to do it.
Besides, I work in the travel industry and I pay much less for my corporate travel than regular Jors, I mean Joes.
Peace

Now that we are home from Hawaii I thought I would update this thread. We brought the laptop and were very glad we did. It was very handy to be able to download and view our digital pictures daily. Also, with the time change from the east coast, it was the easiest/cheapest way to keep in touch with family/friends. We also used it to check details of various activities, make reservations, check flights etc. We used AOL on both Oahu and the BI with no problems. We brought along a few DVD's and watched a couple at the airport during layovers-it really helped the time to pass faster!!! Going through security was not a hassle-only had to take it out of the case and one time, they did a "wipe-down" for explosive residue (I think). We did keep it locked up with the cable lock all the time in the hotel/condo. I might not bother with it for just one week but would definitely take it again for 2 weeks.

We took an extended trip to Hawaii earlier this year and brought along the laptop for the same reasons as you stated. I agree it was very convenient to have. The condos where we stayed all offered free local calls so there was no charge to access my ISP. We used it to keep in touch with friends and family, look up restaurants, car rentals, driving directions, check flight status. It's something I would definitely do again for a long trip.