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RSS feedsThe internet may provide a wealth of useful information but until quite recently it's only been accessible at static locations. Nowadays, though, notebook computers are smaller and lighter than ever and handheld devices offer portable computing in a device so small you can fit it into your pocket.
These factors, coupled with new developments in mobile communications, mean you can now get online from just about anywhere, at any time, or simply work offline from a location that suits you.
Using the web to check if your train is delayed while you're out and about, watching your favourite film during a dull commute, or even just moving to a different room in the house while working on your computer are all great advantages of mobile computing and now is a good time to jump on the bandwagon.
With the prices of notebook and handheld computers at their lowest ever levels, even those on a tight budget can try mobile computing. If you are thinking of investing in a notebook or handheld computer, we'll tell you everything you need to know before you start using your new purchase.
If it had never occurred to you, we'll explain the benefits you could be missing out on. But be warned: once you free yourself from the beige box in the corner of your home or office, you may never want to go back.
Power and portability
There's a huge variety of mobile computers to choose from these days, whether you want to spend £100 on a handheld computer that will fit in your pocket or £700 for a notebook as powerful as a standard PC.
We looked at six notebooks with a price tag of £700 in our Budget notebooks on test feature, so you may want to refer back to that if you're in the market for a notebook system.
Notebook computers now offer impressive performance but there is often a trade-off to be made; the more advanced the features and performance of your notebook, the less battery life you have to play with.
If you're using a notebook on the move, you may not always be able to get to a power point to recharge its batteries, so learning how to conserve battery life is important. If the battery runs out unexpectedly before you've had a chance to save your work, you may lose whatever you were working on.
Notebook manufacturers often use processors specially designed to conserve battery life without skimping on system performance, but you can also improve battery life by changing the way your notebook is set up.
Go into the Control Panel in the Start menu and double-click on the Power Options icon. This brings up the Power Schemes menu. Using the top dropdown menu, you can configure your computer to use power according to the work you're doing, be it word processing, watching a DVD or just trying to save power as much as possible.
Also within the Power Options menu is the Alarms tab. Click on this and you can set the notebook to alert you when power is critically low, so you can save your data before the system shuts down. If power gets too low, Windows XP also has a hibernate function that allows the computer to shut down while preserving what you were working on.
Think about using Standby mode (select Start, Shut Down then Standby from the dropdown menu) when you're not using your notebook, as starting up and shutting down the system uses a lot of power.
Down the drain
The screens of notebooks, particularly larger screens, and colour screens on handhelds consume a lot of power. On notebooks, you can turn down the brightness of your screen to save the batteries. You can usually do this using controls on the keyboard; look for brightness symbols like those found on a television among the function keys at the top the keyboard.
Remember that running more complicated programs will also drain battery life. Word processing uses little power but watching a film will run down your notebook's battery a lot faster. It's possible to buy a second battery from the manufacturer of your notebook to extend battery life but these are expensive, at up to £200 apiece.
You'll also need a charger so you can charge both batteries at the same time (one in the notebook computer and one in the charger). For handheld computers, the screen is just as big a drain on battery life but there are fewer options to help you preserve it.
The easiest way is to turn off the screen backlight, using the Preferences menu in Palm-based devices and the Control Panel in handhelds from HP, Dell and others using Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system.
Wonderful world of wireless
Wireless communication drains batteries nearly as much as the screen will, but the benefits it brings mean that these days you shouldn't consider buying a mobile computer that isn't wireless-enabled in some way.
As well as allowing you to check travel delays or find your way around using online maps, with mobile internet access you can also check email and chat to friends on instant messaging services. And why pay high-street prices when you could check if an item is cheaper online?
There are two main ways of connecting wirelessly to the internet: using Wi-Fi or connecting via a mobile phone network using a GPRS service. While Wi-Fi often gives a faster connection than a GPRS service, you'll be restricted to locations where a wireless hotspot is available.
To use your phone to connect to the web you'll need to sign up to a mobile phone service that can handle data as well as voice calls. There are five mobile phone networks to choose from: O2, T-Mobile, Orange, Vodafone and now 3. Virgin Mobile and BT Mobile operate their services via the T-Mobile network.
Next, you'll need a phone capable of communicating with your computer. The most primitive method for this is infrared but this is a very slow connection and, because it only works on a line-of-sight principle, the phone and the computer must be next to each other.
Many phones now have Bluetooth built in, which simplifies things, allowing you to keep your phone in your pocket and still link with your notebook computer. Some notebooks have Bluetooth pre-installed, but if not you can buy an adapter quite cheaply.
A Bluetooth PC Card from manufacturers such as Toshiba or 3Com will cost around £70 or you can get a USB Bluetooth adapter from Belkin for £50.
For handheld computers with an SD memory card slot, you can also get a Bluetooth adapter for under £100, while more modern handhelds have Bluetooth built in as standard. Any device with Bluetooth fitted will look for others within its range and can connect using Windows or the software that comes with the adapter.
Another way to connect using a phone network is with new data cards from Vodafone and Orange. They fit into a PC Card slot on a notebook and come with easy-to-use software to connect via GPRS or faster 3G services.
These are expensive, though. Vodafone charges £150 for its GPRS/3G card and £85 per 500Mb of data downloaded, while Orange has an unlimited download package at £75 per month using an £85 3G-only card.
Location is important for high-speed data services; although GPRS coverage spans the majority of the country, 3G coverage is only available in larger towns and cities at the moment.
All abroad
If you are travelling abroad, the costs and complexities of using wireless internet access rise for both mobile and fixed-line connections. The US uses a slightly different mobile phone frequency to the rest of the world so you'll need to have a tri-band phone there. If you want to plug in your notebook to recharge it abroad, you'll need a phone socket adapter kit.
Then there's the cost of dialling into your local internet service provider (ISP) from overseas, which can be particularly expensive if you're connected wirelessly using a mobile phone.
Some companies like Netaway connect you to a local ISP more cheaply. AOL also provides members with local-rate numbers to call around the world.
Along with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi is increasingly built into notebooks and handhelds but if your system doesn't feature it you can buy adapters to add this. A Wi-Fi PC Card from manufacturers such as Linksys or Buffalo will cost between £20-40.
All notebooks with Intel's Centrino technology have Wi-Fi built in. This is also more power-efficient than a separate Wi-Fi card. Wi-Fi coverage is patchy at best but you'll find places to log on in hotels, airports and increasingly in some retail chains, such as McDonald's and Starbucks. Intel has a list of worldwide Wi-Fi zones, or hotspots, here.
Mobile phone companies also have Wi-Fi schemes. Vodafone already allows subscribers to log on at BT Openwave Wi-Fi hotspots (click here for a map) at £6 an hour and O2 will have a similar system in place for its subscribers by the end of the year. Prices per hour for hotspot usage vary widely from £5-15.
Safe surfing
Once you are online, safe surfing is a must. You must have a firewall installed (Zonelabs offers a free, good-quality one) along with anti-virus software.
Having a computer with Wi-Fi does throw up some extra security challenges. As a rule of thumb, turn your Wi-Fi connection off when you are not using it and make sure you have enabled WEP encryption (see our Wireless is more feature for more details).
In addition, you'll need to set a password when you install Wi-Fi kit; never use the default password as it's the first thing that hackers will check.
Bluetooth is not immune to security threats either. Specially created viruses can spread from phone to phone using a Bluetooth connection. To protect yourself, it's worth turning Bluetooth off on your phone until it's needed, which also saves the battery.
Don't forget that Windows allows you to set user passwords so you can prevent anyone else from using your notebook computer when you're away from it but have left it on. You can also password-protect folders and files.
Lastly, never forget physical security. If you do leave your notebook out in a hotel room you may want to invest in a Kensington lock for under £30. About 95 per cent of notebooks have an anchor point for these locks. The lock is looped around a solid item and then locked into the back of the notebook. You should also arrange insurance.
Forgotten files
We've all forgotten our keys when going out but what if you've forgotten an important computer file? A little preparation can ensure that this isn't a problem.
Provided you've left the home PC switched on and connected to the internet, you can use a program called GoToMyPC to transfer files from one computer to another.
You'll need to install the software on both your home PC and notebook system. Once you're signed up you can log onto the website when you're out and about and log in to your account to gain access to your home PC. Once connected, you can move files between the two at your leisure using the connectivity of the internet.
The disadvantage is that this is only an option if you have a broadband internet connection at home, as leaving a dial-up connection on all day every day would be very expensive.
You can get a trial version of the software on the website but it is pricey to buy at £11 per month. For more details, see our feature The ins and outs of remote PC access.
Data transfer
If you're going to be working on the move you'll need a good way to pass data between computers. For handhelds this is easy; no manufacturer sells a handheld computer without either a cable or cradle to synchronise data between the handheld and a PC.
These are often used to charge up the handheld as well. Many handhelds also use removable cards for extra storage and these can be used to transfer data too. For notebooks, you can use USB memory sticks, which offer storage of up to 2Gb.
One problem you may encounter is having multiple copies of the same document on different systems, for example, a CV you've been fine-tuning. Microsoft has an application called Briefcase, which helps keep all copies up to date.
Double-click on the My Documents icon on your Desktop and from the drop-down menu select New and then Briefcase. Store documents in the Briefcase when working on your notebook and then transfer it to your home PC. Open the Briefcase, and by clicking the Update button the new version of the document will replace the old one on the PC.
Set yourself free
The ability to get online wherever you are takes the internet to a whole new level and being able to work wherever you choose gives you the freedom to set your own schedule and keep in touch, whatever your location.
Once you've tried mobile computing you may find it hard to return to the confines of a cabled system. So if you're looking for a new PC, why not consider the mobile option and free yourself forever from the tyranny of the homebound beige box PC.
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