Luscious asked me about bandwidth limits on the Boing plans. That’s a great question because as anyone who uses 3G likely knows, “unlimited” data plans are often capped at 5GB per month.

I didn’t notice any limits in my plan’s Terms of Service, so I checked in with Jeremy Pepper from Boingo on this topic. Here’s the deal:

• There are no usage caps in the Americas, so for us, the Boingo Unlimited plan at $9.95 per month is truly unlimited in the U.S. and Canada.
• The $59 monthly Boingo Global account is indeed limited, but not by bandwidth as the cellular 3G plans are. Due to the traditional European business model, these plans offer 2,000 minutes of usage.
• I didn’t ask about the $7.95 Boingo Mobile plan for handsets, but the product page makes it pretty clear that it’s unlimited like the $9.95 per month laptop plan. In fact, it appears that you can use it in more countries than that plan as well.
• Jeremy tells me that bandwidth is also “shaped” a little in airports that Boingo operates at, but that’s to ensure a positive experience for everyone in those locations. He also offers the caveat that like any network, the more folks that use it, the more the existing bandwidth is shared, so experiences are clearly going to vary.

So far, I feel the $9.95 monthly plan is worth the expense. Although I’m limited to Boingo Wi-Fi locations, it is one-sixth the price of the EV-DO plan that provides Internet access anywhere there’s coverage. One tidbit that I’d like to throw to the Boingo folks as food for thought: why not a dual-plan that supports both laptops and handsets? I’d like to see my one account be used on my choice of a notebook / netbook or on a handset: say for $12.95 per month. Sometimes I’m in a Boingo network area, but either didn’t bring a notebook or don’t want to boot up just to check in on things with my handset for 15 minutes. I could have two Boingo accounts, but that would be overkill for me; a hybrid plan at just a few dollars more would be appealing.

Got a question in the mailbag, and even though it applies to the iPhone, I suspect my answer will apply to the new Zunes as well. The question is: how to get or rip DVDs for use on the iPhone. There’s a number of solutions, but the best I’ve found is Handbrake, a free application for Mac or PC. In fact, Handbrake has custom settings specific for outputting DVD content to the iPhone’s screen and resolution. I used it just this week to get "Star Trek: Insurrection" on my iPhone since I’ll be traveling this weekend; with the decent screen size and res, movies look fantastic on the device.

You can play with the various Handbrake settings to change the output resolution, bitrate and such, but the iPhone presets work extremely well. You’ll get a nice compromise between picture quality and file size: Insurrection is an hour and 42 minutes long but only takes up 1.2 GB on my iPhone. Bear in mind the time to convert the audio & video: my 1:42 movie took about an hour to complete. Don’t forget that the new Zune devices will support H.264 / MPEG-4 codecs, so I imagine you’ll be able to use Handbrake to get DVDs on those as well. Handbrake will not work if a DVD has copy protection enabled; I’ve already found that out the hard way with the latest James Bond movie. I’ll leave that to you and Google to figure out.

Now there’s a multitude of ways to approach this challenge, but my immediate thought was to use software that we’ve talked about extensively before…

Microsoft OneNote in conjunction with the free OneNote Mobile application would be one way to go. Using a Windows Mobile handheld with OneNote Mobile installed, I’d take pictures of my household items as well as any relevant receipts or warranty papers. After taking pictures of all inventory items, I’d connect my handheld to my computer where the pictures would automatically sync over to a OneNote notebook. This gets all of the pictures in one one place, but I wouldn’t be done yet.

Next, I’d annotate the items with any pertinent information such as: name of item, date of purchase, rough value, etc… The annotations can be added via typed text or ink and all of the information would indexed by Windows so you could later search for the information. Any pictures of receipts or other paperwork would also be searchable due to the OCR capabilities in OneNote. Here’s a sample from a project I did last year when I used OneNote and OneNote Mobile; annotations are easy to do and can be very useful:

Another option for annotation would be a voice recording; OneNote can record audio and like all of the other input types, the audio is indexed so you can actually search for the spoken word.

For safe keeping, I’d consider keeping a copy of the home inventory notebook off-site. After all: if your home is destroyed in a fire and your inventory records were in your home, they didn’t serve any purpose. A backup copy of the inventory stored "in the cloud" could come in handy.

Again, this is just my immediate thought and there’s a number of solutions that could be used. What suggestions can you offer to Jay?

Once I configured it, I ran into a problem: I was able to receive mail, but I was unable to send mail. A few minutes later, I had figured out the minor issue and just in time: this afternoon one of our readers had the same issue. Ken shot me a note indicating that he too uses 4Smartphone for Exchange but he could only receive mail, not send it. I explained these two simple configuration tips:

1. I used the Exchange tab on the iPhone, not the IMAP tab. Ken was using the IMAP tab, which might work but I’m not going to undo my mail settings to find out.
2. Quite often people put their mailbox ID and password on the Incoming server settings, but not on the Outgoing server settings. This was my issue which is easy to resolve and Ken had done the same thing.

Once I passed this info to Ken, he added his credentials for the Outgoing server and he was sending mail without any issue. A common-sense, simple solution that’s easy to overlook when quickly configuring your e-mail client.

Rich’s note gets the nod today. He’s asking a general question that I’m sure quite a few folks might be interested in: "I use a Toshiba M400 Tablet at the moment and I am thinking of getting a Samsunq Q1. I wanted to ask…If I upgrade it to 1GB of RAM will it run Vista well? I intend to use it as a media player, and use outlook 2007 for email. I will not want it to replace my Tablet and won’t do anything too taxing with it."

That’s a great UMPC scenario as it becomes a companion device to another computer, in this case an M400.

My general thoughts first followed by items specific to Rich’s situation:

• I personally wouldn’t consider running Vista on a Q1 without upgrading the RAM from 512 MB to 1 GB using the simple five minute upgrade process. This is a relatively inexpensive way to boost performance for either XP or Vista. Remember that up to 128 MB of RAM can be allocated to the graphics; that means for a full allocation, you’re running your OS on just 384 MB of RAM, and that’s without any open applications. Doubling the RAM is quick and easy way to get a boost.
• Dovetailing with the upgraded RAM strategy, I’d look for a 1 GB or more flash drive to take advantage of the Vista ReadyBoost functionality. It won’t provide the boost that the extra RAM will, but it definitely helps.
• If you plan on running Vista and want the Samsung Q1 series, I’d probably opt for the Q1P over the Q1. For the extra money, you’ll get the 1 GB of RAM included, move from a 900 MHz Celeron to a 1 GHz Pentium M, and grab 50% more hard drive capacity with 60 GB of storage.
• Outlook 2007 in my Vista partition runs just fine for me on my Q1P. Remember, that model has the 1 GB and I do use ReadyBoost.
• From a media player perspective, I do run the Zune software on it as well. It’s not as snappy as when I run Zune on desktops or other full-sized Tablets, but it is very usable if you don’t mind the occasional lag in response. I’ve also used the Media Center functions in Vista; again, there can be some lag, but it’s very usable. The Origami Experience is a gem in Vista; having the 1 GB of RAM will help keep it running smooth and fast.

Based on the above recommendations, I think a Q1 (or Q1P) would suit Rich’s needs. What do you think? Should he consider a different UMPC, wait for the Q1 Ultra or just stick with his M400?

"I’m desparately looking for a way to plug a compact flash memory card into my XV6700 cell phone.  Basically I’m looking for a Compact Flash to miniSD adapter.  There are lots of options the other way around, but I’m having no luck finding anything close to what I need….I use Pocket Phojo on the 6700 to transmit images back to my newspaper.  but my cameras use the CF cards and can’t afford to switch to miniSD cards inside a compact flash adapter."

I don’t know of any Compact Flash to mini-SD adapters that would work in this case, so I suggested the Memorex TravelLink Portable Media Transfer device that goes for around $60 on-line. This standalone device runs on batteries and allows you to move data between various flash memory form factors with no intermediate computer involvement. Unfortunately, this won’t work for Dave as the device has a slower USB 1.1 transfer rate and will take too long to move large amounts of photos for his purpose.

Another possible, but more expensive option is the Transcend Photobank; this will do the same function as the Memorex offering at a faster speed, but includes a 1.8-inch hard drive so it costs much more. Ideally, it sounds like Dave wants a straight CF to mini-SD adapter that he can hang off his XV 6700. Any suggestions to help a mobile brother out?

Dave, can we convince you to just get a UMPC with a Compact Flash slot and have you tether your XV 6700 to it?

"I am a real estate developer and am on the go all of the time.  I need to be able to read leases and documents in pdf or word file.  Also, email and use the internet a lot.  Would be great if I could use it as a telephone too.  Down time will use music and like to watch movies while traveling.  Money is not a pressure point, but would like ease of use. "

Off the top of my head, I think there are many current choices out there that fit most of the bill. Very few devices will meet all of these specifications due to the possible use as a phone. However, I can immediately think of one that will do the trick: Dialogue offers several FlyBook models that provide EGDE and HSDPA connectivity plus also allow you to use the device as a GSM phone. I spent two weeks with the older V22 model and at the end of the video review, I used it to make a call to James.

If we remove the phone requirement, you can definitely cut cost, size and weight because virtually any Origami-based UMPC should fit the needs. At that point, it might become a matter of personal preference and how the device "feels". The many offerings from Samsung, Asus, TabletKiosk, etc….would all work for the tasks that Lawrence specified. I’d consider looking at the remaining differences between the devices and see if there’s a function that jumps to the "must have" list. For example: if you want an integrated video-camera, the Samsung Q1 series get’s knocked out. If you want stereo speakers and SRS TruSurround support for those movies and music, then the Q1 is back on the list. The field is pretty wide open once the phone requirement goes away.

How about it readers: what would you suggest to Lawrence and why? Did I miss any other portables that can meet all of the needs, phone requirement included? How about the PepperPad 3 which supports Adobe Reader and can use Google Docs for importing and using Word docs? Perhaps he should wait for the HTC Shift?

"I am looking to really utilize the handwriting features for meeting notes, etc…  I was wondering how well the handwriting works in vista versus XP tablet edition and i was curious as to which version you would purchase in regards to vista or tablet edition? Are there any major differences in operating capabilites, handwriting recognition, etc… that would make you lean one way or another? I really liked the vista origami experience but could live without if the handwriting in a tablet form was not as good in vista."

Since the hardware is the same on both versions, we can effectively just look at the software. Now that there’s a solution to the HID driver issue for the Samsung Q1 series of UMPC, I’d lean towards the Vista offering for a few reasons.

1. With the HID driver, the Q1P is now treated as a true Tablet PC by the OS, so you can leverage all of the built-in Tablet features of Vista.
2. Unlike the XP version, Vista will learn how to better recognize your handwriting over time and it does this automatically if you configure it so. You can also train it if you want to spend the time; something I believe is well worth it. XP will never learn how you write.
3. Vista offers one feature that could partially or fully offset any performance issues you might expect from running the newer OS on limited hardware: ReadyBoost. For a minimal investment, you can add a 1GB USB flash drive to the Q1P and get the boost; not so with XP.

Russ, I think there are more reasons that would lead me to Vista, but these are my main three, especially since your main concern was on the handwriting and inking experience. I’ll leave it up to the readers to point out any flaws in my logic and also to provide their opinions. Good luck on the purchase and let us know what you decide!

Mike was curious to see if and how the hybrid vehicle was holding up for us, so here’s a relatively quick update….

First off, we still have the vehicle and it’s our primary mode of transportation. Due to some work-at-home arrangements, we recently sold the other car. We loved the 2004 Acura TL, but the high-output six-cylinder engine eats up premium gas, which is around $3 a gallon in our neck of the woods. Dropping down to one vehicle saves money each month by eliminating a second car payment, insurance and premium gas.

We’ve had the Hybrid for about 18-months now and we still love it. Since weather can affect the battery, we don’t do as well on the gas mileage in the winter, but still get a respectable 24 mpg in cold weather. Bear in mind that this isn’t a small hybrid that will ever get 50+ mpg; it’s a seven-passenger SUV with AWD. In the summertime, we top out around 31 mpg; more if I coast a bunch, but that usually drives Barb nuts.

Our vehicle has a tad over 25,000 miles on it now, so let’s do some quick math. The vehicle that the hybrid replaced was my 2001 Dodge Dakota QuadCab with a 4.7l V-8. She got me 13 mpg, rain, shine, sleet or snow. I’ll assume that I’m averaging around 27.5 mpg year-round with the hybrid and I’ll also assume a conservative average gas price of $2.50 a gallon over the past 18 months.

The 25,000 miles in our old truck would have used around 1,923 gallons of fuel at a total cost of $4,807. Using the same assumptions, I figure those same 25,000 miles used about 909 gallons, which cost us around $2,272. If you add in the fact that we don’t pay yearly emissions tests, since it’s a SULEV and we got a $2,000 federal tax deduction the year we bought it, you can see the savings quickly pile up.

Does the savings justify the premium price for the technology? Well, we figured the break-even point for us was about 4 years and we were willing to accept that. Additionally, we know that in some small, minuscule way, we’re putting less pollution in the air. We’re not changing the world by any means, but we’re doing what we can.

OneNote Mobile is bundled free with OneNote 2007 and isn’t available as a separate download or installation, so you’ll need a licensed copy of OneNote 2007 to use the smaller cousin. Since the mobile version resides on your Windows Mobile device, either Pocket PC or Smartphone edition, you’ll also need ActiveSync installed on your host computer if you plan to synch notes or pictures from OneNote Mobile to OneNote 2007. There’s a complete quick start guide available from Microsoft if you have OneNote 2007 and are curious about the mobile component.

I’ve found the mobile client to be very useful on the road, especially when paired with a UMPC. If you’re curious how I’ve used the application in the past, we’ve got some examples here and there. All in all, a very effective piece of mobile software, and a great addition to OneNote 2007.