Use iPhone as modem

At Telstra, data plans cost the same whether you use a secondary device (such as a USB dongle) or your phone to access the internet. Some of you may have noticed high data usage when using your phone initially, but this is only because your data plan with Telstra is pro-rata. The advantage of not using a USB dongle with Telstra post-paid plans is that you don’t get locked into a 24-month contract. Monthly access data prices with Telstra are always changing, but at present they are:

$5	$10	$20	$29	$39	$69
30MB/MTH	1GB/MTH	2GB/MTH	3GB/MTH	5GB/MTH	12GB/MTH
Excess: $0.25 p/MB	Excess: $0.25 p/MB	Excess: $0.25 p/MB	Excess: $0.15 p/MB	Excess: $0.10 p/MB	Excess: $0.05 p/MB

You can change the plan from month to month and there’s no lock in contract. In order to use your iPhone as modem (this is called tethering), you will need to follow this tutorial:
Tethering tutorial: How to use your iPhone as a modem

If you need assistance, give us a call.

ADSL2+

…currently the fastest internet available in Port Fairy (until the NBN get’s here!). Real speeds will be up to 16MBits/sec which is 10 times faster than the basic speed internet. For those of you on the old Westvic Wireless system, it is time to change. Simply give Westvic (Aussie Broadband) a call and ask to switch over to ADSL and you will get a lot more for less. Aussie Broadband, however, does not offer ADSL2+ in Port Fairy and the fastest speeds you will get from them is around 6MBits/sec, which is a lot faster than their old wireless system which operates at less than 0.5 MBit/sec.

Telstra is the only company in Port Fairy with ADSL2+ equipment. Other companies do resell this, however, and they are listed here. This list comes from bc.whirlpool.com.au which is an excellent resource for those of you looking to get internet for the first time or change over. PF Systems, of course, can also help you with this.

Apple

Having been a big fan of Apple’s hardware since the launch of the iPhone 3G, PF Systems is happy to supply and assist with your changeover to Apple’s OSX operating system and equipment. All Apple hardware is offered at costs of under retail (if only slightly, sometimes) and lead times for equipment range from 3 to 10 business days depending on the level of hardware customization required. Options available with Apple equipment include:

1. In home migration from PC including data transfer
2. Installation and supply of programs such as Office and antivirus programs
3. Extended warranty with AppleCare or other third party options (AppleCare recommended)
4. Accessories such as backup devices.

Apple is currently doing a great job of providing clean hardware at more competitive prices than previously. The build quality of their products is the best available at the moment and should offer many years of use without degrading. It appears that while most of the PC market is racing to the bottom in terms of build quality (eg. hinge quality and rigidity), Apple is going the other way.
On the OSX operating system:  It’s good but not life changing, and cloud computing continues to make the actual operating system less relevant. But one of the biggest failures of Windows is to provide a complete system backup which JUST WORKS. Apple does this with style with their TimeMachine application. OSX’s current resiliance to Internet bugs and nasties is also commendable and when added to the iTunes/App Store/iPhone ecosystem, Apple offers a compelling reason to buy and is currently PF Systems number one pick if you are willing to pay the extra bucks.

Shared email/contacts/calendar

Another hurdle in this digital age has been keeping multiple devices up to date with all your important information. Manually syncing these devices can be a bore and unreliable to boot. The idea that all your information lives in the cloud means that you can use unlimited devices to view and edit your information, and you can be confident that it will not disappear (reasonably confident, anyway). Privacy issues and questions regarding the physical location of your data are still a concern, but as we take the leap into cloud computing I doubt that many of us will ever look back.

Services offering shared email/contacts/calendar for unlimited devices include: 

1. Microsoft Exchange – an excellent synchronization service for those of you with your own domain name. Cost is $10/user per month and is compatible with Apple and PC. Available through PF Systems.

2. MobileMe – Apple’s answer to Exchange. Gives you a me.com email address and lets you collect all your other emails from this address. Cost is $99/year. MobileMe also gives you storage for photos and documents. Check it out at www.mobileme.com.



3. Google – Google’s free sync service is based on IMAP and will let you sync a Gmail account with multiple devices, also. Plus, for $50/user per year you can get your own domain name hosted and have access to Gmails full collaborative suite of online applications, including Google Docs and all the other apps available through their marketplace.