Using free wifi at a cafe

[bright.ton42]

A lovely cafe/bar  I often go to gave me their wifi pass word so I can take my laptop there.

This is probably an obvious question but I'd have to rely on my battery wouldn't I, which doesn't last long, or can you recharge

there.  I've never done this before  As I usually sit in the courtyard I doubt they would have power outlets.

If I got a dongle thing would that work for me?

[lyndal1838]

My last lappy had a touch screen but I never used it....I had enough trouble keeping the screen clean while reading some of your posts without putting my grubby paws on it as well.

We also have the same phone Stawks.....I hunted mine down on ebay based on your recommendation a few months ago.   Most of them were refurbished from overseas but I persevered and found one locally that had been bought a couple of years ago but not used.

It was a bit more than I really wanted to pay but there were a lot of watchers so I grabbed it at the BIN price.

It is great...only (minor) problem is that the battery only holds a charge for 2 days which was to be expected as I knew it had only been charged occasionally.  But the seller sent me a 2nd used battery as a bonus and my old 2G battery can also be used.

[go-tazz]

I also use a pre-paid phone but with Telstra,(it's an "emergency" phone so I don't use it a lot).

My pre-paid is good up to 2028 as long as I keep credit on it,(it was supposed to be that I had to recharge $30

every six month to keep it going but instead it adds another year every time I recharge it),

[lyndal1838]

At that rate you will be using it till the day you die.

Mine was originally bought when my Dad was in the Nursing Home and we had dial up internet.  It was only used by my immediate family and the Nursing Home.

I found it handy, not having to worry if I was needed while using the computer. 

These days it is the cheapest option to ask my OH to bring home some bread etc.   It costs nothing but a minute of my included time.

[bright.ton42]

Well my latest plan is to buy a small flip phone....    eg aspera F24, (don't  need anything else except in and out calls, text  and maybe a camera)    keep my laptop at home plugged into power,   and get a tablet for use with wifi hotspots.

I did ring HP and they said after 7 years the battery has nearly died and that I've had good service out of it which i couldn't agree more with,   it's been trouble free. 

So some more of life's little challenges.  

Thanks everyone for your input. 

I'll be back here tearing my har out no doubt. 

[lyndal1838]

My OH's lappy is an HP......before he bought the new battery he had it plugged in to the power all the time but if he had to use it away from the power he only got about 10 minutes on the battery.