Traveler 2.0

RadioShack to Sell $100 Netbook with Mobile Broadband

RadioShack just announced it will begin selling the Acer Aspire One netbook for $100. That's about $250 less than you'd pay to buy that netbook from Amazon.com.

The Acer Aspire One from RadioShack features built-in mobile broadband service from AT&T. I bet you know where I'm going with this, don't you?

Yes, there's a catch to that $250 savings. You must agree to a two-year AT&T mobile broadband contract, which starts at $60 a month.

Here's another catch I bet you didn't expect: RadioShack says the offer is good only through Dec. 24. 

I've tested the Acer Aspire One without AT&T broadband service. While I like this netbook, I seriously question the wisdom of buying one with built-in mobile broadband, even at a discounted price.

A more practical approach would be to buy a USB mobile broadband modem and use that with a netbook. Think about it: Netbooks have only been around for a little over one year now. The Aspire One is an early Acer netbook model. Do you really want to lock yourself into using a first-generation netbook for the next two years?

I realize you could upgrade to another netbook with built-in AT&T broadband later. But just as with cell phones, such upgrades usually reboot your contract. And you may have to wait two years to get another netbook on discount.

Oh, yes, here's another thing: It's not clear yet to me if the Acer Aspire One model you'd get for $100 has a three-cell or a six-cell battery. My guess is the three-cell. If that's true, I would be concerned. In my experience using the Acer Aspire One with a Wi-Fi connection, the battery lasted only 1 hours, 45 minutes. A netbook's display and its wireless connections are two big battery drains.

Zagat on iPhone: Good Companion to Urbanspoon

Like many iPhoners, I love Urbanspoon, the free iPhone restaurant app with the one-armed-bandit interface. But I'm also a fan of Zagat, so I bought the $10 iPhone Zagat To Go app.

The integration between Zagat To Go and the mobile version of OpenTable on the iPhone is cool. Look up a restaurant in Zagat To Go, decide you want to nosh there, click to reserve a table, and you're shuttled off to OpenTable. (Not all restaurants listed in Zagat To Go are part of the OpenTable network, however.)

Some small quibbles: Zagat To Go works slowly on AT&T's EDGE network (but that's not too surprising). Listings in smaller cities are sparse. You can tell the app to only find restaurants within 1, 5, 10, or more miles from your current location using a slider bar--but that bar is difficult to slide.

But those aren't deal killers by any means. Having all these Zagat restaurant ratings (as well as nightlife, hotels, and shopping) on your iPhone is worth ten bucks.