Let’s Note R5 is my new favorite friend! I used to be a mobiler-road-warrior way back in the days when the only method of connecting to the Internet was using your cell phone. I carried around my Toshiba Libretto in my coat pocket and connected at 14,400Kbps but paid dearly for every packet. Fun days. But since then I never really felt a need to do that anymore, even when hundreds of people began hauling around their giant note PCs to Starbucks or where ever. But now with the R5, it’s just begging me to take it some place new each day!
Tokyo is rather poor in the free Internet wireless broadband area compared to other countries like South Korea or Singapore or Hong Kong (I have no first hand experience, just assuming from what I’ve read) but after searching I found some places to check out (1) Seattle’s Best Coffee has free wireless in all their coffee shops in Japan. But this one in Shinjuku was kinda dirty and the people working there looked sick. Everyone there had a laptop but none were as cool as mine, of course (2) The bus terminal in JR Shinjuku station had a faster connection than at Seattle’s Best and you didn’t have to buy a cup of coffee either. There was even an outlet under the bench where I could plugin. It’s reassuring to know that if I ever become a homeless guy in this city I will be able to continue blogging. Yeay! Neither the coffee shop nor the bus terminal had signs to tell you that it was a freespot. I suspect there are many good free wireless areas in this city but I just haven’t been paying attention. I’ve seen many wireless hotspots where you have to be a subscriber to connect but few of the free kind. If you know of any please tell me where they are.
no help with freespots i’m afraid, just comments on the pics: you didn’t uh really capture the dirt of the cafe, looks okay to me (unless you meant that other gaijin there ;) ; and on the other one, nice strategic placement of the legs….but what’s up with that aloha shirt bag on the right….it’s too flat to possibly be someone’s shirt?!
Hi Kurt,
The chairs and tables and counters were pretty filthy, like nobody cared to wipe them. That aloha thing at the bus terminal was someone’s luggage. I wanted to get a wider shot of the whole place but that bench was fairly cramped and there was nowhere for me to take the photo without drawing everyone’s attention.
女性の後ろの盗撮しているのねロイさん^^;
わざとじゃなかったよー
When I was in Tokyo last winter I saw some dude use his notebook on a Ginza line train. I surmized from his lack of typing that he was surfing the ‘net — surely somebody must offer city-wide access, even if you have to pay for.
It’s TOKYO, for chrissakes!!!
;-)
How cool would you look at the coffee shop with this laptop?
http://www.engadget.com/2006/10/13/steampunk-laptop-comes-complete-with-morse-key/
The Office in Gaienmae has free wireless and AC outlets.
http://tokyo.metblogs.com/archives/2006/01/gaienmae_the_of.phtml
One thing I like about windoze laptops is that they come in all sorts of sizes and shapes. Mostly they come small.
I wish Apple would make a 12″ Macbook. The 12″ form factor rocked! I had a 12″ Powerbook G4 for a few years. The size was great.
Roy,
If you back again here in Singapore, from January 2007, the Singapore government has introduced free wifi in most public places for 2 years.
Here is the breakdown of the available location.
http://www.ida.gov.sg/idaweb/doc/download/I3764/WBMD_Call_for_Collaboration_Public_Document_Annex_C_-_Primary_Catchment_Areas_v1.0.pdf
AC, the guy was probably watching a movie. Although it would have to be a short one cause the Ginza line isn’t 2 hours long
Robbie, hmm…
Michael, excellent! didn’t know they have wireless there.
Abraxis, if Apple was a Japanese company there would be tons of small macs. I still though the 12″ PB was too heavy for it’s size. Even the Thinkpad X40 wasn’t that heavy.
Ira, thanks will check it out next time I’ve in Singapore.
(via Google) Freespots
http://www.jiwire.com/dbsight/search.do?indexName=jiwire&templateName=JiWireSearch&q=freespot+tokyo
Freespots rock! My brother has been using one in Aomori continually for the last year for his home connection. Saved him heaps in internet costs!
Doesn’t the Maranouchi cafe in Tokyo area have those free hotspots? Opposite Fuji Bldg. I think they do and it’s a nice place too!
Most Tokyo Metro stations are hotspots.
http://www.tokyometro.jp/rosen/w_lan/
Not that I have any gear to try them though. :)
I recently got the W5. I considered getting a Macbook too but it was too heavy for me. (Might as well get a desktop)
I didn’t get the R5 because there was no dvd drive. Don’t you think it’s a pain to have to buy an attachement just to install stuff from cd/dvd?
The only thing I hat is that it didn’t come with drivers so that I could install Win 2000. I hate XP.
Derek, Cool thanks for the link.
Dylan, wish my home was a Freespot!
Patrick, found out the all subway stations are Hotspots and have signed up. will try it soon.
Tae, hisashiburi! I can just use the CD/DVD drive on my other PC by sharing it out when I need to install something. I don’t watch DVDs on my laptop so I can live without an optical drive. How do you like the W5?