Options for Laptop Email, with no PCMCIA slot?

I have Verizon as my cellular carrier. They offer three or four brands of broadband cards, but they're all slot-based. What options are out there, if you're using a 12" PB, or any laptop with no slot? Are there other options for some type of cellular service, thru another port?

I comtemplated a Treo 700, but am not excited about maintaining a whole other device, and have no idea how to write email filters to keep out the SPAM.

[BobSmith]

I use the SmithMicro software (OS-X) with an Erricson card and Cingular service. This page on the SmithMicro site shows what devices work with their software for the various carriers. There's quite a few devices listed for Verizon. I'm not familiar with them but I assume that many (most?) are USB or BlueTooth connected phones. Supposedly the connection through a phone is slower... and the card based connection is not much better than a good land line based dial-up connection... but at least it should get you easily connected for email from most anywhere.

Bob Smith

http://www.pcsintel.com/modules.php?name=Forums

Don't forget that the new MacBook won't have a PCMCIA slot but does have a newer style slot that has a faster/better data transfer.

[Ron_Scheffler]

http://www.evdoinfo.com/EVDO_Product...i_20050427264/

Definitely not elegant and compact like just bringing a cell phone or the broadband cell card, but at least you could also share the connection between a few computers. Only gotcha is that you need to activate the card in a computer first (read comments towards the bottom of the page).

Looks like it's about $300 and shipping Feb. 1 according to this forum: http://www.evdoforums.com/about308-0-asc-285.html

Let's hope that Apple will come out with a MacBook 12" with some sort of card slot. If so, it will most likely be CardBus 34 (not compatible with PCMCIA format) and will mean having to wait for your service provider to support a CardBus 34 option...

If I'm traveling with a 12", and if I have Verizon cell service, could there be, somewhere, an adaptor of some type, that would be PCMCIA-to-Firewire, or PCMCIA-to-USB?

Something that would allow you to buy one of those PCMCIA cell phone cards, but then convert it to something that would work iwth 12"?

I envision some device that would look like a compact flash card reader; stick in the Verizon card into one end of the "reader", and then a 6 inch pigtail going to Firewire or USB.

[Andrew_George]

Mark,

Elan Digital systems makes a usb to pcmia adapter that can be used with up to 32 bit pcmia cards.

http://www.elandigitalsystems.com/adapter/u132.php