SZ and sim cards

Hi all,

I have a reasonably newish Sony Vaio SZ. It came with a slot for a sim card so that I can, I guess, dial into some mobile network and so connect to the internet and check my email.

I hadn't really given it much thought seeing as I sepnd most of my time somewhere where there's wireless available. However, I have a spot of travelling to do over the coming months and thought that I'd look into this feature. In particular the so called free 30 day connection offer that came with the SZ. I got as far as sticking the sim card in the laptop and reading the associated bumpf... and discovered that the free thirty day offer was only available if you also signed up to a £29/month plan. £29/month?!! Totally absurd - I can get a pretty fancy mobile phone with free unlimited access for less!

So, and the point of this rambling post, anyone here have any experience with these sim cards and connecting to the network (I'm a total newbie here) - in particular if there's any means to get a pay-as-you-go sim card that can access the, whatever it is I can access with this thing. All I'd like to do is check my email on the move...

Thanks in advance

 

Do you have the SZ7 or the SZ6?

If the SZ7, in the UK the software and trial is with T-Mobile and the it will only allow you to use T-Mobile sims.

If you want to use a sim from another provider install the WWAN Util (Option Globetrotter Connect 2) which is bundled with the SZ6 for Windows XP. Works fine in Vista.

Here's the direct-link from vaio-link.

The Option application is much easier to use and configure than T-Mobile's app which is overloaded with options and configs and tries to take over the management of all your network adapaters.

You'll need to search around for the APN, username and password settings for the network provider. If the PAYG sim card you use isn't 3G enabled it will still connect via GPRS.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks Mujja - it's the SZ7, and yep, it came bundled with the T-Mobile sim. I'll follow your advice and take a close look at the Globetrotter Connect 2 option.
Cheers