Messages

1

SIMpad forum / Simpad Sl4 For...

« on: July 07, 2006, 03:02:33 pm »

Interesting post, really!  

Quick and casual email and browsing is one thing I wanted to do with the SIMpad... so I understand that it is ok.

For "e-banking" I actually meant controlling stocks... but this fact still needs security... moreover I wanted to be able to do a quick online booking of train and airplanes tickets.... this last thing involves credit card data to  be transmitted...

I always prefer to book for trains or airplanes in the late evening, so I needed a way to be quickly online, just browse a little for informations, weather forecasts, little email and finally online booking...  all of this without powering up a desktop PC or deploying the notebook I always close and store inside a carrying bag because either I need to leave the room clean and I don't want to leave it around or I simply have to move away and travel early the next morning...  

From this point of view I "fear" that the Nokia 770 could be a more secure mean (I remember having read some reviews of people who actually managed to do e-banking and/or booking online without worries with it).... I just have to wait a bit for prices to "stabilize"....

Uhm... it seems descouraging a bit... at least it seems to keep me away from the SIMpad area... sob...

2

SIMpad forum / Simpad Sl4 For...

« on: July 07, 2006, 03:35:45 am »

Uhm.... I am very challenged.... so far I have collected a lot of good informations about the simpad, the software and the wifi card, but....

Actually, looking almost everywhere, I found out that to buy everything I needed(the simpad, the wifi card and some accessories), I could spend around $ 350....

I think it is a price a bit high.... or not? I begin to wonder...

I needed the smallest, yet comfortable enough, device possible for quick browsing and a bit of e-banking without prepairing and powering up my other pcs...

But it is really starting to be a bit too expensive... especially with the Origami-based devices showing up...

What do U think?

3

SIMpad forum / Simpad Sl4 For...

« on: July 06, 2006, 05:52:03 pm »

That's nice, but.... where to download the firmware for the dcf-660w ?

4

SIMpad forum / Simpad Sl4 For...

« on: July 06, 2006, 03:41:26 pm »

Very, very interesting thoughts!  

I am sad only because of the raise of prices...
I think I will get a SIMpad and a Compact flash card fully compatible with hostap driver.... I have put my eyes on a D-Link DCF-660W, which should be supported without problems.


Right? DO You have any suggestion about which one to choose from that list? Not everyone work with hostap even if they are prism2 based.... is it still right or they MUST work "literally" with hostap?


And that should settle it.... I promise I will keep informed  everyone interested and I will try to write down my impressions and thougts even if I am definitely not a Linux expert...


For E-banking: the smartcard sure is promising, but the most important thing for now, I think, is SSL support and some concrete security about browser...

Speaking of security: do You think thats is better the Kokkueror browser (OPIE) or the Mini browser (is it Minimo???) of GPE???

5

SIMpad forum / Simpad Sl4 For...

« on: July 06, 2006, 09:25:42 am »

I have found THIS SITE which speaks about a supplicant for linux.... it seems that this works for hostapd...

Since I have read that most PCMCIA card are supported in familiar using this daemon... it seems that the job is already done.... or not?    

I am a totally linux newbie.... but I think that this could be a partial, if not a total, answer to the needs explained before...

Someone with more experience could read the page and tell if that's it?  

Please!  

6

SIMpad forum / Simpad Sl4 For...

« on: July 06, 2006, 09:04:13 am »

Except if physical size matters, I would always choose a Nokia 770. The hardware is in almost all aspects much better than the SIMpad -- which is not surprising since the SIMpad design is over 5 years old.
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Interesting thoughts, and that was the same for me until a few days ago...

After I learned about the SIMpad, I understood that, even if older, the Siemens has a bigger screen, a better battery life and moderate expandibility given the PCMCIA slot..

Moreover I have read that the Nokia is considerably slow, for example when reading PDF and that is more true when scrolling the screen to view a bit more complex documents... But I have never read issues on slow pdfs reading in the older SIMpad's reviews.... even if it is old and had more time for testing and reviewing...


Finally, considering that 5 years have passed, the hardware differences are not so HUGE (Wifi apart) between the two models... It seems to me that the SIMPAD was very cleverly thought of and produced with better quality components without any compromise for the period...

If Only I could understand how to have support, using familiar linux as OS, for WPA and a bit of security in browsing, I really would choose the SIMpad over the Nokia, without any esitation....  

7

SIMpad forum / Simpad Sl4 For...

« on: July 05, 2006, 04:07:46 pm »

Many thanks for explanation!  

Now the issue is simple: to have a chance to be able to connect to actual WIFI networks, the SIMPAD (linux) has to implement at least WPA on a 16 bit PCMCIA WIFI card....

Plain and simple, otherwise it will be practically useless... sorry to say so, but it seems to be the truth...

It is not only a matter of speed, but really of compatibility... even on my humble wifi home networks I had to implement WPA to have a little bit of security... one cannot hope to find a public network or a paid connection without it nowadays...

I will be glad if someone could be able to correct me on this issue... but I think it will not be so esay...

I personally find that the SIMPAD could be, especially with linux on it, a great terminal, but this problem definitely needs to be adressed..  

8

SIMpad forum / Simpad Sl4 For...

« on: July 04, 2006, 02:22:05 pm »

Uhm... I was starting to loose hope not because of the lacking of replies (because only a very short time has passed since I posted), but because of my further searches with google...

I saw the supported hardware page, but it only listed quite "old" WLAN PCMCIA cards... so I lost hope.. But I see that You have pointed out some very interesting facts about WPA supplicant for linux...

I am a quasi-total newbie about linux... but I think that if there are supplicants for "old" cards... welll they could be ported to familiar "version" quite easy by experienced programmers....  Let's hope!
Many thanks!

As soon as I will learn something "Practical" about this issue. I will post the answers here!

Thanks!

P.S.

1) !6 bit PCMCIA? but do 16 bit WIFI PCMCIA ever exist

2)What about "average" browsing security with actual browsers available? (SSL1 and SSL2 mainly...)

9

SIMpad forum / Simpad Sl4 For...

« on: July 04, 2006, 10:22:15 am »

No news, yet?

However, the newer WLAN's compatibility issue IMHO is the most important problem for this kind of devices...  I myself have a small WIFI network at home.... I have set it up with a standard WPA encryption, nothing too sophisticated, but still I cannot connect to it using my old devices which only support wifi 802.11b without WPA...

Is it a problem or am I so stupid that I haven't figured how to make it work?  

10

SIMpad forum / Simpad Sl4 For...

« on: July 04, 2006, 08:16:52 am »

..a litte web browsing and/or basic e-banking and e-booking of tickets and so on?

First of all hi to every1!!!!  

Here is my humble question: I saw the "nokia 770" and wanted to know more about web tablets and web pads... After that I "stumbled" across the SIMPad Sl4 and considered that it has almost the same features of the newer Nokia, but it seems more intriguing about putting Linux in it...

So: if i bought one SIMPad SL4, put it "familiar" Linux on it, will I be able to browse decently the web and do a little of internet banking and/or browsing air/train timetables and buying online tickets?

WHat do U think about it?

Last one thing: will I be able to find working drivers for a recent WIFI PCMCIA card? I need one with at least support for WPA, because my WLAN is set up this way and I do not want to loosen security...

Any suggestion? Even if i am a newbie, I think that some very practical advices in this direction could be appreciated by most of the people around...  

Many TIA!



    Pota