My wife wants a lap top for Christmas

She's been told she can get a connection via a 3G mobile phone, without the need for a separate internet connection.

Her current phone deal is due to expire in a few weeks time, so it would maybe be best to opt for this sort of scenario

New 3G mobile
new lap top

Any thoughts / advice would be appreciated

It's not via a 3G mobile. You have to use a 3G mobile internet modem for a laptop.

One is not allowed to operate a 3G mobile as a modem.

If you have fixed-line internet, think about whether you want mobile broadband too. If you do, you need to get a USB dongle on contract.

Alternatively there is an offer for a free laptop when you sign up to 24-months mobile broadband. This laptop has an inbuilt vodafone 3G modem.

Despite what the above poster has said, yes you can use a 3G mobile as a modem - I did so with 3 for about 8 months.

Whichever network you chose, ensure your deal includes any sort of bundle which allows you to use the phone as a modem. Sometimes you have to pay a little extra.

Secondly whereas a 3G phone will work, you're better off going for a handset which supports HSDPA, which is the 'hi-speed' broadband that offers a maximum theoretical speed of 7.2mbps but anything around 1 to 3mbps is reasonable.

yea the INQ1 that im after is ok to connect and use as a modem

A 3G mobile can be used as a modem to access the Internet.

There are two varieties.

Standard 3G which offers up to 384Kb/s or HSDPA enabled handsets which can on most networks offer up to 2.8Mb/s. (Vodafone have areas that support up to 7.2Mb/s), speed is dependent on handset/dongle capability.

You can also get a laptop dongle (USB) which connects to a phone network to access data. These are normally advertised as 'mobile broadband' products and have the same HSDPA capabilities as mobile phones equipped with a modem facility.

Most mobile operators separate phone use and data use and you have to search though the deals to get what you need. As things stand its often cheaper to get a dedicated dongle as an additional device with a contract for Internet use than to use a handset that has the facility.

In my experience data rates are vastly inflated. You can get a decent browsing experience using mobile networks but it is not comparable with fixed line ADSL, which many operators would like you to think.

Weigh up the costs and consider buying a dongle and using PAYG and Wireless where available.

Sadly mobile broadband isn't really, and you need to think about the total cost of any contract commitment before you get involved. It's a pity the networks don't allow use of the 3G modem facilities on handsets for a reduced fee (as they would have no need to provide a USB dongle) where they are available.

It can be done technically, quite easily really. But it is not allowed by the network operator's terms and conditions. If you do a search, you will see other threads about this. In particular threads where people have been caught and cut off.

I'm sorry but that's just wrong. Most of the networks have tariffs which allow phones to be used as modems, Tmobile, 3 and Vodafone at least.

They werw "cut-off" because they were doing it on a tariff that only allowed handset browsing. If they had changed to the correct tariff they would have been fine.