Internet/Laptop questions on Zenith

I'm thinking about bringing my laptop on my cruise with me over Christmas. What are the pro and con / It it worth the bother and risk ? Lastly but not least what would be the cost differential for using your own Laptop vs there computers ?

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Good luck!

It won't be worth it to have a laptop in the cabin unless you're going to use it for downloading pictures. For internet usage, it's easier to use the computers in the internet cafe. When you use your own laptop in a cabin for internet, it's incredibly slow, and the charges can add up quickly. The connection is faster in the computer lab. Plus, you have to have a modem that's compatible with the dial up service that the ship uses. If you don't, you run the risk of crashing your laptop.

The advantage having your own laptop is with e-mails.

With your own laptop you can sign on with a wireless connection (Must have a wireless card in your computer Wi-Fi 802.11b or g) then use a mail program such as Eudora/Outlook/Netscape (set that up at home) to download all you emails and sign off again. You can then answer all your emails off-line. When they are ready to be sent you sign on again and load then up.

It usually takes me 2 minutes to download 30-50 emails and a minute or so to send 5-10 (the rest was spam anyway) - To upload you have to ask the internet manager for the IP address for outgoing mail.

This way you are not paying for composing time, which you have to pay for while using their computer.

There is no time saving on internet browsing other than having all your bookmarks ready.

On some ships (less than 2 years old) you can hook up in the cabin and LEAVE IT CONNECTED ALL THE TIME for a weekly charge. But this ship doesn't have that. You have to go to a lounge near the internet cafe to use Wi-Fi.