Now that you have your Dell notebook computer – or netbook – and smartphone, it’s time to learn about true mobility – moving data. If your data is stuck on your mobile device, it isn’t much good, is it?
While there are other means of getting data from hither to yon, the most convenient is a WiFi connection. WiFi allows you to beam data to a wireless router that’s connected to the internet just like your Dell computer at home. Using it, you can email files to coworkers or browse the web. Many coffee shops and other establishments offer free WiFi and nearly every airport does as well. Nearly all notebook, netbook, and tablet computers offer WiFi capability. Many smartphones also include WiFi hardware and allow you to perform the same communication tasks as a computer on a smaller scale.
If you’re merely transferring files to a coworker who is close enough to shake your hand and you don’t have access to a wireless connection to email a file, you can use a Flash drive. A Flash drive is a tiny (about the size of half of your finger) solid state memory device similar to the RAM in your computer. It typically plugs into a USB port and shows up as a drive on your Dell computer. Copy the file, toss it to your coworker, and bam, file transfer complete. The down side is that you probably won’t get the gadget back and it’s pretty easy to delete a file accidentally.
Another means of data transfer you can use if there’s no WiFi around is a CD – but you knew that, right? CDs can be handed off just like a Flash drive but they have a couple of advantages. If you use a CD-R, it’s not possible to accidentally erase the file. CDs are also really easy to mail.
The best possible travel kit includes all of these means and media. With the right Dell notebook and file transfer capability, you’re really ready to hit the road.
