Should I buy data cable by itself or w/software?

I just got a Toshiba 4050 phone and would like to purchase a data cable for
it. I saw that one could either buy the cable alone for around $45, or in a
kit that includes software for around $20 more. What kind of software is
this, and what would I need it for? Is it to allow backing/syncing up my
phone's address book, calendar, messages, pictures, etc., with my PC? And is
there 3rd party software that one can buy separate from a cable, that's
superior to the software that's bundled with these cables, and if so what?

--
Kovie
[email protected]zen

---

› See More: Should I buy data cable by itself or w/software?

I forgot to ask, I'll be using this cable to connect to the internet with a
laptop. Yes, I know that this is against the TOS of the AA, but I also
understand that Sprint looks the other way so long as one doesn't abuse
this. What constitutes abuse, though? Would one have to download 100's of
MP3, or is surfing the net for a couple of hours several times a week (w/o
many downloads) also considered to be excessive?

--
Kovie
[email protected]zen

"Kovie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:aSQnc.64427$0H1.6148012@attbi_s54...
> I forgot to ask, I'll be using this cable to connect to the internet with
a
> laptop. Yes, I know that this is against the TOS of the AA, but I also
> understand that Sprint looks the other way so long as one doesn't abuse
> this. What constitutes abuse, though? Would one have to download 100's of
> MP3, or is surfing the net for a couple of hours several times a week (w/o
> many downloads) also considered to be excessive?
>
> --
> Kovie
> [email protected]zen

It's never been said officially. If it was said officially, then SPCS would
be supporting it. Most of agree that if you use for minimal usage, you
shouldn't have any problems or raising any flags. For yours truly, I limit
the usage to a 15-30 minute timeframe, just to take care of email and catch
up with the news.

Bob

In article <ANQnc.21152$536.3897876@attbi_s03>,
"Kovie" <[email protected]> wrote:

> I just got a Toshiba 4050 phone and would like to purchase a data cable for
> it. I saw that one could either buy the cable alone for around $45, or in a
> kit that includes software for around $20 more. What kind of software is
> this, and what would I need it for? Is it to allow backing/syncing up my
> phone's address book, calendar, messages, pictures, etc., with my PC? And is
> there 3rd party software that one can buy separate from a cable, that's
> superior to the software that's bundled with these cables, and if so what?

The vendors of low cost "no-name" cellular accessories I know of seem
not to have a USB cable for the Toshiba 4050 in stock yet, so your
choices may be limited..

Well, obviously Sprint isn't going to officially declare or specify its
unofficial "look the other way" policy on this matter, or else it'll become
official policy, by definition. That's not what I was asking. I was just
wondering what users who take advantage of this unofficial "policy" have
experienced in terms of where they tend to draw the line. Not so that I can
push or test these limits, but to have a sense of where they lie so as to
not come anywhere near them. E.g. if 100MB/day is where Sprint starts to
come down on users, I would guess that 10-20MB/day is not going to be a
problem.

In any case, with the proliferation of cheap and available WiFi these days,
there's probably less of a need to connect to the net via cell phone at this
point, especially with WiFi's much faster speeds, so this is most likely a
moot issue now.

--
Kovie
[email protected]zen


"Bob Smith" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Kovie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:aSQnc.64427$0H1.6148012@attbi_s54...
> > I forgot to ask, I'll be using this cable to connect to the internet
with
> a
> > laptop. Yes, I know that this is against the TOS of the AA, but I also
> > understand that Sprint looks the other way so long as one doesn't abuse
> > this. What constitutes abuse, though? Would one have to download 100's
of
> > MP3, or is surfing the net for a couple of hours several times a week
(w/o
> > many downloads) also considered to be excessive?
> >
> > --
> > Kovie
> > [email protected]zen
>
> It's never been said officially. If it was said officially, then SPCS
would
> be supporting it. Most of agree that if you use for minimal usage, you
> shouldn't have any problems or raising any flags. For yours truly, I limit
> the usage to a 15-30 minute timeframe, just to take care of email and
catch
> up with the news.
>
> Bob
>
>

I've been using mine infrequently (once or twice a month for up to half an
hour or an hour) for about 6 months and have heard not a peep from SPCS.

"Kovie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:UQRnc.21918$z06.3485518@attbi_s01...
> Well, obviously Sprint isn't going to officially declare or specify its
> unofficial "look the other way" policy on this matter, or else it'll
become
> official policy, by definition. That's not what I was asking. I was just
> wondering what users who take advantage of this unofficial "policy" have
> experienced in terms of where they tend to draw the line. Not so that I
can
> push or test these limits, but to have a sense of where they lie so as to
> not come anywhere near them. E.g. if 100MB/day is where Sprint starts to
> come down on users, I would guess that 10-20MB/day is not going to be a
> problem.
>
> In any case, with the proliferation of cheap and available WiFi these
days,
> there's probably less of a need to connect to the net via cell phone at
this
> point, especially with WiFi's much faster speeds, so this is most likely a
> moot issue now.
>
> --
> Kovie
> [email protected]zen
>
>
> "Bob Smith" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> > "Kovie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:aSQnc.64427$0H1.6148012@attbi_s54...
> > > I forgot to ask, I'll be using this cable to connect to the internet
> with
> > a
> > > laptop. Yes, I know that this is against the TOS of the AA, but I also
> > > understand that Sprint looks the other way so long as one doesn't
abuse
> > > this. What constitutes abuse, though? Would one have to download 100's
> of
> > > MP3, or is surfing the net for a couple of hours several times a week
> (w/o
> > > many downloads) also considered to be excessive?
> > >
> > > --
> > > Kovie
> > > [email protected]zen
> >
> > It's never been said officially. If it was said officially, then SPCS
> would
> > be supporting it. Most of agree that if you use for minimal usage, you
> > shouldn't have any problems or raising any flags. For yours truly, I
limit
> > the usage to a 15-30 minute timeframe, just to take care of email and
> catch
> > up with the news.
> >
> > Bob
> >
> >
>
>

In article <[email protected]>,
"Jon C" <[email protected]> wrote:

> I've been using mine infrequently (once or twice a month for up to half an
> hour or an hour) for about 6 months and have heard not a peep from SPCS.

If 5 gigs/month is the limit as has been suggested thats ~80 Megs a day,
ample for most people to check their mail 3 times a day. However
SprintPCS is certainly free to change the limit at any time since their
TOS says any use is not allowed.

However WiFi is often free, and certainly faster; and WiFi phones are
coming soon too.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...=/ap/20040510/
ap_on_hi_te/wi_fi_phones&sid=95573418

Bob Smith wrote:
>
> "Kovie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:aSQnc.64427$0H1.6148012@attbi_s54...
> > I forgot to ask, I'll be using this cable to connect to the internet with
> a
> > laptop. Yes, I know that this is against the TOS of the AA, but I also
> > understand that Sprint looks the other way so long as one doesn't abuse
> > this. What constitutes abuse, though? Would one have to download 100's of
> > MP3, or is surfing the net for a couple of hours several times a week (w/o
> > many downloads) also considered to be excessive?
> >
> > --
> > Kovie
> > [email protected]zen
>
> It's never been said officially. If it was said officially, then SPCS would
> be supporting it. Most of agree that if you use for minimal usage, you
> shouldn't have any problems or raising any flags. For yours truly, I limit
> the usage to a 15-30 minute timeframe, just to take care of email and catch
> up with the news.

I think Bob's right... A few hours per week, rather than a few hours per day,
several times per week, is probably more in order. Download your e-mails, use
something like News Rover to download newsgroup message headers and bodies,
and be done with it.

Larry

I paid $20 to Radio Shack for a data cable for my Samsung VGA1000 (and
later found a source for $8), and see no reason why a cable for your Toshiba 4050
should be so much more expensive. You don't need any software (except for the
free USB driver) if all you want to do is use the phone as a modem for your laptop.

--

John Richards


"Kovie" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:ANQnc.21152$536.3897876@attbi_s03...
>I just got a Toshiba 4050 phone and would like to purchase a data cable for
> it. I saw that one could either buy the cable alone for around $45, or in a
> kit that includes software for around $20 more. What kind of software is
> this, and what would I need it for? Is it to allow backing/syncing up my
> phone's address book, calendar, messages, pictures, etc., with my PC? And is
> there 3rd party software that one can buy separate from a cable, that's
> superior to the software that's bundled with these cables, and if so what?

In article <[email protected]>,
"John Richards" <[email protected]> wrote:

> I paid $20 to Radio Shack for a data cable for my Samsung VGA1000 (and
> later found a source for $8), and see no reason why a cable for your Toshiba
> 4050
> should be so much more expensive. You don't need any software (except for
> the
> free USB driver) if all you want to do is use the phone as a modem for your
> laptop.

I could not find a generic usb cable for a Toshiba 4050 on the web.
It's either too new, or too few are sold.

Thanks, but what if I'd like to sync and/or back up my phone's data with my
PC? Don't I need special software to do that, and is this what generally
comes with these "kits"? Or are there better 3rd party apps that I should
get separate from a cable, and if so what are they?

--
Kovie
[email protected]zen


"John Richards" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
> I paid $20 to Radio Shack for a data cable for my Samsung VGA1000 (and
> later found a source for $8), and see no reason why a cable for your
Toshiba 4050
> should be so much more expensive. You don't need any software (except for
the
> free USB driver) if all you want to do is use the phone as a modem for
your laptop.
>
> --
>
> John Richards
>
>
> "Kovie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:ANQnc.21152$536.3897876@attbi_s03...
> >I just got a Toshiba 4050 phone and would like to purchase a data cable
for
> > it. I saw that one could either buy the cable alone for around $45, or
in a
> > kit that includes software for around $20 more. What kind of software is
> > this, and what would I need it for? Is it to allow backing/syncing up my
> > phone's address book, calendar, messages, pictures, etc., with my PC?
And is
> > there 3rd party software that one can buy separate from a cable, that's
> > superior to the software that's bundled with these cables, and if so
what?
>
>

In article <Jiboc.27912$z06.4542044@attbi_s01>,
"Kovie" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Thanks, but what if I'd like to sync and/or back up my phone's data with my
> PC? Don't I need special software to do that, and is this what generally
> comes with these "kits"? Or are there better 3rd party apps that I should
> get separate from a cable, and if so what are they?

Datapilot is what seems to be folks favorite these days. The Toshiba
4050 is not on its list of supported phones.

"Røbert M" wrote:
>
> In article <Jiboc.27912$z06.4542044@attbi_s01>,
> "Kovie" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Thanks, but what if I'd like to sync and/or back up my phone's data with my
> > PC? Don't I need special software to do that, and is this what generally
> > comes with these "kits"? Or are there better 3rd party apps that I should
> > get separate from a cable, and if so what are they?
>
> Datapilot is what seems to be folks favorite these days. The Toshiba
> 4050 is not on its list of supported phones.

Have a look at http://www.datapilot.com or http://www.futuredial.com.

Larry

In article <[email protected]>,
Lawrence Glasser <[email protected]> wrote:

> "Røbert M" wrote:
> >
> > In article <Jiboc.27912$z06.4542044@attbi_s01>,
> > "Kovie" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > > Thanks, but what if I'd like to sync and/or back up my phone's data with
> > > my
> > > PC? Don't I need special software to do that, and is this what generally
> > > comes with these "kits"? Or are there better 3rd party apps that I should
> > > get separate from a cable, and if so what are they?
> >
> > Datapilot is what seems to be folks favorite these days. The Toshiba
> > 4050 is not on its list of supported phones.
>
> Have a look at http://www.datapilot.com or http://www.futuredial.com.
>
> Larry

I almost missed it. SnapSync by Futuredial supports the "AudioVox 4050"