Cell Phone Connectivity

[Christian Dupuis]

I am looking to change cell phones this Spring and get a GPRS phone to
use with my Powerbook G4 12 in. Are there any recommendations for models
and capabilities?

I've looked at the Motorola V60 family, but I'm new at this whole cell
connectivity thing, and I'd like to get something that works proper with
Panther (while Bluetooth support would be nice, I'm quite happy with
looking at a USB data cable connection). Better signal performance is
the main concern (I've seen a lot of these phones that perform poorly as
soon as there is any kind of interference).

Wireless access points in Montreal are few and far between; I would have
preferred to use the Powerbook's Airport Extreme, but most of the time,
I'm not anywhere near any of the cafes and shops that offer it. I'd like
to have email retrieval capability on the road, the cell option seems to
work for many, hence the request.

On a related note, if anyone has experience with Canadian cell providers
on this topic, feedback would be greatly appreciated. I know Smith Micro
sells data and software kits for Telus, but their phone lineup does not
really thrill me; I'd rather use something from Fido/Microcell. Internet
information on the topic is remarkably vague.

Any info greatly appreciated.

Chris
Montreal, Canada