As with all these deals you need to determine whether the cost of the laptop offsets the additional cost. For example if you already have a relatively new laptop you might decide a cheaper contract without laptop is better.

It’s also worth considering whether you want to be tied to an 18 or 24 month contract. Mobile broadband is big business and costs should come down.

Laptops include:
HP 530 with 1G RAM, 120G Hard Drive and Vista Home Basic
HP 2133 with 1G RAM, 120G Hard Drive and Vista Home Basic
HP DV6000 with 3G RAM, 250G Hard Drive and Vista Home Basic

The HP DV6000 is not available on an 18th month contract by the way.

The package costs are as follows:
HP 530 on 18 month contract from £35 and 24 month contract from £30
HP 2133 24 month contract from £35
HP DV6000 on 24 month contract from £40

Visit 3 Mobile for more details.

How would you like to have broadband access without the need for a phone to be installed? With a dongle you can have mobile broadband access anywhere – at home, in a hotel, in the bar, on the train – in fact anywhere (well provided you can get a signal). Browse the web, pick up email from as little as £10 a month.

Dongles (small USB modems) are available from Carphone Warehouse for T-Mobile or Three on the following tariffs (prices correct at time of writing)

Three Broadband Plus
18 months – £15.00 a month – £49.95 USB modem
Up to 3GB of data allowance a month and speeds of up to 2.8Mbps

Three Broadband Lite
24 months – £10.00 a month – £49.95 USB modem
Up to 1GB of data allowance a month and speeds of up to 2.8Mbps

T-Mobile Web n Walk Plus
18 months – £29.00 a month – FREE USB modem
Up to 3GB of data allowance a month and speeds of up to 1.8Mbps

T-Mobile Web n Walk Plus
24 months – £15 a month – FREE USB modem
Up to 3GB of data allowance a month and speeds of up to 1.8Mbps

You can also check out the latest offers from the mobile providers direct and it’s worth checking coverage before optting for either T-Mobile or Three. Three expect to roll out their Turbo Network next year offering 2.8Mbps speeds.

Also worth checking is the cost of extra data allowance should you go over the monthly limit. If you expect to be an extensive user then Three also offer a 7GB allowance on their Broadband Max option – plus there’s good news for lite users too with the introduction of pay as you go mobile broadband tariff.

So which dongle should you choose? Well, Three are leading the charge with Mobile Broadband, offering a range of reasonably price tariffs compared to T-Mobile. The Pay as You Go option may well be ideal if you’re unsure if using a dongle is right for you. Three also offer more generous data allowance packages, which is a surprise given T-Mobiles mobile phone Web n Walk deals.