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Comment by jeremymcanally | Hacker News Reader

Bummer. I was going to get my nephew one of those because he really wants to learn programming and his family can't really afford Internet service. That amount of data was perfect for his needs.

I hope it's a mix-up or something, but I kind of doubt it is.

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The HP Chromebook 14 comes with 200MB/month from TMobile.

"4G for life. 200MB of free data each month, no annual contract, for the life of your device." according to their site.

I just got one from Costco. It's a bit more than the Samsung ($379 at Costco, a little cheaper at Walmart) but so far I'm liking it.

wow, I just bought a t-mobile hot spot so I could use my other devices. I am not willing to toss any more doe on chromebooks, but I am curious if the upsale plans in the chromebook are any different than their data offered at the store.

It looks like I have the following upgrade options:

On-Demand Day Pass 500MB $10 Week Pass 1GB $15 Month Pass 2.5GB $30

Monthly options 500MB $20 2.5GB $30 4.5GB $40 6.5GB $50 8.5GB $60 10.5 $70 12.5 $80

I have plenty of wifi at home and at work, and even on the bus into work (AC Transit in the Bay Area), so chances are I won't be using it all that often. I can tether to my phone as well (Verizon). That said, I can see it coming in handy now and then, and if I were out of town or something I wouldn't hesitate to try one of the on demand plans. Not sure if there is a contract on the monthly plans.

dough not doe

Worst case, as someone mentioned in that thread, you could get a FreedomPop wifi hotspot for $50-$60 that includes 500MB/month of free usage.

I bought a Samsung Chromebook a year ago so I can't remember what the exact price difference was between the wifi and the 3G model, but I feel like wifi model + hotspot would about be a wash vs the 3G model.

Wow, FreedomPop has a terrible site. No coverage map, overly SEO coverage list, everything tries to get you into the funnel rather than giving you helpful info.

Tell me about it! I couldn't find how much the service honestly costs because they don't you!

Pro 500MB Data Plan Trial - FREE Freedom Spot Overdrive Pro (Refurbed) - $59.99 1 GB of Bonus Data ($20 Value) - FREE

Shipping - $6.99

Due Today - $66.98

First Month Service - $0.00

All I want to know is how much are you going to charge me on a recurring monthly basis? This feels scammy to me... is this a dark pattern?

UPDATE: I finally found were the monthly prices were/are found (they used strike-through on the monthly price on the plan selection page and wrote in larger font behind it 100% FREE Trial)... They're hurting themselves by making it difficult to find.

They also hide on the FreedomPop Premier page that after the first month those "free" ($20 value mind you) offerings cost you $9.99 each month after the first one. They make the "Continue" button huge and the "I don't want free stuff" continue link much smaller.

I would definitely say there are Dark Patterns in use by FreedomPop. Caveat Emptor.

You can look at Karma http://yourkarma.com. They truly only charge for what you use.

Both Karma and FreedomPop run on the same Sprint network. However, that's a big issue since it only uses WiMax which never really saw much coverage penetration. In addition, Sprint is ditching that entire network for LTE.

Karma is apparently preparing to launch a new hotspot which runs on the new LTE network and I would suggest waiting for that device.

They are a Sprint MVNO, so you can just check Sprint's map.

A warning about FreedomPop: They'll charge you for the next package of bandwidth when you hit 400MB (supposedly so "You'll never run out of data", more likely so "We'll never run out of cash!") You can't set it to turn off when 500MB is hit.

Sounds like a dark pattern.

They also used to charge an "inactivity fee" if you used less than a certain minimum amount of data in a month, even if you were supposedly on the free plan. That wouldn't be so bad, except that the only mention of it is buried in the middle of a 5,000 word document that isn't even directly linked at any point in the signup process: https://www.freedompop.com/service_plan_terms.htm

It looks like they abandoned the inactivity fee in June 2013, but even so, it left me with a very negative impression of the company.

Seems there's a lot of hate for FreedomPop, but they aren't as bad as it seems. The way I see it is, you get what you pay for. I've been using them since 2012 and they've never overcharged me or ripped me off. Yes, they use to charge you for inactivity, but they no longer do that. If anything, I was always able to resolve any issues with a quick email. They've even given me credits on occasion. To date, I must have only paid them $20-$30, strictly relying on the free MBs from referrals. They aren't perfect, but for the price I'm paying (nothing), I'll happily deal with some issues on occasion.

He could learn programming with just a C book and a used computer. Or if he really needs Internet you could pay for the monthly service and rustle him up a hand me down computer.

I'd go that route except I'm not around to help him through much of anything. I'm probably going to buy him the Prag's book on learning to program with Minecraft extensions or one of the entry level books geared towards kids.

But it'd still be helpful if he could e-mail me questions, look up things on Stack Overflow or something, and so on.

There are free wifi hotspots he can use with any portable gadget.

He can also make use of library resources for email, searching, etc. It's non-ideal, but it might have some perks; having to chew on a problem for a bit before you can get to a library may help him develop some serious problem solving chops.

So, like I said, pay for his Internet service.

Crouton (Ubuntu on Chrome) so he can work at home not connected and use of College/Library wifi when he needs to sync and to find information?

Read the bottom of the linked thread.

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