Seeking advice for mobile connectivity

[Mikhail Teterin]

Hello!

I'm specing my future laptop, which will be used primarily for travel.
FreeBSD support, lightness and long battery time are the primary
requirements.

I'd appreciate suggestions/comments :-) My main concern is the "world
wide" connectivity -- I live in the US, but a couple of times a year
travel abroad -- mostly Eastern and Western Europe.

Seems like I should get a GSM card... Which one? Do they look just
like a modem to the OS, or is there some GSM-wide "always on" kind of
connectivity (would it look like a NIC?)? I don't need much bandwidth,
but rather reliability and low latency. Do I have to have a contract
with one provider and pay through the nose when abroad, or can I buy
service locally when and where I need it?

Please, pardon my ignorance -- my cell phone is of a CDMA variety, which
seems to work better around here, but I have to leave it home when
traveling :-)

Thanks in advance! Yours,

	-mi