Features

Web'n'walk costs £7.50 a month when added to any Flext or U-Fix voice plan for unlimited data (up to 1GB fair usage). Alternatively, both contract and prepay customers can pay £1 a day for unlimited data (up to 40MB fair usage).

Vodafone Mobile Internet

Vodafone's (www.vodafone.co.uk) recent advertising claim that "the internet is now mobile" is a little spurious considering web'n'walk launched two years ago and tech-heads were accessing the internet on mobile phones some time before that, but it's a decent proposition nonetheless.

Vodafone Mobile Internet takes its lead from T-Mobile's web'n'walk, offering unlimited data for a fixed monthly fee. The network has teamed up with a host of internet brands, so you'll get one-click access to sites such as eBay, the BBC, YouTube and MySpace, along with Vodafone's own Live! portal.

As the UK's largest network, Vodafone has a huge number of internet-ready handsets on offer from the major manufacturers. Hot picks include the HSDPA-enabled Moto Z8 smartphone with a stunning 16-million colour screen, and Nokia's widescreen E61.

New customers on all Anytime data plans get their first month of browsing for free, after which they pay £7.50 a month for up to 120MB of data, then £1 per day. Alternatively, contract and prepay users can pay £1 a day (up to 15MB then £2 per MB).

Handsets

If you're serious about using the internet

Symbian Series 60 is used on Nokia's phones. It has around 50 devices to date, including notable ranges such as the NSeries and ESeries. All handsets use Nokia's own-brand web browser, which makes navigating large websites easy thanks to its use of onscreen page miniatures and a visual history of previously viewed pages. Nokia smartphones are widely available on all networks.

Windows Mobile devices feature a menu system that PC users will recognise instantly, and a Pocket version of Internet Explorer for browsing. Most Windows Mobile smartphones are produced by a company called HTC, with branded versions appearing on the networks under different guises. For example, the HTC S710 appears on Orange as the SPV E650 and on Vodafone as the v1415. Alternatively, you can buy a SIM-free version from a company such as Expansys (www.expansys.com).

Sony Ericsson has a preference for Symbian UIQ devices. Its recent P1i is an excellent option, with a touch-screen interface and a full keyboard.

Opera Mini

You can still get a decent mobile internet experience without a smartphone. Whichever mobile you choose it's sure to come with a built-in browser, but that doesn't mean you have to stick with it. As with a PC, you have a choice of applications for viewing web pages. One recommended program for all mobiles is Opera Mini, a brilliant browser that automatically rescales websites to fit on your phone's screen. It achieves this by using a remote server to compress web pages before sending them to your phone, resulting in a smaller file size and faster browsing, even on basic handsets. The application makes it easy to download files such as images and documents from a website to your device, and includes a nifty photo-sharing feature for uploading pictures to an online blog.