No. What is now called T-Mobile Web is essentially just WAP access
that you can add to any device that supports it. What you need for the
full Internet on your laptop is T-Mobile Internet. I don't know of
anything except the PCMCIA cards that will give you full GPRS access
on  your laptop. There is a way to rig a standard cell phone to a
laptop to do circuit-switched data (basically like a dialup modem),
but I'm not sure this is supported anymore.

Then it's going to be very expensive, because no major provider offers
a pay-as-you-go plan for this kind of access. I am a T-Mobile voice
customer, but have a data plan with Verizon Wireless, and I pay $40 a
month no matter how much or little I use it.

Get a device like a Web-enabled PDA (Treo, Blackberry, iPaq) that
offers full Web functionality. Then, you just have to add the $20 a
month T-Mobile Internet plan to your account and you're in business.

Yes, you can do this.  However, don't expect any support from T-Mobile.
There are basically three things you will need to do on your laptop or PDA:
install the modem driver for your phone, configure the proxy server address
in your web browser, and create a dial-up connection.  The driver makes your
laptop recognize the phone as a modem, whether they connect via a cable or
Bluetooth.  There are different drivers for different connection types, but
they are usually included in one bundle, and the Nokia PC Suite includes
them all.  Make sure to download the latest version compatible with your
phone.  I've never owned a PDA, so I'm not sure how exactly it's done with
them, but you have to accomplish the same goal: make it see the phone as a
modem.  Then, you go into the browser settings and enter the same proxy
server IP address as you have configured in your phone's WAP profile
settings.  Next, you create a normal dial-up connection, like you would for
a dial-up ISP, except you enter #99 as the phone number to dial.  This will
get you on the Internet using T-Mobile's EDGE network, which is roughly
twice the speed of traditional dial-up service.  You will be able to browse
the vast majority of web sites and use e-mail, but streaming media, VPN, and
things of that nature will not work, because the service is really intended
for WAP-enabled phones, and T-Mobile blocks other uses on purpose.  If you
need more details, let me know...

If I get the USB cable for my phone, (nokia 6800), OR if I upgrade to a
bluetooth phone, can I web browse, etc on my laptop or PDA (both have
bluetooth) using the $5 "T-Mobile Web"?

I've heard both answers for this.  When I talked to T-Mobile, they seemed to
get confused and wanted to sell me Wifi hotspot access.  (Yes, I know what
this is, and NO, I dont want it).

I'm looking for something basic that will work where I can get a T-Mobile
signal.  I dont really need too much speed (I understand T-Mobiles offering
to be slightly slower than dialup??), and I probably wont use it that often
(once or twice a month tops).

Am I looking at the right thing?  What, if anything, do I need to tell
T-Mobile?

If this isn't the right way, whats a CHEAP way to get basic internet for
when I'm out and about?

Depending on factors, if you can't browse the web after you connect, you
have port 80 blocked. Use the tmobile proxy to get around that.
216.155.165.50 port 8080 (port 8080 is wide open on the $5.00 plan. Some
people have port 80 access, some don't. I do, so i know it can happen.)

The $5 T-Mobile web plan is only WAP.  T-Mobile has implemented EDGE.
It gives me almost 500 Kbps throughput on my cell phone.  I got me the
Samsung t809 phone, and you can hook it up to your laptop either via
the included cable or a bluetooth card.  Either way, it connects to the
network using EDGE instead of GPRS.  The increase in speed is great, I
can do full color remote desktop without any problems, and can load
multiple webpages simultaneously in firefox tabs in a very reasonable
amount of time (seconds in cases).

However the first many times you use it, it seems to have to calibrate
the speed of the downloads so it seems slow and then quickly picks up
speed.

I have the unlimited data plan on top of my voice plan, which works out
to an additional $30 per month.  It's not the cheapest but it works so
well that I love it.  

- Z -