Shortly after receiving my Palm Pre Plus, I had the opportunity to really put it through its paces by taking a weekend trip. Having never traveled with a smartphone before, I was positively giddy at the prospect. The reality turned out to be just as good as I had imagined.

I couldn’t use the phone to check in for my flight (mobile check-in is only available at certain airports, not the ones I needed this time). Nor did I experience any travel delays or snafus that I could have heroically solved by having access to email and the Web. (Darn!) But I could at last be one of those people who whips out her phone in the terminal or on the plane and quickly checks her mail/Facebook page/Twitter. So much faster and simpler than having to boot up a laptop and scavenge for WiFi, and I also love having access right in the palm of my hand instead of crouching over a laptop.

One of the coolest features of the Palm Pre Plus, something that isn’t available on any similar phone, is its Mobile Hotspot capability. As I mentioned, I bought a netbook last summer, planning to use it chiefly for travel. This works OK, except that there isn’t ever a guarantee that I’ll be able to find a wireless network to connect to, or that it’ll be free. I’ve even coughed up the ridiculous fees to pay for wireless access in an airport–and then lost my connection and been unable to get back on. Hello money, I hope you enjoy being flushed down the toilet.

Without Internet, the netbook is nothing more than an expensive and shiny pad of paper. But (cue angels singing!) the Mobile Hotspot solves that problem. I flick its switch on (via the Apps Launcher) and presto, I now have my own personal wireless connection. It is password-protected and I can share the joys of WiFi with up to four other machines, if I choose. On my trip, I used the HotSpot in three different airports and also at my hosts’ home.

Now, this little slice of heaven doesn’t come free. There is a $40 monthly fee for the Mobile HotSpot service. So I’ll have to think carefully about whether it’s worth it for me to keep it. But man, I really, really want to!

*Disclosure: I received a free Palm Pre Plus phone and one month of service from Verizon Wireless so that I could test them out for this series of reviews. These opinions are my own.