mobile interent, manali and more

8i8

hi experts,
i've been reading a lot on this forum about connecting to the interent from a laptop, but i'm still a little confused, and have a few more questions.
i read here How To: Getting Online With Airtel Prepaid and a Macintosh that airtel has an unlimited deal for 20rs per day... is that still on? other posts talk about very different, and more expensive deals... will i need an indian friend to do that for me?
and it has been mentioned that when traveling from state to state you should buy different sim cards? does this mean i also need to do seperate gprs activations?
can anyone tell me if airtel has a good signal in old manali? and what about in leh?
also, i'm coming to india from thailand... would it be better to buy the mobile here? i'd like a simple one, like the nokia 3110 i think is the model no.... i think they go for about 6000rs here..
oh and one more... i read here people recommending a Belkin MasterCube Surge Suppressor... is that something i can pick up in delhi? or again maybe better to pick up in thailand?
sorry for the confused post...
d