This is the most obvious one. For myself, if I sit down at Starbucks with a latte and a laptop, what's the first thing I do when I get connected? I check my email - essentially my work email account and my personal email accounts. I try to reply to important emails first, then kick back and send off some chatty emails or jokes to long lost friends. Perfect way to relax in a cafe.
 

You can do many things at a hotspot location

The next thing people commonly do these days at hotspot locations is to chat on Microsoft Messenger (MSN). All the school kids do this, as do working adults. It's kinda fun to tell your friend 'Hey, guess where I am' when you're typing messages at Starbucks. There's a certain cool factor too, especially if you're in some exotic country and messenging your friends back home.

One of the tasks I do most often on my laptop at a hotspot location is to plan my day. This is not for everyone, but for myself, I usually have my To-Do list inside Microsoft Outlook and I tend to 'type out' the stuff I have to do in a Word document. Also, if I have random thoughts or ideas, I like to type them out as it helps you focus and concentrate. So doing your planning with a laptop at a hotspot location is another interesting thing you can do.