Computer Access

im right there with ya - i have no idea what to look for!!!! some one said we need an ethernet cable to get online - will one from the UK work over there?

 

i have no idea about laptops to be honest, all i know is that my dads is an Acer and i really like it haha

 

I'm not sure, but a UK ethernet cable probably works over here, otherwise they'd call it something different. If not, ethernet cables only cost like $5.

 

yea UK ethernet cables work in US. Try ebay.. they are cheap, and try getting a long one cos that will mean you can sit further away from the wall, or sit on the sofa with your laptop.

Try looking in tesco, they do quite cheap ones and take them back no questions asked up to a year later. (I took mineback 11 months after getting it and got a full refund and bought a better one for less!!!) :-X :-X :-X

 

while we are on an electrics type topic...

coming from the UK will i need some kind of adaptor plug for my hairdryer etc like when going to europe? dont know what the american sockets are like!

 

yep, you'll need a US adaptor plug,
their pretty cheap, basic ones will do the job for ya no prob,
I used a surge protector type one for anything expensive tho, i pod etc

 

back to the laptop thing, acer/dell seem good basic models, any suggestions ? what type of memory should we be looking for, mainly want to store music and pics. do they come with some virus software or is that an extra buy usually.

merci

 

I had a 40 GB harddrive mainly for music and pics and it was starting to get close to being full, if I was there for a year I might've run out of room. Totally depends on the size of your pics though and how much music you want to store.

And from experience BitTorrent dosn't work, but the iTuens store does.

 

Do the computers in the commons have a USB port and a CD Burner? That's all I need.

 

not sure I used them once for a half hour... they were slow and I think were running Windows 98 or NT... hopefully someone else can tell you more about them.

 

im planning on burning all my cds to dvds before i go and taking that with me as u can hold about 20 albums on one dvdr or similar. im also brining copies of my fave films because i dont want to take them out there and lose them lol

i need to buy a laptop tho will be looking in january sales for one im also a bit of a technophobe so im not sure how im gonna work the internet and stuff there im thinking when im there ill get one of those things u can use with the wireless net so u can sit in a different room id like to be able to use my webcam and mic to chat to people at home without taking up te entire living space!

im thinking of buying a cheaper 1gb mp3 player to take with me i have a nice creative zen 40gb at home but id hate to damage it out there because its not covered in warranty for travel purposes

is there somewhere we can go to print our pics like does walmart print from digicams? i cant remember i think the one i was in last year did but my brains not working im still way excited hehe

one other question - will my straighteners work over there?i love my straighteners and i need them trust me if i turn up to work without using them ill prob get fired for not fulfilling the disney look!

 

Yeah, walmart prints from digital.

Also, much cheaper than buying a wireless router would be to just buy a long ethernet cable. I've never been to the commons, but I'm going to bet the apartments aren't so huge that you'll be more than 15 feet away from the ethernet outlet at any point. lol

 

my straighteners didnt work, they didnt heat up AT ALL but i got fab ones from walmart for like $25 dollars.. remington wet to straight ones , but i just used them on the hottest "wet" setting even wen my hair was dry, they were good.

 

Not sure about the commons, but our chatham ethernet was in a hallway past the kitchen from our living room... I think the commons ones from what I remember are in the corner of the living room. Vista also seemed to be in the living room.

 

can you buy them in england or do u have to wait til u get to the US?

 

I think you can buy them in the UK - the Post Office (big branches) should do them pretty reasonably (usually around the £5 mark), or maybe WH Smith - not sure about the surge protector ones though.

 

i got a good one from argos, but you can get them loads of places, dont get em at the airport tho cos they whack the prices up there!

 

cheers for the advice!

 

Yeah i found when i visited a friend in Chatham they had what appeared to be a wireless router already sorted, i know she uses a reasonably ethernet cable as well, not so sure the Mac compatibility is ideal, i'll be taking my macbook, but its probably worth buying one over there right now, essentially half price!

 

UK Peeps, I just got an Acer laptop, good size etc from Tesco for £360!