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We're moving towards fulltiming, and want to buy a laptop for Internet access and DVD watching. We want to travel to several countries, from Finland in the North to Portugal, Morocco, Sicily and Greece in the South, so need a system that will work in as many countries as possible.
Is it possible to get a setup that would give me access to the Internet in all/most of Europe? What do I need to ask for? Any recommended systems?
I've used desktop PCs for years, but am a complete novice with any sort of wireless system. Can anyone give me any advice, or point me towards a useful link for some background reading?
TIA.
The following members of MHF thanked Jon2000 for this posting
These days even the cheapest new Laptops seem to come with a Wifi wireless and DVD capability built in - see
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. Provided you buy from someone you can take it back too if it goes wrong then you should be very happy with the cheapest you can get.
Wifi wireless is becoming more widespread but you would probably need a means of connecting via a mobile phone network - either by buying a plug in data card (£50 ish and phone contract) or buy usb Bluetooth dongle (<£20) and a Bluetooth mobile phone.
Paul
PS - Second thoughts - Having just posted that ....I suppose if I was going to buy one for myself I would pay more for a laptop with plenty of battery run time - something difficult to judge by their adverts but a rough indicator as to how much power they consume.
The following members of MHF thanked baldlygo for this posting
Paul's spot on. The cheaper laptops around tend not to have wifi capability built in. Most have at least DVD readers (players), not sure about DVD writing.
To use wifi, you need to be near a wifi "hotspot", so your laptop can pick up the radio signals. These hotspots have a very limited range - sometimes less than 100 metres, and even considerably less when the provider wishes to limit access. Hotspots can be found in a small (but increasing) number of campsites, coffee shops, bars, restaurants and hotels. Usually, you have to buy your time on the system, usually through a voucher system or something like BT Openzone.
Stew (artona) on here uses a mobile phone with 3G / GPRS facility, and a modem cable to link the phone and the laptop, and finds it more than adequate. I personally would go for this route, as the datacards can work out expensive.
Hope this helps. Search on the forum, 'cos there's heaps more information on here.
Gerald
The following members of MHF thanked geraldandannie for this posting
Paul's spot on. The cheaper laptops around tend not to have wifi capability built in. Most have at least DVD readers (players), not sure about DVD writing.
To use wifi, you need to be near a wifi "hotspot", so your laptop can pick up the radio signals. These hotspots have a very limited range - sometimes less than 100 metres, and even considerably less when the provider wishes to limit access. Hotspots can be found in a small (but increasing) number of campsites, coffee shops, bars, restaurants and hotels. Usually, you have to buy your time on the system, usually through a voucher system or something like BT Openzone.
Stew (artona) on here uses a mobile phone with 3G / GPRS facility, and a modem cable to link the phone and the laptop, and finds it more than adequate. I personally would go for this route, as the datacards can work out expensive.
Hope this helps. Search on the forum, 'cos there's heaps more information on here.
Gerald
Gerald
He's off abroad, so the cost of using his UK SIM GPRS for internet would be very high, unless he got a SIM card from a provider in the country he was in at the time... which may also have drawbacks such as compatability with his phone and the possibility of having to sign a contract for a set period of time.
I'd stick to WiFi abroad... the popularity of WiFi hotspots is growing by the day. Some campsites now have it too. Bonus with WiFi is its either free or you pay a one off fee to use it. Most are only a few euros for a set amount of time. The campsite in france we went to was 8 euros for the day (correct me if im wrong fellow France MHF'ers).
There are different flavours according to the performance you need/ want, though nowadays things tend to be backwards compatible. Most new laptops nowadays would come fitted to "g" standard, which is one up on the old "b" standard, but still lacking if you want to hold reasonably high data rates all over a property; one decent solid wall cripples the data rate.
So, it depends on your requirements; if you are fulltiming I'd guess "g" is OK for you.
Dave
The following members of MHF thanked DABurleigh for this posting
on campsite in castellon in spain at present we are paying 10 euro day 20 euro 7 days or 40 euro 28 days not cheap but at least we can keep in touch with forums. weather not bad either would not be sitting about in shorts in england
The following members of MHF thanked sweetie for this posting
on campsite in castellon in spain at present we are paying 10 euro day 20 euro 7 days or 40 euro 28 days not cheap but at least we can keep in touch with forums. weather not bad either would not be sitting about in shorts in england
40 euros for a months broadband isn't bad. Thats only about £20. Think how much it would cost if you were using the GPRS or satellite broadband route!
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Second thoughts - Having just posted that ....I suppose if I was going to buy one for myself I would pay more for a laptop with plenty of battery run time - something difficult to judge by their adverts but a rough indicator as to how much power they consume.
