Laptops Abroad

Bubsy_2

Can anyone help me? I have never owned a laptop and need to get one I can use overseas. How can I find the cheapest way to do it? It would have to be run from a mobile, I am assuming I can do this ~ I really have no idea and need some advice!!

alf

I assume you mean that you need internet access when travelling abroad on your laptop. Check this site out.

http://www.net2roam.com/en/

Nicholas

Bubsy wrote:

Can anyone help me? I have never owned a laptop and need to get one I can use overseas. How can I find the cheapest way to do it? It would have to be run from a mobile, I am assuming I can do this ~ I really have no idea and need some advice!!

Why would it have to be run from a mobile?

Depending on which countries you are intending to visit, there are wireless hotspots in cafes and other public spaces, some are free some you have to pay for.

Bubsy_2

It would need to be run from a mobile because I have my own business which runs from a website and we are planning to renovate a barn in France. We will eventually have internet connections but in the meantime I need to be able to access my business. I really don't know the best way of doing it, so am open to any offers of help and advice I can get.

Steve_xx

You can get data cards which contain a SIM and which slot into your laptop. This is rather like having a mobile phone as the SIM is activated on one of the mobile networks. You then elect to buy a data service for which there will be a monthly subscription, or, it used to be the case that you could elect to buy chunks of access. This was a couple of years back when I last looked at this and at that time data rates were pretty slow, ie 28.8kbs was about the norm I think.

However, this needs some further research due to the fact that you would be in France it would not be sensible for you to take a UK registered SIM overseas due to the fact that the SIM being domained in the UK may incur additional higher charges than if you used the service in the UK only. Better to check what is available to satisfy this in France, on one of their networks, one of which is Orange.

Here's a link that may be of some help to you:

http://www2.orange.co.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=OUKPersonal&c=OUKPage&cid=1134489826351

Bubsy_2

I will have a look at the website you suggest ~ thank you so much for your information. Don't suppose you could give any good advice as to which is the best value for money laptop??

Steve_xx

Yes I may be able to offer help with a laptop. Have a look here at the offerings from Dell. The Inspirion 1300 is just £339. You would do well to upgrade its RAM from 256mb to 512mb. I bought two of these, slightly different offer though, for friends just before Christmas. They seem to be just fine. The two I bought were £387 each, but they had 512mb of RAM and came with a nifty carry case.

http://www.dmxcomputers.co.uk/

Sometimes it works out cheaper to go to the Dell site directly. They seem to adjust offers frequently.

Bubsy_2

Thanks for that. Just to make sure I understand correctly ~ I would probably be better then to buy the SIM card in france for a french network and then when I am here I can plug in at home or possibly go wireless. Are the SIM cards universal? Would a French one fit in an English bought laptop?

Steve_xx

I think the SIM are universal sizewise. Yes I feel it would probably be cheaper to access on the home network. Anything to do with roaming generally comes at a very hefty premium.

Also you have to be sure that whichever network you choose to use in France does support data. Some networks may offer higher 'bit' rates than others.

Bubsy_2

It looks like I had better start doing a bit of research (and brushing up on my French!!). Thank you very much for all your invaluable advice, at least now I have an idea of where I am heading.