Free Computer & Internet Access for Children aged 7-14 of Low Income Families

derbylady

TVAddict82 wrote: »

Oh and does anyone know what's wrong with three dongles? I did a coverage check on XMAs site for T-Mobile which says I'm good, so I'll probably go with that anyway, but have people had bad experiences with Three?

Ive got a 3 dongle, i dont use it all the time just when im away from home or when my virgin home internet is down but never had a problem with it.

derbylady

TVAddict82 wrote: »

Hi All,

I heard Toshiba are really reliable, does anyone know if they're better than Samsung or Acer?

Toshiba are really good.

cherry1000

I was really impressed with my toshiba laptop that i got during the pilot scheme last year up until today when my left click buttton decided to stop working. I contacted the shop where i got it from and was informed that the insurance i got with the package only covered theft of the laptop and not any wear and tear or accidental damage(wish i had read the small print).I was then told to contact toshiba as i had registered the laptop to cover warranty but after an hour of being passed around from person to person i was told it would cost around £80 to fix should i bother ?

fazeypie

rich_shot2003 wrote: »

Im still waitting on getting our Child benefit letter which i asked for on Jan 14th and still have not got yet.

Why does it take so long to get it out?

TVAddict82 wrote: »

Oh and does anyone know what's wrong with three dongles? I did a coverage check on XMAs site for T-Mobile which says I'm good, so I'll probably go with that anyway, but have people had bad experiences with Three?

I'll try to keep this brief before I go into a full on rant. I had a 3 dongle when they first brought them out, it was great for first 3 months of 18 month contract then the service went really bad, I'm talking a couple of minutes to load a page up. I kept ringing 3 to complain, they kept giving me new settings to type in, they took the dongle back and couldn't find anything wrong with it, basically kept fobbing me off and sending me round the houses. One month they charged me £40 extra for usage above my limits even though by that point I could barely get the thing to work. When it was finally contact cancelling time they kept me in phone for 20 mins saying they'd do this and that, I pointed out that if they did all that 12 months earlier then I wouldn't be on the phone to them cancelling and that they'd have to pay me to take one of their dongles off their hands. I also cancelled my phone contact with them even though I'd had no problems with that because I was so disgusted with them.
My dad had the same problem with his 3 dongle. I really hope they've improved cos I know from past experience that it's no fun when you've got a stressed out kid trying to get homework done using info from the net and they can't get it done on time because the dongle isn't doing it's job.

TVAddict82

Hi

Thanks for the responses - reckon best option I can get is the T-Mobile Toshiba laptop from XMA - only ones doing this combination with MS Office as well.

T-Mobile seems to get better reviews than 3 - last thing I want is bad reception when trying to get kids to do homework!

wazza

Have some questions for you. Assume i want to buy the laptop from XMA. For laptop the price is £400, for laptop and internet the price is £529.

1. when applying for grant and the box for laptop and internet wanted is ticked i will get a grant card for £529. If i decide to only buy the laptop what happens to the remaining money, £129?

2. if i went for the broadband what happens after 12 months? is it automaticaly expired or do i have to cancel it by myself?

the above figures are just a guess

looby75

wazza wrote: »

Have some questions for you. Assume i want to buy the laptop from XMA. For laptop the price is £400, for laptop and internet the price is £529.

1. when applying for grant and the box for laptop and internet wanted is ticked i will get a grant card for £529. If i decide to only buy the laptop what happens to the remaining money, £129?

2. if i went for the broadband what happens after 12 months? is it automaticaly expired or do i have to cancel it by myself?

the above figures are just a guess

If you pick a package that costs less than the grant you have been given then the money left over goes back into the home access fund so more families can be helped by the scheme. (paraphrased from the leaflet that came with my card)

AFAIK it's cancelled automatically, I think you will probably get some kind of letter offering you a contract or pay as you go sim for the dongle but you aren't tied into anything.

wazza

looby75 wrote: »

If you pick a package that costs less than the grant you have been given then the money left over goes back into the home access fund so more families can be helped by the scheme. (paraphrased from the leaflet that came with my card)

AFAIK it's cancelled automatically, I think you will probably get some kind of letter offering you a contract or pay as you go sim for the dongle but you aren't tied into anything.

just debating whether to go for internet as part of vigin package or get a dongle which can be used anywhere.

looby75

wazza wrote: »

just debating whether to go for internet as part of vigin package or get a dongle which can be used anywhere.

personally I would go for the land line/cable package if you can. Dongles are great if you don't have a landline but they aren't as fast as normal broadband and until you get the dongle and try it you have no way of knowing how good a connection/signal you will get. The website can give you an idea but it's not always totally accurate.

wazza

looby75 wrote: »

personally I would go for the land line/cable package if you can. Dongles are great if you don't have a landline but they aren't as fast as normal broadband and until you get the dongle and try it you have no way of knowing how good a connection/signal you will get. The website can give you an idea but it's not always totally accurate.

that has been my recommendation to my sister because can't see them going all over the place with laptop. With virgin etc landline/cable it is faster and more stable.