Using a Laptop Abroad

Moneymaker

I should add that, for wireless connectivity, you'll need an iBook with a standard "Airport" card. These sell for typically £68 and are really simple to fit. However, it's probably cheaper to buy an iBook with one fitted.

Here's an auction that ends today:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/APPLE-G3-IBOOK-500MHZ-384MB-15GB-CD-12-WIFI-OSX_W0QQitemZ230073727051QQihZ013QQcategoryZ4602QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Ideally it needs that 128MB memory card replacing with 512MB or larger.

Here's another:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/APPLE-G3-IBOOK-500MHZ-384MB-15GB-CD-12-WIFI-OSX_W0QQitemZ230073727051QQihZ013QQcategoryZ4602QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I would personally pay the extra to have the Airport card and extra memory fitted. If it seems expensive, bear in mind that I paid £700 for mine a couple of years ago!

macs are vunerable aswell

To what? There are currently no OSX viruses in the wild. Even if there were, it'll take a long time to catch up with the 40,000+ available for Windows.

j_davies

Moneymaker wrote:

To what? There are currently no OSX viruses in the wild. Even if there were, it'll take a long time to catch up with the 40,000+ available for Windows.

Looky here and here

40,000 + Id like to see that data.

Moneymaker

Well I think it's pointless to discuss this with someone who hasn't used Macs but here's my answer in brief. MacOSX has hundreds of undiscovered theoretical "vulnerabilities" that will never ever be exploited. There's a handful that might one day cause a few Mac users a problem if they happen to install this, and do that and that on a Thursday when it's a full moon and venus is in conjunction with mars. It's all "pie in the sky" and not worth worrying about.

My 78 year old Mum has used her Mac Mini for over a year. During that time the only problem she had was "Safari disappeared". This was because she'd dragged the icon from the dock and it went "!!!!!!" (as it's supposed to).

The answer was to set her up on a non-admin account (which I ought to have done in the first place - not to protect against imaginary "vulnerabilities" but to protect her against herself!) then "lock" the dock from the admin account.

As for Internet Explorer vulnerabilities, don't get me started. AFAIK no Mac owner uses I.E. It's (thankfully) not even available for OSX in a version later than 6.

So, bottom line is, if you love your parents, get them a Mac. They'll have far less problems than with a PC.

Joe_Millionaire

j_davies wrote:

Looky here and here

40,000 + Id like to see that data.

If I click on the here or here with that give me a virus??

j_davies

Joe_Millionaire wrote:

If I click on the here or here with that give me a virus??

No, why would anyone post a virus on a forum if you hover your mouse over the link you would see where it takes you and ofcourse I wouldnt take anyone to a virus.

Moneymaker

Joe_Millionaire wrote:

If I click on the here or here with that give me a virus??

Haha.

There were over 50,000 computer viruses in 2000 and that number was then and still is growing rapidly. Sophos, in a print ad in June 2005 claims "over 103,000 viruses."

Here's a list of Windows viruses currently being reported "in the wild":
http://www.wildlist.org/wild_desc.htm

It's "only" a few thousand. (That's "only" a few thousand more than the number of OSX viruses.)

donny-gal

Getting back to the point. There are loads of internet cafes around in the main tourist parts of Spain. Would the place they rent even have a dedicated land line, they are not in every house over there, and if someone wants one they have to battle with Telefonica for them to put one in. Mobile connection is expensive and very slow, so honestly I agree with the original thought, stay with an internet cafe connection in Spain until they know what they want to do and what infrastructure is in place. Broadband is not available everywhere.
ISP's in Spain Gonuts4free, Tiscali, Telefonica to name but a few, but Telefonica has a bad reputation to not being able to get on dial-up.
Regards

Blacksheep1979

apples safe -

http://projects.info-pull.com/moab/

http://antivirus.about.com/b/a/257781.htm

anyone who believes their computer is safe without any protection is asking for trouble.

Also Macs for less technically knowledgeable people does have its downside in that there is less support as freely available.

Joe_Millionaire

Still in two minds

donny-gal

What are you in two minds about Joe? Does Dad know how to use windows? If so they at 60 I wouldnt recommend he changes to another os.

What will Dad do with his PC, it is not much use if all he wants it for email and cannot connect cheaply and easily to the internet in Spain. If they are renting a place initially the odds are that it will not have a phone line, so without being awful you are wasting your money. If he wishes to use internet loads of bars/cafes have the pc's/connection unless if he trying to go to the "real Spain" back of beyond where there are little if no UK residents. In which case then Broadband is not alway available.

Imho, unless Dad is going to roam around the net looking at sites he shouldn't and you put the basic virus/firewall software/spyware on for him, and he can connect to update then it is unlikely the scaremongering will affect him anyway.

Spam is something everybody has to live with and ignore anyway, while hating it.