wendy Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 I've got an Advent laptop which is installed and working in the UK and I'm posting this message via it. If I go and live in France, can I take it with me and just plug it in (with pin plug adaptor obviously) and use it? Or might it not react well to the power supply in France? If I can get that far with it, can I subscribe to an internet provider in France, via the laptop.Also, do I have to worry about any sort of import duty if I take it with me, and then bring it back with me again when I return?Any experience in these areas gratefully received.Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikew Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Plug it in and use it, no problem. Subscribe to a pay as you go dial up in France before you go (ie Free.fr and others) then all you need is the right plug for the telephone socket.Uk and France are eec, just take it backwards and forwards as you wish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendy Posted February 1, 2007 Author Share Posted February 1, 2007 Great, that's encouraging. Many thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shimble Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Ive been using an advent laptop here no problems dont worry about import duty and getting conncted is easy enuf choose a provider make sure your bristish stuff wont interfere with installation insert disc and follow info would be interested if anyone has a laptop with both uk and french serviced providers on it andif there are any config problems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre ZFP Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 A point to note with electrical equipment (and it has been made before) that in the EU we are all on 'Eurovolts' 230 volts -/+ tolerance so no problems except for the plugs (Switzerland has 2 different standards for plusg within the same country - and you can't buy an adaptor for love nor money)The only issue with haveing multiple service providers is that you may want to have the connection allow you to choose which you want rather that automatically as is usually the case. Also you may want to fiddle about with the mail servers in Outlook (or outlook express) so it will check all your services but this is no different from adding say gmail and Yahoo mail to your usual services. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenniswitch Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 [quote user="shimble"]Ive been using an advent laptop here no problems dont worry about import duty and getting conncted is easy enuf choose a provider make sure your bristish stuff wont interfere with installation insert disc and follow info would be interested if anyone has a laptop with both uk and french serviced providers on it andif there are any config problems[/quote]I use my US laptop in France and the US and therefore have both French (Orange) and US (Earthlink) providers. In my experience, if your browser is Internet Explorer and you plan to continue using 2 (or more) providers, particularly if one is Orange, it is better to avoid the French software and enter your connection settings manually. Then you avoid having your browser hijacked by your French provider.I've not had any problems accessing my US email accounts in France, didn't have to change any settings in Outlook Express. I also haven't had problems receiving mail to my Wanadoo (Orange) account in the US, but I did have to change some settings in order to send mail from that account via my Earthlink connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hastobe Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 I would echo what has been said above - we have taken our laptop to France and had no problems at all (except when the house flooded and water got into the power supply - but that's a whole other story LOL!)Kathie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missy Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 I was going to ask the question but someone's pipped me at the post!.My daughter is going to France next month for 5 weeks on a teaching placement via the university of Canterbury and St Etienne. She is taking her laptop with her and wants to know if she needs any special adaptors re: the actual internet wiring from the machine to the wall. Are plugs different to the UK one... Where would she find such an adaptor?.... She know that it will need an adaptor for the actual powering of the machine and has one for that.... She is quite worried about having the right equipment straight away, as there is a lot of work to be done when she is away, relating to her placement and most of it is on the internet with her tutors back in UK... So if anyone could let me know that I can put her mind at rest... Thank you all! [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Yes, the wall socket end is different from the UK/USA. She should be able to get a cable in one of the bigger supermarkets, I got mine in a computer shop, but they (the shops) aren't always easy to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenniswitch Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 [quote user="Missy"]I was going to ask the question but someone's pipped me at the post!.My daughter is going to France next month for 5 weeks on a teaching placement via the university of Canterbury and St Etienne. She is taking her laptop with her and wants to know if she needs any special adaptors re: the actual internet wiring from the machine to the wall. Are plugs different to the UK one... Where would she find such an adaptor?.... She know that it will need an adaptor for the actual powering of the machine and has one for that.... She is quite worried about having the right equipment straight away, as there is a lot of work to be done when she is away, relating to her placement and most of it is on the internet with her tutors back in UK... So if anyone could let me know that I can put her mind at rest... Thank you all! [:D][/quote]You might check UK websites for plug adaptors (Google is your friend here.) I know that amazon.uk has some universal plug adapters.http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_/026-8746049-4149246?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=plug+adapter&Go.x=8&Go.y=10Or your local electronics shop might have some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearly Retired (I am now) Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 We got our computer-to-French-phone-socket lead in LeClerc - I think any biggish supermarket will be OK for that. It's a while since we got connected to dial-up in France but I remember the advice was NOT to get any discs but just to log onto the ISP site when you are still in England and set up a new Pay As You Go Account. We selected tiscali.fr and all went well. I vaguely remember only getting so far until I needed to put in the phone number I'd be using - not knowing it, I think I then printed off the rest of the instructions and finished the job in France. I think the trouble with loading a disc is that the new ISP takes over your machine with stuff you don't want and so making it difficult for you to change back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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