using a laptop from USA to email UK

Is there not some kind of power difference between the USA and the UK? If so, then that's what you should be concerned about is plugging the computer into the electrical out let in the US, but I can't say that for sure. Other than. than that, MS Windows is Windows that will work with hot mail or MSN with the proper ISP for a wired or wireless connection.

Duane :)

Yes there is, the US is 110V, Europe is 220V (the UK is actually 240V with a 6% tolerance) but we were all supposed to harmonise and all the European countries harmonised on 230V from 1st Jan 1995.

In reallity there has been no real change because the tolerances are such that we're now 230V -6% +10% and that's a wider voltage range than we had before!

Anyway, it's pretty irrelevant because any laptop PSU (or other typical travelling adaptor) will be a switched mode PSU that will cope happily from 110V to 240V so shouldn't present any problem whatsoever.

David.

Make that _should_ be. Check the details, sometimes laptop vendors save a buck by making a 90-135V SMPS...

In general, though, the OP's main issue of going to be finding an ISP and getting hooked up. Once you are "on the interweb" it doesn't matter where on the planet you are, hotmail is web-based, so if you can get to it from a Web Browser you can do mail.

[Messenger will work fine as well (make sure you apply all patches), and I'd install Skype for free phone calls. Email from the usual client-based apps (Outlook Distress, for instance) probably won't work without some reconfiguration of outgoing mailservers, but that doesn't appear to apply here, and is a real rathole.]

Send him the money and a rough spec. to buy the machine abroad - will be cheaper...

Depends on whether he's buying it in the UK in which case it definitely won't be 90-135V :)

David.

Unless he's travelling, a US-bought desktop PC would be much cheaper than a UK-bought laptop.

or send him the money, and tell him to use internet cafes, likely to be even cheaper for a weekly email. :-)

Mark McIntyre

David Taylor wrote: [I wrote]

Right, if he buys it in the UK, he should confirm that it's not

180-270 only...

It won't be ;)

US outlet (typical) 117 Volts AC, 60 Hertz. Don't know about UK, but since the questioner is in the UK, he probably knows the local set up or can find out by asking a neighbor.

fundamentalism, fundamentally wrong.

Frequency can be an issue as well at least for the power adapter for the laptop.

fundamentalism, fundamentally wrong.

I'll wait for someone to find me a current model laptop from a major manufacturer that won't work pretty much anywhere. :)

David.

They all pretty much work anywhere, the issue is recharging the battery.

fundamentalism, fundamentally wrong.

You're making stuff up now :-) I've used many different makes of laptop in the UK, US, Europe and Japan, without any issues at all recharging batteries. Mark McIntyre

220/230V 50Hz.

I'm not sure its all that easy to buy a laptop in Europe which /doesn't/ have as fully autoswitching power adapter. Both my company Thinkpad's power supply and my bargain-basement Toshiba say "100-240V

50/60Hz" on the PSU.

It'll still be MUCH cheaper to buy the laptop in the US. Mark McIntyre

Looked at my 2 Dell power adapters, both say 100-240v 50/60Hz. One of them is probably 7 or 8 years old, BTW.

Jerry

??!

If the PSU works, the battery charges.

David.

As does my Thinkpad, my Dell, Archos, Zap external battery charger, mobile phone charger, Ipaq, 3com travel router etc.

Ah but don't forget that when he brings it home, he is liable to pay import duty and VAT which together are 31.5% (or used to be) plus any fine for not declaring duty should he be caught trying to avoid duty. It's interesting that people don't seem to also understand that buying something duty free at Heathrow when going on holiday are also liable to pay import duty when they come back at the end of the holiday.

(It's the individuals choice of course as to how to proceed) :)

David.

Would we use 'C' Drive etc the same? These things MUST be diffrunt coz you drive on the wrong side to us? ;-)

stefos

The number of business travellers who regularly carry laptops to and fro makes it exceptionally unlikely anyone will ask you.

Absolutely. The alternative would be to sell it again before leaving. Still gonna work out cheaper.

Mark McIntyre