I usually stay at Hotels that have a business centre and just use their computers for internet access. Much easier than having to carry my laptop around and worry about it.

I take my laptop with me but something I read the other day gave me pause. In the Canary Islands, someone had their apartment broken into, as in the door on the floor and the safe smashed.

If people going into a hotel have to go past reception, it should be OK to take a laptop but with apartments where there is no check of who goes in and out, it starts getting a bit risky.

I am thinking of getting the ASUS Eee PC - thanks to all of you who recommended it :)

You won't regret it. It's a gem. Make sure you get the 4G and not the 2G model. The 2G only costs a little less (Not available in Europe at all) but only has 2GB instead of 4GB of memory. You'll pay $399 plus tax for the 4G in the US and 299€ incl. tax for it in Europe.

logos999 - Thanks for your reply. I'm in the US. Do you see any reason to get the one pre-loaded with Windows XP? Can a Linux newbie who vaguely remembers DOS deal with it? It seems like there is a bit more storage space with the Linux and less virus issues.

>Can a Linux newbie who vaguely remembers DOS deal with it?

It's very!! simple to use. Everything you may need is preinstalled.

You can install Windows of course all the drivers are included, but you'd need an external DVD/CD drive or SD card.

It's really very simple to operate.

It depends on what you want really.

We always have our laptops with us, even took them to the Sahara and all over Morocco and Turkey.

But then we are 2 years into a world tour, so laptops mean more to us than your average tourist.

There is always a risk, but so far we have not had any problem with ours and we are a 3 laptop traveling family.We even take piano lessons via skype on our computers from a different continent, so we live a web 2.0 life as we roam.

We have gotten great advice and even met others on the road via our laptops. We would be lost without ours and it helps us keep in touch with family as we wander the world.YMMV

www.soultravelers3.com

Sorry if this is a stupid question,
I have never traveled abroad with my laptop. I have a MacBook with the 60W MagSafe Power Adapter that I plug into
the laptop and into my electrical outlet at home. When travelling in
Britain do I just need to plug that
into the 3 prong plug for Britain -
no electrical transformer needed?
Thanks for helping this novice!

It's really more of a style question, while I'm tied to my laptop at home, I can't imagine using it for "planning purposes" once I'm already in europe. It'd be more of a bother to carry along. Now if it were a long trip, with multiple locations I might more feel the need would be worth the effort.

Yes MacBooks should have international power supplies.

Look for small print on the power supply brick. Probably will say something like 100-240V. As long as 220V is within the range, you should be okay.

Wow, thanks, just got out
the magnifying glass (!)
and it does indeed say 100-240V.
Thanks so much!

Just came back from a week in Locarno. No laptop, no TV (personal choice), no radio and no newspapers. A few text messages and calls from cell was all I did. My vacation was about relaxing, enjoying the views, going for walks and getting away from all electronic equipment.

It was heavenly and I slept so well.

I saw a man sitting at a wonderful campsite restaurant, having a beer and squinting into his laptop. He did not look relaxed or happy.

I'm old-fashioned but I think going on vacation is a great way of also leaving all that stressful electronic equipment behind. Plan your vacation and then enjoy.

OK - another power supply question: I checked that my laptop does have 110-240. However, the adaptor that I have for France only has 2 holes, not 3 like the plug to my laptop, but the 2 prongs on the plug fit into the adaptor. Do I just plug those 2 in or do I need a different kind of adaptor.

Thanks

You can use the two hole adapter but it will not be grounded; I'd be a bit leery of doing that with electronics, and in some cases it may not fit well in the outlet. You can either get an adapter with three holes or carry along a three prong adapter to plug into the two prong adapter you already have.

I have the Asus eee pc too. It is great...so light and easy to carry. I got it so that I could have a laptop to carry with me on my travels. I also bought mine at Best Buy. They had them in store for the $399 plus tax. I don't know what the price will be for the 9 inch screen. Ilove mine too.

We are going on a tour in southern France and wondered if we should take our 2 lb Vaio laptop? Paris is one thing, but do the small towns in Provence and the coast have wifi and internet connections? Internet cafes? If we could get to an internet cafe every couple of days to read our email, that would be sufficient. So, is it worth it to take our laptop?
Thanks
ESL Charleston,SC

Internet cafes don't always let you use their connection on your laptop.

I'd look for a hotel which offers Internet, either included in the room rate or at some affordable rate.

Ask first, make sure it's something you can tolerate.

The reviews on Venere sometimes mention how Internet is at hotels. So do Trip Advisor reviews to a lesser extent.

Free wifi is being quite generalized at the major cafés in France. I wouldn't expect it in smaller towns and villages.

I take my specially configured "Netbook" with me instead of my home laptop with all sorts of confidential data.

The travel laptop is very small, light, and cheap so from hardware point of view, a loss is not as painful.

I keep important or confidential data on my SD card. I keep SD card in the safe if the safe is too small for my laptop. I also keep my SD card with my passport when I travel, so even if the laptop is stolen, I only lose the hardware and not the memos I wrote during the trip or the pictures I downloaded from the camera.

i took a week long trip in India once, without it and regretted it. Always carry it since, sometimes i dont even take it out of the bag but its good to have it.

will be in Europe for about 3 weeks and will have it with me. I might not take mine though and borrow my dads 10.1" netbook.