My brother in law is in the Army, and my mother in law wants to send him a computer. He is currently in Germany. One of his friends has a laptop with wi-fi that works there, so he’s at least got that available. He will likely go to Kosovo in January, and will likely end up in Afghanistan at some point. I’ve already pointed out to my mother in law that he may not have wi-fi access where he is going, but she’s insistent. She’s sending him a computer, and she wants to know what’s a good one.
I’m guessing that the laptop needs to have a power supply capable of 110 to 240 V operation, and will need wi-fi. Anything else?
I’ve had Toshiba laptops in the past and liked them. My current laptop is an IBM Lenovo. Work usually does the research and buys what they think is best, though, so I’m a little out of the loop as far as what’s a good brand of laptop these days. What do all you dopers recommend?
The larger forward operating bases (FOBs) in Afghanistan (Bagram, Kandahar, Salerno, Sharana, (coming soon to here in Jalalabad) have wireless to the tents/barracks. There are internet cafes on the bases as well.
Dust is a problem along with being bounced a bit. Dell seems to be a little more forgiving to abuse than Toshiba (YMMV). Go inexpensive with maximum RAM and a DVD player recorder as a must. About everything is now multi voltage but check. The US bases supply good old US 110 v 60 cycle. More than a few surges or outages though.
A BIG MEMORY STICK or IPOD with 40 or 80 gigabytes would be much appreciated.
All the bases in Germany are 220. But pretty much every laptop plug takes from 110 to 240, so there’s no issue there. Pretty much any computer with a DVD player and Wi-fi will be fine.
I have worked on several Panasonic Toughbooks, I whole heartedly recommend this one. I have never had to repair one of those bad boys, just memory and hard disk upgrades and the folks who own them are not at all gentle with them. But at nearly $4K it’s too expensive for me right now.
FWIW, I’ve never seen a laptop require a converter. Just a plug adapter. I figured all laptops cords would take either voltage, but I guess not or they wouldn’t be marketing that toward “laptops and notebooks”. But I still think most won’t require it.
Also 220 in Kuwait and Iraq.
Oh, and wifi is okay in Germany, but it’s not free. Most bases stateside offer free Wifi at the food court. But in Germany, you have to fucking pay, which I think is messed up. But at least it’s fast, and it’s reliable.
Yeah, virtually every notebook will be supplied with a switching supply which can take directly almost any wall supply on the planet. You just have to get the proper plug for it.
I’d just go for a bottom of the line Dell for around $500, built in WiFi, 1GB RAM and a DVD+R/W drive. Store the thing in a plastic bag when moving around. Back up any critical files to an online server (Mozy). For big files like photos and video, burn them to two DVD’s, keep one and mail one home. When it breaks or gets stolen, buy another one.