Travelling abroad with an iBook

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Part of my master plan for travelling abroad includes the purchase an iBook or PowerBook as opposed to my massive PC rig. I anticipate actually acquiring a machine in the next month or so and departing the US sometime in the months following but before the end of the year.

That said, what kind of concerns should I have while travelling with my machine? Aside from voltage conversion differences, will I have any trouble interfacing with local WiFi hotspots or in using burned discs in coffeeshop machines to upload blog posts or photos? My itinerary will most like include the U.K., travelling south from there to Hungary and most likely ending up in Italy with maybe a jaunt or two to post-Olympics Greece.

I am editing this to make the point that it seems like a LOT of the posters here are based abroad from the US, the U.K. mainly from what I can see. Should I take this to mean Europe is quite Apple friendly or was the site just started by a European and so mainly is a European hang-out?
 
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Icarus

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you better make sure that when you take it through airport security, that'll be a BIT-I mean, pain in the booty. I hear they make you turn it on so you can prove it really works. *shurg*
 
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I travelled to Tahiti, Australia, New Zealand, and Jamaica post 9/11 and I did not have to turn it on. They do require you to stick it in it's own gray box when going through the xray machine though. I only had to make sure that I had all the right conversion plugs, since our two and three prong outlet plugs are different then the rest of the worlds. That's a pretty cheap purchase though. That was all I needed. I would recommend bringing a short ethernet cable just incase, a phone wire just incase, a couple extra batteries or one of those big batteries from.. I can't remember the name of the company. Flying and travelling I didnt have a lot of places to plugin.

Let's see.. what else.. for WiFi.. i did not go anywhere that had that type of access, so I am not sure about that one, but Im sure they have cafe's that will help in that area. I would bring some way of transfering files though because I had the hardest time finding a way of connecting my laptop to the net.

Cheers!
 
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Ragle
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I would bring some way of transfering files though because I had the hardest time finding a way of connecting my laptop to the net.

I have a USB memory key (128 meg) and have yet to read anywhere whether it is compatible with an Apple machine. On a PC, Windows XP picks it up automatically as a removeable disk. Dos the Mac OS do the same thing?
 
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Ragle said:
I have a USB memory key (128 meg) and have yet to read anywhere whether it is compatible with an Apple machine. On a PC, Windows XP picks it up automatically as a removeable disk. Dos the Mac OS do the same thing?

Yeppp (had to make it 5 characters)
 
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You should have no trouble.
WiFi is the same everywhere in the world, your apple power adapter will work in all countries (check it: it says 100-230 Volts - 50/60 Hz = anywhere in the world)

All you need is different plug-adapters to cope with the different shaped prongs.
You'll be grand. I was also required to switch on my old pc laptop when travelling into the uk, but going back to germany, they didn't seem to care?
 
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pcjabber

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As many have said, take some means of transferring files (USB keys work well), ethernet cable, phone cable (though you will need adapters for abroad -- they use strange phone connectors). Wi-Fi will work fine, as will burnt discs.
As aptmunich said, the Apple Power adapter will work worldwide -- it has voltage regulators inside. You can pick up the Worldwide power adapter kit from apple at $39 (has a bunch of snap-in adapter plugs to plug into the Apple Power Adapter in that little corner thats missing).
Going thru airport security to Denver, CO; Chicago, IL; and Raleigh, NC, I had to just place my iBook in its own grey box (I stuck it in there with my PDA, and they didnt mind that). No carrying case in the box. Just the bare iBook. I left mine sleeping, in case they needed to see it on though.

--PCjabber
 
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Turning on laptop at airports

You don't have to turn it on. You have to take it out of your bag and put it in a little bin by itself to go through the x-ray machine.

you better make sure that when you take it through airport security, that'll be a BIT-I mean, pain in the booty I hear they make you turn it on so you can prove it really works. *shurg*
 

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