Differences in computers

US and UK

[Lilliabeth]

OK, forgive me if this is a silly question! (Please)

I bought a laptop on Ebay today, and that got me to wondering...

If I had bought a computer in the UK and had it shipped to the US, would I have any problems...
Power supply issues, anything?

[RobinC]

Power supply and modem are about the only things I can think of. If you look on the back of most PSUs, then you'll see a little slide tab that reads 110/230 (or something along those lines). If your laptop has an external transformer then you'd probably need to get a different one for other countries (not just the USA). The modem plugging into the wall is another one - the connections are very different (why there are so many adapter kits out there).

[PhraSEOlogy]

UK phone system is different to the US. I doubt if the modem will work.

I bought a US phone system to use in the UK and it was useless. But you can get a replacement parts - at a price.

[ap_Rhys]

I took a UK-specification Compaq laptop to Canada a few years ago. I ran my business through it from a Vancouver hotel bedroom for a week - And I got Radio 4!

Altavista were providing a free dial-up service at the time (long since gone).

The small North American phone plug-in fitted into a BT-type connector for the UK. So I just removed the BT plug-in for the week.

The laptop had an external transformer which took an input of 110-240v and that seemed to work fine with a wall socket adaptor.

In general. though, it is probably wiser to buy a computer with the specs for your own country.

[mivox]

My US market Powerbook travels to the UK without a problem... I just need outlet adapters for the phone jacks and electric outlets. It's got a dual voltage transformer (which most 'major label' laptops should have), and the modem hasn't got a problem with the UK phone systems at all.

However, there are a few odd differences in keyboard layout I've seen between my friend's "UK native" keyboard, and all the US keyboards I've ever used. A bunch of the 'extra characters' are on different keys... Like the @, $, ", etc., etc.

Irritating. ;)