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The Best Traveling Laptop?

Posted by Cliff on from the your-jet-setting-digital-friend dept.

Subaiku asks: "Next semester my girlfriend will be traveling to Japan to continue with her studies. As a going away gift I plan on buying her a laptop of some sort. I've been thinking about going with a PowerBook, or maybe a Dell, but I really need advice as to which brand/configuration/platform would be best in terms of ease of use/connectivity in foreign places (namely Japan). Any suggestions?"

4 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. Powerbook / iBook by Pfhor · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Just for the sake of its Japanese Language support, if she does anything related to translation or typing, it will allow her to localize settings for Japan or the US/English. Also there is a very strong following of Mac fans in Japan, so finding support / connectivity should not be a problem.

  2. wait by corian · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This isn't really the answer you're asking for, but she's going to find much more advanced laptops for sale in Japan than you have a home. You're better off just giving her a raincheck, or the cash in advance. Seriously.

  3. Get a Thinkpad by terrencefw · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Unless you want to go down the apple route, the only peecee type laptop you want is an IBM thinkpad. They're small, light, incredibly well built and will take a real punishing!

    I wrecked my car last week and the thinkpad flew off the passenger seat (wasn't using it at the time!!!) and hit the dashboard at 40mph, not a scratch!

    James

    --
    Like tinyurl, but one letter less! http://qurl.co.uk/
  4. Buy in Japan by cymen · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Buy a nice tiny unreleased in the US model in Japan. That is what I would do if I were going there myself. For the girlfriend maybe this wouldn't work as her geek factor might not be up there. But if it is, why not consider this? Some people here buy the latest laptops from Japan to use in the US. Remember to check into the warranty situation.