Curious Pax
2nd Sep 2005, 14:25
Just moved out to The Netherlands, and seeing as we were sorting out a new phone connection etc anyway, decided to go for broadband (512K). The house we are renting has a study on the top floor (of 3), but only 1 phone point on the ground floor. No problem I thought - it's what wireless lans were invented for. Checked that the KPN supplied software could run with Windows 98SE (yes it can - allegedly), but when I was installing the necessary software it kept failing due to missing dll's. Fortunately I have a work laptop, and plugging this into the wireless router downstairs works a treat, so at least I know that side of things is OK.
Anyway, to cut a long story short I considered upgrading to Windows XP, however doubts about how well this would work on my machine (Pentium 3 600MHz, 128Mb memory); the cost; and the fact that every shop I tried only seemed to offer the Dutch version caused me to have a rethink. I've decided that a cheapish (less than 500 quid of possible) machine would be the way to go, with the fewer peripherals the better - my current monitor, printer, scanner, etc are fine, so really just want the base unit and probably a cd/dvd writer.
I'm visiting the UK shortly, so the ideal delivery option would be to either get a mail order one delivered to my parents in the UK that I could bring back, or get one directly from a shop, and do the same. The current and previous machines have been Dells, but when you tell their website that you are based in The Netherlands it all goes Dutch, literally!
Any recommendations?
Anyway, to cut a long story short I considered upgrading to Windows XP, however doubts about how well this would work on my machine (Pentium 3 600MHz, 128Mb memory); the cost; and the fact that every shop I tried only seemed to offer the Dutch version caused me to have a rethink. I've decided that a cheapish (less than 500 quid of possible) machine would be the way to go, with the fewer peripherals the better - my current monitor, printer, scanner, etc are fine, so really just want the base unit and probably a cd/dvd writer.
I'm visiting the UK shortly, so the ideal delivery option would be to either get a mail order one delivered to my parents in the UK that I could bring back, or get one directly from a shop, and do the same. The current and previous machines have been Dells, but when you tell their website that you are based in The Netherlands it all goes Dutch, literally!
Any recommendations?