Taking the net to India -part 1	Page 1 2 3

What machine to bring?

Obviously to do this requires that you bring a laptop computer or PDA (personal digital assistant) device equipped with a modem, but for many people there are good reasons to do this anyway. A fair few people now travel with digital cameras or digital video camcorders, and a small laptop allows you to offload pictures taken, sort and email them, even post them to a web site. For aspiring authors writing books or articles (a surprising number) its indispensable, both for writing and storing research material. You can carry vast quantities of music in the form of MP3s on the hard disk, and make easy MP3 copies of any CDs you hear along the road.

You could also consider an online journal or weblog of your travels, illustrated with digital camera images if you have one. The basic choice will depend on your needs, but the coice for mobile computing is between a laptop computer and a handheld (PDA) device.

-Palmtop devices

©neoncarrot
Palm and Handspring PDAs

If you can stand the small screen, a palmtop computer such as those from Palm or Handspring can store many books and a lot useful reference material in text form, downloaded from the net; easier than a rucksack full of paper, and scarcely bigger than a fag packet.

Although almost useless for digital pictures, devices such as those from Palm and Handspring have enough storage for almost limitless journal entries and emails, plus you can get free web browser software such as Eudora Web or the excellent Avantgo service. The latter allows for offline browsing of pages, and will download entire sites to the Palm device, with the pages optimised for the tiny screen by the Avantgo server; ideal for news sites. Add on keyboards that fold away make typing as easy as on a laptop.

-Laptops

A small laptop has significant advantages over a PDA, with far more processing power and data storage; especially useful if you have a digital camera to unload. Depending on your needs they can be picked up fairly cheaply these days for second-hand and "last years models". You don’t need and all singing and dancing model to do basic word processing, email and web browsing, and usually the more basic they are, the smaller they are. Prices for new models range from anywhere between 500 -3000 UKP depending on specification.

	Old and new models of the Apple iBook.

Second-hand, models such as the excellent Apple iBook can be fairly inexpensive, where a 99 model with a 300mhz processor and an 800x600 pixel screen should be obtainable for around 300 UK pounds or so. The older iBooks are a good choice as they have very robust casing and are designed to be carried loose in a backpack. If you do buy a Mac, ensure you bring all the software you need, as it is almost non existent in India. Operating system is a matter of taste, but models running Microsoft Windows from various manufacturers may well be even cheaper second-hand, and unlike Macs have the advantage of easy access to servicing and software in India. Places that service Apple computers are rarer than a bacon sandwich in India.

Buying a machine in India

Probably don’t, is the short answer for a number of reasons.

Laptops are a relatively new phenomenon in India, and are a lot more expensive than they are in the West. The cheapest I have seen advertised new was about 70,000 RS, or about 1,000UKP, and very overpriced for the specification.

Desktop machines in India can be had pretty cheaply, but are obviously not portable and at the budget end are often assembled from very dubious parts that rarely function together well.

Palm devices are also very new, and like all consumer electronics such as video, digital cameras etc in this country, attract an extra tax of about 25% over the retail price in Europe.

The computer market is not the highly competitive one we are used to in Europe or especially in the US, and prices tend to be high for imported goods. Generally everything in India can be bargained down in price, but computer gear seems the exception. Unlike London's Tottenham court road, going to a retailer and suggesting he beat a price given at another shop will get you largely nowhere.

The exception to this is Grey market goods smuggled in from China, Thailand etc without paying import tax. These can be had fairly cheaply compared to official channels in places like Palika Bazaar in Connaught Place in New Delhi. The downside is you will get no warranty worth more than the paper its printed on.

The last, but possibly most compelling reason not to buy here is warranty and after sales service. Consumer rights in India simply don’t exist to any degree you’d notice. If it breaks down within a month and you beg the retailer he may send it away to be fixed – assuming the manufacturer has a presence in India that does repairs; many don’t. Over 30 days after purchase, probably just throw it away and buy another because help is unlikely. 

Part 1 page 3: modems & power >>