MacBook vs. MacBook Pro and dealing with Macs in Europe

[erz]

Specific Advice

I must say that some of the advice mentioned above should be taken with a grain of salt. As a German resident I would say that a lot of answers really depend on your specific needs.

Do you speak German?
If you do, you can save yourself a lot of hassle and money by improvising as soon as you get to Germany. If you do not, but are staying at a host family who will take care of you upon arriving, great - both is true; even better.

You should get yourself not an adaptor, but the 2-pin power chord extension that goes from your power brick into the wall (the europlug "Eurostecker") for greatest convenience. You can pick it up for a buck or two at any hardware store in Germany.

If you want to be safe, rather than sorry, and need your mac powered on arrival, by all means get an adaptor at the airport.

My one advice, if you take it, would be to get in touch with the people who you will be staying at ASAP. If you know the university you will be attending, get in touch with their student body or some exchange student organisation you might find on their home page. They will be able to sort out your specific needs. They will tell you, whether you will have free WiFi access at the place you are staying/the university and point you in the right direction.

Seeing as the "computer culture" is different from the US mostly in terms of costs/access points, you will need to figure out how to get your fix locally any way. Just like you probably are going to get a cell phone. Infrastructure is great, so no need to worry. Adjusting takes a couple of weeks - just don't buy a long term phone plan the first day that will cost you your first born to call home, but stay calm and you will soon be fine.

 

[gnasher729]

Also look for the power adapter at the US airport when you leave. I think there is a tendency at airports to sell adapters for people who are leaving, not for people who are arriving. You might find it easier to find an adapter for a US MacBook in a US airport than in Germany; might be the other way round if you bring equipment back from Germany.

 

[hudsora]

Do you speak German?
If you do, you can save yourself a lot of hassle and money by improvising as soon as you get to Germany. If you do not, but are staying at a host family who will take care of you upon arriving, great - both is true; even better.

No, I have taken Spanish in High School, but I am learning German with The Rosetta Stone Software right now. As for where I am going in Germany, I have no idea. . .We spend two months in Bonn, then they ship the students out all over the country.

So all I can do right now is hope that I will live in a town with free Wifi. . .

 

[erz]

No, I have taken Spanish in High School, but I am learning German with The Rosetta Stone Software right now. As for where I am going in Germany, I have no idea. . .We spend two months in Bonn, then they ship the students out all over the country.

Who is this "we" and who are "they" you're referring to? I take it you actually have a scheduled and organised stay, so why don't you contact "them" about early adaptation issues?

At least you should know what organisation you signed up for and what programs they employ and whom to get in touch with. As it seems you are pretty much in their hands any way, I don't see how you actually need to take care of things in advance. (Except for an adaptor, if you need your PC powered on day one) In Bonn you will be sheltered. And you will have ample time to prepare for life on your own.

Many people in Germany have a broadband (DSL) net access and I trust that in any city with a university most of them sport a wireless network and your host family will probably too. Barring that, you will need to get a phone/internet contract for your home yourself, which starts at about 20€ a month. Chances are that you will not have a free hotspot available at home, because people are held liable for whatever happens through their router. The university network will certainly be free for students. If you are staying on campus without a host family (I am actually wondering why you should stay at a family as a college student) the dormitorys are either connected to the university network or offer assistance in getting a contract.

Getting by on free hot-spots alone (in bars and by luck) will be a major pain in the rear end and I personally would much rather cough up the money for a contract to have unlimited access at all time from my place, but to each his own.

I take it you are at least 18 years old - if not, a legal guardian will have to do all the paperwork for you btw.

 

[godmachine12]

You should get yourself not an adaptor, but the 2-pin power chord extension that goes from your power brick into the wall (the europlug "Eurostecker") for greatest convenience. You can pick it up for a buck or two at any hardware store in Germany.

What I used is this. You plugged the US plug into what I term an adapter (maybe this is just a language difference and we mean the same thing), which had the two-pronged European plug on the end. The power brick converts the currency, so need for anything else. I had another that worked the same way with the only difference being it converted the currency for whatever device you plugged into it. I used things like a hair drier, electric razor, phone charger, etc. that needed conversion to function. I paid not even $10 for both, which was much cheaper than anything I saw in a store here in the US.

 

[hudsora]

Who is this "we" and who are "they" you're referring to? I take it you actually have a scheduled and organised stay, so why don't you contact "them" about early adaptation issues?

The they I am referring to is Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange program, and the only people that I am in contact with is the US people and they run the US side of the exchange so they don't have any idea about Wifi and where I will be staying because all they have to do is find the students and send them over and the German side takes care of placing the students at different locations. So that is why it is so much up in the air. . .