Dotmad.net

Usually I use my desktop computer to surf the web, but recently I decided I want to be able to also use my mobile computer at home, and this require network access.

At first I inquired about using WIFI access, but there is a major downside to this for me: I don’t want the router to broadcast a signal while I don’t need it (both to save energy and to avoid an extra EM field around the house).

So I thought about using Bluetooth:

• Easy to turn on and off
• Cheap (50-100nis for a BT adapter for my desktop)

I usually use the mobile computer about 6-7 meters from my desktop, through a plaster wall, so that’s well within the specifications. I now manage to get 150kb per second download speed, and I’m writing this post from the laptop.

I had few problems establishing the internet sharing, but thanks to the good manager of the Israeli broadband forum at Tapuz I found an excellent guidance document for configuring ICS.

Highly recommended, even for non-Hebrew speakers (as there are screen-shots):

1. Setting the server for WinXP (desktop)
2. Setting the client for WinXP (laptop)

I have been looking to buy a notebook computer for some time now.
Someone told me about a friend of his who bought a new Acer notebook during a trip to the U.S. as a temporary replacement for his malfunctioning computer, and now he wants to sell this new notebook computer (as his old computer was fixed).
It seems he got it in the U.S. with an international warranty.

So I called Acer’s locale dealer (Newpan) to check this out.
Turns out the Acer management dictated that an Israeli who buy a notebook in the U.S. will not have warranty in Israel.
In other words: If you buy a computer in the U.S., you get international warranty as long as you use it inside the U.S.