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-   -   buying a laptop in spain (https://britishexpats.com/forum/spain-75/buying-laptop-spain-612993/)

chippie2 Jun 4th 2009 7:19 am

buying a laptop in spain
 
I went into MediaMarkt to look at a laptop and was told that it would cost 200euros to convert it to English I :confused:thought this was a lot of money has anyone any idea where I can get this cheaper

valenciatim Jun 4th 2009 7:21 am

Re: buying a laptop in spain
 

Originally Posted by chippie2 (Post 7634610)
I went into MediaMarkt to look at a laptop and was told that it would cost 200euros to convert it to English I :confused:thought this was a lot of money has anyone any idea where I can get this cheaper

You will have to buy a UK version of windows to do it, and if you have to pay someone to install it for you then that probably isn't far off the mark!
Why not buy one online from the UK? Probably cheaper too!

mrsjdr Jun 4th 2009 7:22 am

Re: buying a laptop in spain
 
I paid a 1/4 of that to have mine converted, I suggest you look around

Mitzyboy Jun 4th 2009 7:27 am

Re: buying a laptop in spain
 

Originally Posted by chippie2 (Post 7634610)
I went into MediaMarkt to look at a laptop and was told that it would cost 200euros to convert it to English I :confused:thought this was a lot of money has anyone any idea where I can get this cheaper

I only paid £380 odd for my lappie in the UK, good spec. Ask Valencia Tim he knows where to look

Fred James Jun 4th 2009 8:09 am

Re: buying a laptop in spain
 
You can buy them online or by phone direct from Dell Spain and they will provide them with UK Windows/UK keyboards at no extra charge.

Buying in the UK and using in Spain can give warranty problems with some products.

jdr Jun 4th 2009 8:33 am

Re: buying a laptop in spain
 
A little froggie can do it for free for you HERE, I put it on mine but changed back to Spanish as it helps with the language etc.
It works, but I lost the ability to get upgrades, there is a cure for this though, you have to delete one of Vistas upgrades probably put on to stop you doing it for free, although it may of been fixed by now.

missile Jun 4th 2009 9:03 am

Re: buying a laptop in spain
 
In windows you can easily set the language to English.


Click to open Regional and Language Options.

Click the Keyboards and Languages tab.

Under Display language, choose a language from the list, and then click OK.

Note
If you don't see the list of display languages, you need to install additional language files first. For more information, see Install a display language.


If you are not up to the task, take the lappy to any decent computer shop and they will do it for you for circa 20€.

If you order a DELL on line you can specify English install and documentation and they will deliver it to your door by courier. http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/de...s&s=gen&~ck=cr

jdr Jun 4th 2009 9:08 am

Re: buying a laptop in spain
 

Originally Posted by missile (Post 7634989)
In windows you can easily set the language to English.





If you are not up to the task, take the lappy to any decent computer shop and they will do it for you for circa 20€.

If you order a DELL on line you can specify English install and documentation and they will deliver it to your door by courier. http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/de...s&s=gen&~ck=cr

How can you reinstall a Spanish copy of Vista into English, it`s not even on the disc ?

Fred James Jun 4th 2009 9:29 am

Re: buying a laptop in spain
 
You can't normally. Changing the regional settings helps a bit but it doesn't give you a full English version.

The only way you can do it is if you have a copy of Vista Ultimate and then you can download language packs and run it in any language. I have and I can switch from English to Spanish or even Mandarin if I want to.

One tip I did read is that if you have a laptop with Spanish Windows and it has a recovery CD, sometimes, if you run it, you MAY have the option for English as sometimes various languages are on the recovery disk. Trouble is you won't find out until you try.

I just buy Dell PC's in Spain and specify English.

missile Jun 4th 2009 9:36 am

Re: buying a laptop in spain
 

Originally Posted by jdr (Post 7635003)
How can you reinstall a Spanish copy of Vista into English, it`s not even on the disc ?

For your info>


Install a display language

You can change the language Windows uses to display text in wizards, dialog boxes, menus, and other items in the user interface. Some display languages are installed by default; others require you to install additional language files.

Before you can install a display language, you need access to the language files. These files can be on your computer, on a computer on your network, or on your Windows DVD; or they can be downloaded from the web. For more information, see How do I get additional language files?

To install a Language Interface Pack (LIP), double-click the file to open the setup program. To install a Multilingual User Interface Pack (MUI), follow these steps:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Unfortunately if you are starting with a spanish version of Windows, you need to be able to read the spanish to see these options which are accessed via control panel.

As Fred suggested the easiest option is to buy a DELL

missile Jun 4th 2009 9:39 am

Re: buying a laptop in spain
 
I just bought a DELL Mini10 @ £299 for my OH which is more than adequate for her needs.

SueG Jun 4th 2009 9:40 am

Re: buying a laptop in spain
 
We bought ours from PC City in Alicante and they charged us €100 to convert from Spanish to English.

valenciatim Jun 4th 2009 9:43 am

Re: buying a laptop in spain
 
Just buy one from the UK! The major brands have representation in Spain and warranties are not an issue, depending on the brand!
As always, you get what you pay for! There are brands to avoid, but I am not going to slag them off on an open forum!
As Fred has said, if you manage to buy one with Vista Ultimate, you can muck about with the languages, any other version and all you can change is the input language.
Bear in mind that Vista is "memory hungry" and really needs a minimum of 3 Gig to work happily. Lower priced laptops tend to have less memory, especially here in Spain.

jdr Jun 4th 2009 5:11 pm

Re: buying a laptop in spain
 

Originally Posted by missile (Post 7635090)
For your info>



Unfortunately if you are starting with a spanish version of Windows, you need to be able to read the spanish to see these options which are accessed via control panel.

As Fred suggested the easiest option is to buy a DELL

I can read the Spanish, only Ultimate or the Froggie program changes it all.

missile Jun 4th 2009 8:09 pm

Re: buying a laptop in spain
 

Originally Posted by jdr (Post 7635844)
I can read the Spanish, only Ultimate or the Froggie program changes it all.

You know best:rofl:


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