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[aklujkar at unixg.ubc.ca]

Recently, Tim Bryson (bryson at harvarda.harvard.edu) wrote: "A friend of mine
plans to take a Mac SE to India for a year.  She is asking for
recommendations on computer insurance, specifically any company in the USA
that will insure the computer such that she could
buy a replacement computer if the SE breaks down or gets lost or stolen. If
anyone has any experiences or recommendations to share I will pass them on.
 

I doubt if any insurance company  will replace a machine if it breaks down
during normal use or due to willful action. However, the main reason I am
responding is that I do have experience of using MacSEs in India for four
months a few years ago. First of all, if the machine is not made to run on
a 220 volts current, you will need a step-down transformer made precisely
to the specifications of the machine. Such transformers are usually heavy.
Secondly, it would be wise to rent in India a voltage stabilizer. Good
stabilizers are bulky too. Even after making these provisions, I
experienced that more floppies got damaged (not an alarmingly high number
and some I could repair and reuse upon return) during my summer in India
than in a whole year in North America. Probably the floppies could not take
the wild voltage fluctuations, while the computer itself could withstand
them. On my last trip to India, I took a Powerbook, which comes equipped
for 110 as well as 220 voltages, and bought only a Rs. 3 (?) adapter plug
upon arriving in Bombay. My general practice was to recharge the battery
and run the computer on it  but at times I plugged the computer directly
into the socket. There was no damage  to the machine or the floppies.
Besides, I could very easily carry the machine in my hand luggage even to
the dustiest of villages (and give basic computer use lessons to some Jain
munis whose knowledge, curiosity and willingness to adapt to new technology
far surpass those of most professional Sanskritists at Indian
universities).  I would highly recommend investment  in  a Powerbook or
something like it.