Job Discussion Forums

[Cleopatra]

[veiledsentiments]

I didn't catch the 'converter' ... focused on the 'prongs'

You don't need a converter for computers as they are all multi-voltage. But it might be useful for other items. One item that doesn't often (always?) work well on a converter is a printer.

VS

[Englishish]

I'm bringing a laptop and external hard drive with me with loads of films on it and I've heard there can be problems at customs. Apart from deleting anything which might be considered sexy (and how sexy is sexy?), is there anything I should be careful of? I've got over 200GBs of films, documentaries and TV series like Lost and I was hoping to be able to take a lot of them with me. Will they confiscate my hard drive if they find anything they don't like on it, or just delete it? (It would take a long time to go through 200GBs and I don't want to leave my hard drive at the airport on the understanding that it will be returned 'later'.) Does it matter if it's pirated? Music? Copies of Microsoft Office etc on CD? (I always make copies to take with me and leave the originals at home and I'm not even sure I know where the originals are now!) If you could ask anyone who's just arrived what their experience of customs was - especially if they had a laptop and external hard drive with them, I'd be very grateful. I'd take the risk of bringing some pirated films, Lost etc if they're just going to delete it. (As long as they're not going to arrest me, deport me, or fine me for it!) But if they confiscated the hard drive I'd lose a lot of normal stuff too and I don't really want to start out by feeling pissed off before I even leave the airport! Any advise?

[007]

Do not worry, the customs will not check the content of your external hard drive, neither the content of your laptop (the majority of the customs do not know how to operate a laptop or handle computer data!). Do not put the external drive with the laptop, and if asked about it, just tell them it is a hard drive containing teaching materials!
The only problem is when you have a large number of CDs/DVDs, then they might ask you about their contents, and if they are suspicious, they might confiscate them for further investigation.

[Englishish]

I hope you're right! There's even a warning on the Foreign Office website about it:

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/middle-east-north-africa/saudi-arabia

[veiledsentiments]

Seriously, we have many threads on this topic and thus far, no one has reported their computers ever being checked. That government notice sounds like a CYA post. Put your exterior hard drive separately (teaching materials!!) and they won't even know what it is.

After all, they have sat TV there that is uncensored and will probably be showing many of the shows in your drive!!

VS

[BillCowher]

PCs are very expensive in Korea & if you bought English version Windows it was probably a pirated version. KSA has several different voltages. 120 V, 220 (240) V. & a KSA unique one of 127 V. There are various adapters for every wall socket imaginable & a laptop is made to work on either 120 or 220 so it should also work on 127 if you happen to run across that. In fact, your charger for the laptop probably lists a range of 100 V (Japan) to 240 V & is most likely compatible with anything you are likely to find in KSA.

Beware that many rather innocuous sites will be blocked by the Saudi Internet Censors so if you can find a proxy it would be worth your while. Such sites are www.tinyurl.com which is simply a url designed to shrink urls for easier linking. Apparently the religious police are afraid it is a screen for porn or politics etc.

You are truly entering the Stone Age when you come to Saudi. It is a caveman society that could not build a cave if they had a mountain or even a hole to start with. They could probably hire a Filipino to order some Bangali laborers to build the cave though.

[Stephen Jones]

[johnslat]

Dear Stephen,

"Up to 2002-2003 it was fairly standard."

Strange - because I carried my laptop back and forth all through the 90s and up until I left in 2003, but it was never checked once.

Regards,
John

[Stephen Jones]

[Stephen Jones]

[lucreziaborgia]

Yesterday, I bought a Sony Vaio VPCW 115XH Series. It is tiny, light and very chic. It cost 10,000,000 VND (around $600USD). Lesser status brands of similar were more expensive; strange that!
I will have to buy an external DVD/CD (?) drive that I will do when I return to Australia. The only one I could find here was $60 and weighed around a kilo. I return to Melbourne tomorrow as my Work Permit package has arrived - it took a mere 3 days from posting in Riyadh.
Now the fun begins!
Au revoir Hanoi!

[The Lathe of Heaven]

[veiledsentiments]