Will a Laptop bought here work over seas?

[trd2turbo]

So I was asked a question that I have never been asked before and dont know how to respond to it. A friend that lives in Italy wants to purchase a laptop and take it back home to Italy. At first I was like ohh yeah.... that will work. But then the more I thought about it I began to question myself. Other than the obvious power adapter that is going to be differant, is there some thing like a region code that is going to make lets say the network adapter incompatable? Do they even use Cat-5? I'm sure it can be done but this user is a novice so they wont want to much to do... should I just ask them to buy a unit over there? Keep in mind they are MUCH cheaper over here.

[Lespaul20]

The DVD region code should be able to be changed. Wireless networking might be the only problem but that also can be taken care of. Other than that I think It should work without major issues.

[rjfvillarosa]

Usually the power supply that comes with a laptop has a voltage input range, typicaly from 110volts to 230volts so other than an adapter to be able to plug it into the mains that won't be an issue.
Cat5 RJ45 plugs are the international standard, so hardwiring to the internet will also not be a problem and the same goes for wireless connectivity.
As LesPaul said, the region code of the DVD should be able to be changed, you usualy are allowed to change the region four times before it becomes permanent, the region code for Italy will be 2 (Europe).
As regards location and time/date settings, whenever I travel back to the UK or return to Puerto Rico I just change the time in my laptop to suit which country I am in. I leave the location of my laptop set as UK and I have noticed that my laptop receives the Windows updates on a different Tuesday to my desktop.

On a side note.
I have noticed over the last few years that with most of the peripherals like an external harddrive or my harddrive adapter that I have bought for use with my laptop, the power supplies for those items have also got a wide voltage range input that again alows me to use them anywhere, the only thing I have done so that I haven't had to fill my laptop case up with adapters is go to RadioShack or somewhere similar and buy new power cables.
There must be somewhere in Italy that your friend could buy a power cable if he or she plans on staying there awhile, I don't think adapters are a good permanent solution.

[sdkfz]

Would there be any export restrictions on the OS and other software possible included?

[Lespaul20]

I think there is, but I left the country with my laptop and nothing happened.

[TallTravel]

I would worry far more about import costs than export costs.

Power? He has to spend $5 USD either here, or in Italy, for a EU plug and converter. It will have a US two prong on one side and the other side will be the EU version of the two prong plug.

Network adaptor? I used my wireless G function in my US purchased laptop, with the WiFi card integrated in the laptop, all across Europe with no adjustments. I also plugged it in to many hotel Ethernet/RG-45 connections in Eastern and Western Europe with my US purchased Ethernet cable, and I had issues with some hotels, but not others. When I had issues with the cable, I had to go to the hotel reception and ask for a cable. They had other foreigners in a couple of places who had problems with the cables brought from outside Europe.

I did all this with an HP laptop purchased in 2007, and my traveling was in 2007 as well. I hope this helps.