The next chapter in the welcome to Amsterdam survival tips that I hope you find useful: computers.

We all bring them. Some of us are so crazy we bring two. But regardless, we've got them, we use them, and yes... some might say we abuse them. Therefore, there will be times where help is needed, a place.. where you can go and ask for help.. or just buy a network cable.

Thankfully Amsterdam, and the Netherlands in general, is a great place to buy electronics. Great and cheap.

The essential names you should know for buying computer related things and, should it be necessary, ask about repair service, are Paradigit, Mycom and PCL Computers. The first two being chains that you can find in various locations, including east, south or west Amsterdam. In each of these cases these shops have huge selections of things like external USB hard drives for storing all that extra data you aquire while you're here. And since they're usually located right next to each other, prices are pretty comparable and reasonable for what you get. Another useful item.. if you're here for more than a semester, is a nice flat panel display. Getting one of those will make things nicer for your eyes, and you can easily sell them before you leave on the Dutch Ebay or Craigs List, or a good old fashioned note pinned on the university bulletin board... every uni building has one.

For we Mac users, the options are - as usual - fewer, but at the very least Amsterdam has two well located Apple Stores (or affiliates). One is ideally located just a few steps away from Central Station, while the other isn't far from Anne Frank's house, in the Jordaan. Unfortanately neither of these shops treats their customers as good as they usually do in the US and service will often be slower and ruder than you expect. I blame the combination of mac snob and Dutch culture... dangerous results. But some days you'll go in with a problem and come out happy as pie.

Ideally of course, there will be no problems, you'll remember to bring a power adapter, and your computer will work like a charm throughout your time in the Netherlands.