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[marge]

Hi there.  I bought this mini laptop on e-bay - it was an impulse buy - it cost me less than $100 for the unit and postage from Hong Kong.  Its operating system is windows CE.   It has WIFI.   I am having problems to be able to connect to the internet.  I don't have WIFI and in the instructions it talks about ethernet.   I have a wireless dongle with Optus and I thought I would be able to plug this into the laptop and away we would go.   But the laptop isn't recognising the dongle so nothing happens when I put the dongle in any of the USB ports.  I am in touch with the suppliers and they have told me to try cable network - but I don't have cable network cos I'm wireless.

Any suggestions would be appreciated (like throw it away  :bleh:etc.  )

[neonwizard]

If is the Laptop I'm seeing on eBay then it does have wifi, did you get a manual with it?
I'm having trouble finding it and who made it.

It's usually a keyboard combo to turn the wifi on these small netbooks.

[marge]

yes Neon I did get it on e-bay.  and yes it does have a manual with it.   But I don't have WIFI and my wireless dongle isn't being recognised on it

[neonwizard]

Does it look like this one here:
http://chinaplus.en.alibaba.com/product/437303679-213152065/Cheap_7_inch_epc_mini_book.html

Does the Optus dongle require software to be installed first?

[marge]

Neon - thanks for your time - yes it does look like that one but I noticed that that stipulates wireless internet whereas mine doesn't.   I took it to a local tech expert today who told me that some of the laptops that come from overseas dont work in aus with the wireless connection.  To get WIFI it would cost me $100 - I might just not bother as the windows CE is an old operating system - maybe I would be better spending that $100 on an australian laptop.   (Lesson learnt)

[Jimbob]

You could take it to a MacDonalds and see it it detects the wirless conection there ... or if you have a friend with wirless?

If so you can buy a small unit cost about $35 that will allow you to plug your dongle into that will then give you both an ethernet and wirless connection ...

Those are a Chinese cheap unit you have and may not work very well but worth a shot if you can get it going... 

[marge]

thank you so much Neon and Jimbob for your help.  I've decided to give this little unit to my grandson for his birthday - they have WIFI and I went and bought myself a new one yesterday.  Its working perfectly with the Optus dongle - its got 2gb and running Windows 7 Home Premium etc. so I'm happy.  As I said - lesson learnt (You only get what you pay for)  You would think I would know that my now!!!!