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Thread ID: 115740	2011-02-01 15:51:00	Going to new zealand(maybe), what should i do?	Question (15792)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1174364	2011-02-07 20:21:00	Bank draft is a special cheque that they have to make up than the usual one that the customer you sign and rip out. Yes, you have to airmail it or FEDEX it. They take the money out of your account before they issue you the bank draft, it's cleared, it's how they in NZ make a deposit for a house purchase. OTOH you can do a telegraphic transfer - wire transfer. No, not all uni will accept credit cards.	Nomad (952)
1174365	2011-02-07 20:30:00	20gb a month is like...occasional gaming and surfing. One movie probably pushes you right over the edge, and forgot anything in high definition. 20gb for one person is fine. In our flat of 4 we are on 80gb (so 20gb each). I game for roughly 6-8 hours a day (more in the weekends), everyone browses Youtube + other sides a lot, and about 5 movies and half a dozen tv shows are added to the flat share each month too. Nothing downloaded in BlueRay but there are some really good 720p rips out there at roughly 1gb per movie. 20gb is fine, just have to keep an eye on it and don't download 1080p movies :)	Bozo (8540)
1174366	2011-02-07 20:33:00	PS. If you are using a international credit card for a large purchase it might get expensive, with the commission they charge for FX conversion. 2.5% isn't it? But doesn't uni get you to get your course approved by visiting lecturers and getting their signatures first? Then you take it to the fees office and settle the bill? That means, you may be able to settle the bill when you get to NZ, you could wire it thru to your account when you have set one up or take a bank draft over when you come.	Nomad (952)
1174367	2011-02-08 06:11:00	Nomad : yes, but you cant get a student visa without getting a fee receipt, and that doesnt happen till you settle the bill. DemonHunter : Im basing this off the experiences of someone i know. He watches GSL for starcraft a lot, and apparently just watching one day's worth eats up a large chunk of his cap. And he always finishes 20GB in 2 weeks or less. And its quite easy to finish up 20 GB in less than a month...there are plenty of people in other countries who can do that in a week or less. Especially if you want to play MMOs, the installation files and patches usually amount to 5GB or more by itself. If you are downloading games through steam, thats another big chunk of your cap. Anime or TV series are also fairly large in size, even if you dont use 1080p blurays. Although the guy i know did mention that ISPs in NZ have more bandwidth than what they know what to do with these days, he(and apparently some others) got a free upgrade to a 40gb cap after reaching the 20gb cap several months in a row. He uses jetstream or something(not sure, and we are not on speaking terms anymore). Just got an offer from accomodation, apparently they no longer have spaces left in their residence halls, so im being offered a space in a flat, which doesnt come with internet. I suppose the internet bills will be an additional bigger charge now...sigh.	Question (15792)
1174368	2011-02-08 06:18:00	Yes, the halls are generally applied in the previous year. I wouldn't say you are paying more for it. Didn't you say 100MB for $2 for something? A normal flat you have all the commercial options opened to you ... Or is it .... Have you been offered a flat that is managed by a hall? They also have them you know. But they are more $$ than a normal flat ie., if you sign a rental agreement, plus you need to find people you are happy to live with etc ... pretty hard if you not been here yet. But the ones managed by the halls are pretty good in that they are all new people. As most people who wants to get rowdy etc .. tend to flat with their mates in their 2nd year ... Flats managed by halls also have noise mgmt etc etc .. tutorials for various subjects, maybe they have a computer room in the main builidng and annual ski trip, annual ball, winter christmas dinner, inter-hall activities etc ... get togethers going out to meals or whatever .. various dance etc etc... Or is it .. you are provided a room in a flat managed by the hall but they still cook food for you? Some halls are are just dorms - with cooked food for you. Some also are like that but they have extra flats - which you can come to the main building for cooked food (you have the option to pay for food or pay less if you want to cook yourself). Some are like many individual flats or units which you cook your own food but they have all the social activies as well .... and monitoring etc. But they all should have a computer room in the main building, a gym room, social room, pool table etc .. sky tv etc ... If you cannot get into any of the halls, then there is renting ... but might get difficult if you not met the pple before.	Nomad (952)
1174369	2011-02-08 06:33:00	2nd yr students tend to prefer real flatting without mgmt cos it has more freedom and it is cheaper . But then you may get a landlord who might be hard to work with . In a hall managed one - dorm or flat whatever, electricity is included already, so unlimited power . You should get a public line in the lounge and you can make toll calls using a calling card etc . A hall mgmt flat can cost about 50% more than real flatting . Assuming you are careful with power and gas of course . If you are a big user it might be cheaper with the hall ones . Some of them like to heat their rooms to like 30 degrees :D Again, if you are with a flat managed by a hall, you might need to talk to them before you wire up ADSL if yo want that because the title of the authoriser is not you, it's the hall . Because of this restriction Telecom might not even put much emphasis on developing it . If you are going real flatting, it's easier, if you want ADSL, the title authoriser might be your house-mate, get him/her to enable ADSL for you and you can choose any ISP .	Nomad (952)
1174370	2011-02-08 09:58:00	Especially if you want to play MMOs, the installation files and patches usually amount to 5GB or more by itself. If you are downloading games through steam, thats another big chunk of your cap. Anime or TV series are also fairly large in size, even if you dont use 1080p blurays. Although the guy i know did mention that ISPs in NZ have more bandwidth than what they know what to do with these days, he(and apparently some others) got a free upgrade to a 40gb cap after reaching the 20gb cap several months in a row. He uses jetstream or something(not sure, and we are not on speaking terms anymore). Unless they have changed significantly, I don't think they will allow students to stream videos or play games. It's a restriction they ought to have in place. In our days, I known a Computer Technician who worked with one of the subjects, he could obviously but in terms of the students, they couldn't play thru the net. What they did was went to the computer rooms at uni like Friday 8pm and they play "LAN" games until 6am and then walk home :D Good old' Counter-Strike :p One of the PCs was set up as a "local" gamer server. Security guards didn't really care either, they just asked everyone to go out and re-enter by swiping in with their ID cards. With my efforts at uni on campus and at my room (LAN port) under the student network, I couldn't stream trailer videos. So I just downloaded them and played them. I scheduled my downloads so I could of downloaded a game demo when I was away at a lecture, but it's now likely they put in a data cap restriction like you say. Although the guy i know did mention that ISPs in NZ have more bandwidth than what they know what to do with these days, he(and apparently some others) got a free upgrade to a 40gb cap after reaching the 20gb cap several months in a row. He uses jetstream or something(not sure, and we are not on speaking terms anymore). That might of been a glitch with the unlimited plans Telecom offered under their ADSL service (known as Jetstream). Some customers were forced off it and put into other plans, maybe Telecom gave in due to the public and media pressure. Just got an offer from accomodation, apparently they no longer have spaces left in their residence halls, so im being offered a space in a flat, which doesnt come with internet. I suppose the internet bills will be an additional bigger charge now...sigh As mentioned they should have a computer room in the main buidling, that is if you have a flat with one of the halls, as above if you are wanting streaming or gaming, you might need to look for a solution by a commercial provider (even if you did had a LAN port in your room). I don't know about AKL but it's highly likely these activities are blocked. They might even monitor your usage. I had a friend who loaned his username for someone else because he was a honours student, thus had more access, but this other person used it for porn so he got into trouble instead.	Nomad (952)
1174371	2011-02-08 10:58:00	Well, its a flat owned by the university, rented by students. Why is it 50% more expensive than normal flats? It doesnt seem to offer anything special, other than unlimited electricity/water. Heres the one i was offered : www.accommodation.auckland.ac.nz But anyway, why the restrictions on gaming, etc? This is the first ive heard of such restrictions in university dorms...ive spoken to people who have lived in dorms in Singapore, America, etc and they have no such restrictions in place. If you **** up your studies, the university is more than happy to take more course fees from you if you need to delay your graduation. And i think its silly that you are not allowed to game or watch videos on your time off, which should be YOUR time off. I could rent a normal flat myself, but not being in NZ i have no idea where to look, how to contact the people involved, etc.	Question (15792)
1174372	2011-02-08 20:06:00	Well, its a flat owned by the university, rented by students . Why is it 50% more expensive than normal flats? It doesnt seem to offer anything special, other than unlimited electricity/water . Because those flats are better administered than a typical student landlord and might be a better standard . I have heard of a leaking toilet, mouldy smell, lack of insulation and the landlord has been difficult to cooperate . I had a look at the website . You have a manager on-site and supervisors . Not sure on how students live but typical power for us is about $200 a month . As it says: # Telephone connectable in each flat at own expense . # Internet connectable in each flat at own expense . So you can get ADSL it looks like . But anyway, why the restrictions on gaming, etc? This is the first ive heard of such restrictions in university dorms . . . ive spoken to people who have lived in dorms in Singapore, America, etc and they have no such restrictions in place . If you **** up your studies, the university is more than happy to take more course fees from you if you need to delay your graduation . And i think its silly that you are not allowed to game or watch videos on your time off, which should be YOUR time off . The dorms Interneting are connected to the student network at the university campus . It slows the network down that's why, it should be in your terms of conditions that you need to sign at enrolment or else you may not get a username . At my time, the internet to my room was only like $7 a month for the port, all the interent fees were paid when I paid my fees . Because it was the same student network on campus . Because I was paying the same as any other student with or without their own computer with or withotu their own LAN port in their bedrooms, it was really like using a computer in the public computer rooms or plugging your laptop into the library . If they are making you pay for data, who knows they might let you access it and put you on a different network .	Nomad (952)
1174373	2011-02-08 20:09:00	If you want to go real flatting - you can just look on the noticeboards, pple advertise. You then go and have a look etc .. Pretty common thing on the noticeboards. As well as lecture books and lecture notes, essays, projects and what not ... laptops/cars etc etc ... The saying goes, if you wanna play computer games do you expect the library or the computer rooms to allow this to you? If you wanna do your own stuff, do it on your own equipment and ISP. Some students go and use the computer rooms and the library into the late evenings for school work ...	Nomad (952)
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