Computer Shops, ISPs in Guyana

Computing in Guyana

This page aims to be an overview of the Computing resources available in Guyana.

Obtaining Computer Equipment
ISP's
Technical People & Organisations
Education Standards in Computing

Computers are readily available in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana. They tend to be imported from the US. A wide variety of desktops can be bought. There is a smaller range of laptops - this is at a premium price.

VSO & Laptops
If you want to get a laptop before you come here then go for it. If coming from the UK with 2 years out of the UK ahead of you the VAT on a recently purchased laptop can be claimed back at the airport. However, you do need to make sure the correct type of receipt is given when you purchase the laptop. For more info contact the HM Customs & Excise, or maybe your local Citiens Advice Bureau.
If you are just going to be using your laptop for email/word processing purposes you could consider getting a reconditioned laptop. These typically cost £300 to £500. Some sites selling these (not recommendations) are listed opposite. Programmers & Gamers are advised to get something a bit meatier ;-)	Sixth Planet Computer Bargains SterlingXS

VSO & Laptops

If you want to get a laptop before you come here then go for it. If coming from the UK with 2 years out of the UK ahead of you the VAT on a recently purchased laptop can be claimed back at the airport. However, you do need to make sure the correct type of receipt is given when you purchase the laptop. For more info contact the HM Customs & Excise, or maybe your local Citiens Advice Bureau.

If you are just going to be using your laptop for email/word processing purposes you could consider getting a reconditioned laptop. These typically cost £300 to £500. Some sites selling these (not recommendations) are listed opposite. Programmers & Gamers are advised to get something a bit meatier ;-)

Sixth Planet

Computer Bargains

SterlingXS

Plenty of peripherals are available - paper, printers, zip drives and CD-RWs can all be bought in Georgetown. Outside of GT though, the picture changes. For a start not everywhere has electricity, and not everywhere has a telephone lines, hindering internet access.

Make sure you use them with electrical surge protecters and voltage stabilisers. In addition, given the frequency of power cuts (blackouts) use a power unit to keep it up. Computer components have a shorter life if run in higher temperatures - so use a fan or air conditioning. In particular this is important for laptops.

Also be aware of power points. There are both 3-pin UK style and 2/3-pin US style sockets around. Bring socket converters as the ones I've bought here haven't been very good. There are also 2 voltage levels to cope with - 220V and 110V. My office has both plug-types and both voltage levels.

Many people also use their PC's to make cheap or free phone calls to the US, UK or Canada. One such place that this can be done with is go2call, which also has the added advantage that it is possible to phone both to and from Guyana for cheap internationally.

to the rishistar homepage

Computer Shops

This is not a complete list of Computer Shops, and is pretty Georgetown-centric. No endorsement intended. As well as these places Mohans Electronics will refill printer cartridges with ink - which can be a quarter of the cost of buying a new one. Sometimes people have problems with it though I myself have not had any. Check them out on Quamina Street (I think on the Thomas or East St junction).

Shop	Info & Contact Details
MDT	234 Camp Street. Bulk-Buying discount through Michelle Culpepper: Tel: 225-3882, 225-6845, 225-6843, 225-0684.
Softech	279 Forshaw St, Queenstown, email: softech@networksgy.com contact Ayodele Browne: Tel 227-5765, Fax: 227-5786
Starr Computers	59 Brickdam, http://www.starrcomputers.com
Laparkan	Office Supplies: Tel:225-7692
Central Electronics	Tel:225-8725
Netcom Computer Centre	61 Dennis Street, Campelville, email: netcom@guyana.com, Tel: 227-0190, Website: http://www.netcomgy.com
NTComputiac	Sells PC components and cheap inkjet computers. Tel: 223-7442
Guyana Stores	Paper and printer supplies, Main Street.
Fogarty's	Computer Section has good range of cheap scanners, printers, peripherals. Water Street.
Courts	Sells computers, printers and complete systems. Main Street.
Metro Office & Computer Supplies	17 Croal St, G/Town and 179 Montrose, ECD (warehouse) email: metro@guyana.net.gy
Benjamin Computers	Repairs and sells parts for older computers. Tel: 226-1201

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

ISP	Info & Contact Details
Guyananet	Tel: 226-9874 Website: http://www.guyana.net.gy
Solutions2000	167A Waterloo St., email: helpdesk@solutions2000.net Tel: 225-2653 Website: http://www.solutions2000.net
United Nations Sustainable Development Networking Project (SDNP)	Provides ISP service for many government and charitable institutions. Provides cheap Insomniac Accounts 12-6am for volunteers private use. Website: http://www.sdnp.org.gy , email: questions@sdnp.org.gy
FutureNet	http://www.futurenetgy.com/ Office on North Road somewhere
InternetWorks	www.networksgy.com Connected with MDT – 234 Camp Street

Internet cafes are now many in Georgetown - G$300 for an hour is an example price. These often provide internet phone calls to the US, Canada and sometimes the UK. These tend to cost G$500 for half an hour, cheaper than the standard rate. Which doesn't make GT&T happy.

Techincal Places

The IT Providers Association of Guyana provides co-ordinated efforts between IT providers. The United Nations SDNP Guyana is another useful organisation with Linux and networking knowledge. It is currently handling internet provisions for many NGO's and Government Ministries.

Linux users maybe interested in the Guyana Linux Users Group (GLUG). Email the list supervisors at glug@sdnp.org.gy. Check out the Guyana linux page as well.

There is a tremendous amount of software piracy going on here, but then again how many people here can afford these packages? They also aren't avaialble in the shops to buy.

Education

This section is to sort of outline what education Guyanese get in terms of Computer literacy and Computer science. Schooling is minimal - equipment, trained staff and electricity are common problems outside of Georgetown. There is a CXC (sort of GCSE level) in Computer Science.

Many people use computers at the workplace. The scope for Programmers is limited.

Training Institutes such as Global Technology provide individual courses on techy subjects. There are many more that provide Computer Literacy and Office training. The University of Guyana has a Computer Science department.

Books available from local shops are limited in scope and often out of date for specialist computing fields. You may find it useful to be able to order using the internet. Amazon provide a system to allow this if you or your organisation don't have a credit card (there are no Guyanese banks issuing credit cards). Read here to find out more.