I posted a request for advice on buying a laptop in Bangkok about a week ago on ThV and got some good feedback. Thanks for that! I did indeed buy a very nice computer and wanted to pass on the info.

I had been to Pantip and Forutne of course but was not well pleased with the prices. Also I found the bargaining opportunities to be slim at best and kept running into the problem of computers that are supposed to come pre-installed with Windows magically having to have it be re-installed for 5000 Baht. Out of sheer frustration I (just like a westerner ) wanted to call Acer and ask them for advice on how to find an unmodified notebook at anywhere near the prices listed on their website. That's when, under "contact us", I found phone numbers and addresses for two Acer factory outlets, on in the basement of Seacon Square, and the other on Rama III. There was an item and price list published on the website and the prices looked really good. I called them, but there was no English to speak of on the other end, and since I can't talk tech in Thai I simply went over to see for myself.

At Seacon Square they had an updated version of the items/price list (which was quite a bit different from the online one eventhough the online one was only a few days old). The specs were all listed in English so communication wasn't an issue (unless you don't know what you want, if not there are some great sites that can help, ie pcworld.com). There was one on the list with very good specs in my price range (22-25thousandTHB), I pointed it out to the girl and she checked her computer. They didn't have it in stock so she called the Rama III location and told me they had some there. She gave me a map and off I went. At Rama III it was just one girl all alone in a room, no one else in sight. I pointed out the one I wanted, she brought it out for me to try, and that's all there was to it. No bargaining, no fooling around, very professional, everything to factory specifications. VAT included, no VAT refunds (bummer, but still...), no surcharge on credit card purchases, all very simple. The one I bought was 24000, marked down from 30000, it had more RAM and hard drive space than I was expecting to get, and an original edition of Vista Home Premium. The only downer is the warranty's only local, but if you're going to be here awhile then no worries. If you are leaving Thailand it wouldn't hurt to check out some consumer reviews on a particular model before purchasing so you can see how likely you are to need that international warranty. Anyway I hope someone else gets a good deal too!

Here's the link: http://www.acer.co.th/acerthai2/index.php?method=factory

Good tip.

I had an Acer once till it got nicked and liked it

You were robbed of your Acer?! That's awful. <shudder> I'm having loads of anxiety walking around with such an expensive piece of technology I must say. You must have been so choked, I would've been.

A good outlet with lots of staff very helpfull and every model of laptops/PCs + discounts at Zeer Ransit IT

A good outlet with lots of staff very helpfull and every model of laptops/PCs + discounts at Zeer Ransit IT

Cool, what's the name of the shop?

You were robbed of your Acer?! That's awful. <shudder> I'm having loads of anxiety walking around with such an expensive piece of technology I must say. You must have been so choked, I would've been.

Burgalry in Belgium by Morrocans!!!!

Now I have a Thinkpad from work and the small Vaio TZ for sitting watching TV and taking notes at Uni.

Living in Singapore I feel much safer carrying things around and even taking them to the pub - something I would not have done in Belgium

A good outlet with lots of staff very helpfull and every model of laptops/PCs + discounts at Zeer Ransit IT

Cool, what's the name of the shop?

Acer

Just noticed that the link's dodgey, but if you copy and paste it it works just fine

What about Acer laptops bought in the USA? Are their warranties covered (and serviced by) the factory/service centers here in BKK?

Thanks.

Are these factory outlet Acer's all brand new or are some refurbished or customer returns?

From what I could determine some are overstocked models and some are demo models. Mine was a demo, so a floor model at one point, but not previously sold. They were upfront about this to me and there was no evidence of any damage and still with the standard warranty.

good tip tx

I posted a request for advice on buying a laptop in Bangkok about a week ago on ThV and got some good feedback. Thanks for that! I did indeed buy a very nice computer and wanted to pass on the info.

I had been to Pantip and Forutne of course but was not well pleased with the prices. Also I found the bargaining opportunities to be slim at best and kept running into the problem of computers that are supposed to come pre-installed with Windows magically having to have it be re-installed for 5000 Baht. Out of sheer frustration I (just like a westerner ) wanted to call Acer and ask them for advice on how to find an unmodified notebook at anywhere near the prices listed on their website. That's when, under "contact us", I found phone numbers and addresses for two Acer factory outlets, on in the basement of Seacon Square, and the other on Rama III. There was an item and price list published on the website and the prices looked really good. I called them, but there was no English to speak of on the other end, and since I can't talk tech in Thai I simply went over to see for myself.

At Seacon Square they had an updated version of the items/price list (which was quite a bit different from the online one eventhough the online one was only a few days old). The specs were all listed in English so communication wasn't an issue (unless you don't know what you want, if not there are some great sites that can help, ie pcworld.com). There was one on the list with very good specs in my price range (22-25thousandTHB), I pointed it out to the girl and she checked her computer. They didn't have it in stock so she called the Rama III location and told me they had some there. She gave me a map and off I went. At Rama III it was just one girl all alone in a room, no one else in sight. I pointed out the one I wanted, she brought it out for me to try, and that's all there was to it. No bargaining, no fooling around, very professional, everything to factory specifications. VAT included, no VAT refunds (bummer, but still...), no surcharge on credit card purchases, all very simple. The one I bought was 24000, marked down from 30000, it had more RAM and hard drive space than I was expecting to get, and an original edition of Vista Home Premium. The only downer is the warranty's only local, but if you're going to be here awhile then no worries. If you are leaving Thailand it wouldn't hurt to check out some consumer reviews on a particular model before purchasing so you can see how likely you are to need that international warranty. Anyway I hope someone else gets a good deal too!

Here's the link: http://www.acer.co.th/acerthai2/index.php?method=factory

Wow.

What exact model did you get?

Good selection in the Siri Centre... next door to Seacon.

Had a couple of visits on last joli and picked up al few bits and pieces which was cheaper than nexr door...hava looksee...

Good selection in the Siri Centre... next door to Seacon.

Had a couple of visits on last joli and picked up al few bits and pieces which was cheaper than nexr door...hava looksee...

Seri Center is the place to go for computer stuff in that area, though Seacon is obviously more popular in general. Seri was where my old shop was located, had a look at Seacon but they wanted an arm and a leg so we passed.

If you go to Seri, there's a shop called Set IT Up which always has good prices - ask for Mart (or Samart) and tell him an old friend of his sent you.

I posted a request for advice on buying a laptop in Bangkok about a week ago on ThV and got some good feedback. Thanks for that! I did indeed buy a very nice computer and wanted to pass on the info.

I had been to Pantip and Forutne of course but was not well pleased with the prices. Also I found the bargaining opportunities to be slim at best and kept running into the problem of computers that are supposed to come pre-installed with Windows magically having to have it be re-installed for 5000 Baht. Out of sheer frustration I (just like a westerner ) wanted to call Acer and ask them for advice on how to find an unmodified notebook at anywhere near the prices listed on their website. That's when, under "contact us", I found phone numbers and addresses for two Acer factory outlets, on in the basement of Seacon Square, and the other on Rama III. There was an item and price list published on the website and the prices looked really good. I called them, but there was no English to speak of on the other end, and since I can't talk tech in Thai I simply went over to see for myself.

At Seacon Square they had an updated version of the items/price list (which was quite a bit different from the online one eventhough the online one was only a few days old). The specs were all listed in English so communication wasn't an issue (unless you don't know what you want, if not there are some great sites that can help, ie pcworld.com). There was one on the list with very good specs in my price range (22-25thousandTHB), I pointed it out to the girl and she checked her computer. They didn't have it in stock so she called the Rama III location and told me they had some there. She gave me a map and off I went. At Rama III it was just one girl all alone in a room, no one else in sight. I pointed out the one I wanted, she brought it out for me to try, and that's all there was to it. No bargaining, no fooling around, very professional, everything to factory specifications. VAT included, no VAT refunds (bummer, but still...), no surcharge on credit card purchases, all very simple. The one I bought was 24000, marked down from 30000, it had more RAM and hard drive space than I was expecting to get, and an original edition of Vista Home Premium. The only downer is the warranty's only local, but if you're going to be here awhile then no worries. If you are leaving Thailand it wouldn't hurt to check out some consumer reviews on a particular model before purchasing so you can see how likely you are to need that international warranty. Anyway I hope someone else gets a good deal too!

Here's the link: http://www.acer.co.th/acerthai2/index.php?method=factory

Wow.

What exact model did you get?

I got the Aspire 4520 with 160GB HDD and 1GB RAM, max 4GB. I'm quite pleased 'cause I was expecting more like 80GB HDD and 512Mb RAM, max 2GB in that price range. Also got Vista Home Premium instead of basic or XP.

Now if only I can find an extra battery for less than 6000B! Anybody got any ideas?

You were robbed of your Acer?! That's awful. <shudder> I'm having loads of anxiety walking around with such an expensive piece of technology I must say. You must have been so choked, I would've been.

Burgalry in Belgium by Morrocans!!!!

Now I have a Thinkpad from work and the small Vaio TZ for sitting watching TV and taking notes at Uni.

Living in Singapore I feel much safer carrying things around and even taking them to the pub - something I would not have done in Belgium

That sounds like the title of in international suspense novel!