Cheaper To Buy Laptop In Uk Or Thailand?

[toffo9]

Coming to thailand in 2 weeks .. just wondering worth buying it over there or here in uk

[MaiDong]

Coming to thailand in 2 weeks .. just wondering worth buying it over there or here in uk

In my experience it's cheaper to buy in the UK but if you buy here you can get a VAT return the next time you leave Thailand.

Check out the 'internet, communications ....' section of this forum and you will find some online shops with prices in US$, convert them to £'s then work out the 7% tax return...

Good luck

[toffo9]

Thanks Maidong will do

[syd barrett]

The way the exchange rates are now, far better to buy a laptop in the U.K. Plus 15% or is it 17.5% VAT back at Heathrow airport.

[johnbarpic]

Agree with everyone else I have checked it out quite abit as I am often back &b fort UK is definately the better deal plus if it goes tilt Uk you can retun much easier.

JBP

[anothertorres]

the UK, no brainer.

[gmac]

Unless you're in the market for an Apple. Cheapest MacBook Stg 749 in UK. 37900 Baht in Thailand. (Prices for all models in both countries are on the Apple site) At current rate 55-ish, makes it around 3000 Baht cheaper in Thailand. Although if you can get a VAT refund on the UK one, that would then be become a little cheaper.

[toffo9]

Thanks Guys,,,

[tropo]

Thanks Guys,,,

If you buy a laptop in Thailand you'll be stuck with a messy keypad in Thai/English script. It's definitely not pretty and would have limited resale value in the UK. There is no option in Thailand for English only keypads.

This is the reason why I would never buy a laptop in Thailand.

If it's a popular model then perhaps you could find a replacement keypad in the UK.

[operator]

If you can wait till 22nd October you will get a computer with the new Windows 7 operating system. If you can't wait till then make sure you get an offer for a free upgrade to Windows 7.

[swain]

If you can wait till 22nd October you will get a computer with the new Windows 7 operating system. If you can't wait till then make sure you get an offer for a free upgrade to Windows 7.

Well... I would wait on windows 7... it will be bug central.... if past OS releases from Microsoft are any indication.

[tropo]

If you can wait till 22nd October you will get a computer with the new Windows 7 operating system. If you can't wait till then make sure you get an offer for a free upgrade to Windows 7.

From what I've seen, when you buy a laptop in Pattaya (Tukcom) the prices don't include the operating system. You don't end up with an OEM genuine OS. You choose if/what you want to load and if you choose the new Windows OS you'll be paying full price for it unless you want to use a pirated version.

This is another good reason why it is probably better value for money to buy in your home country.

I would guess most people use a pirated Windows Operating System.

Edited September 15, 2009 by tropo

[yogi100]

If you can wait till 22nd October you will get a computer with the new Windows 7 operating system. If you can't wait till then make sure you get an offer for a free upgrade to Windows 7.

Well... I would wait on windows 7... it will be bug central.... if past OS releases from Microsoft are any indication.

I bought one in Pattaya and have regretted it. Full of bugs and counterfeit software.

[Popscene]

Buy a dell in the UK from about £300 and have peace mind.

Put www1. before

euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/laptops_great_deals/fs.aspx?refid=laptops_great_deals&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&redirect=1

or have a look on hotukdeals,com for special offers

[PattayaParent]

The way the exchange rates are now, far better to buy a laptop in the U.K. Plus 15% or is it 17.5% VAT back at Heathrow airport.

Only if he's a non resident of UK.

My only personal experience of comparing prices between UK and Thailand is when I bought a laptop in UK and got the 17.5% VAT back on it. The exact same computer was 50 Quid cheaper in Panthip including the 7% Thai VAT.

Now I always buy from US where they're 30% cheaper than UK.

[tropo]

Now I always buy from US where they're 30% cheaper than UK.

How do you manage that? You travel to the US to buy or have them shipped to Thailand or UK?

[CHdiver]

If you can wait till 22nd October you will get a computer with the new Windows 7 operating system. If you can't wait till then make sure you get an offer for a free upgrade to Windows 7.

Well... I would wait on windows 7... it will be bug central.... if past OS releases from Microsoft are any indication.

Windows 7 is probably the best pretested Software Microsoft put on the market. I use Testversion on two computers with no problems for several month.

Great Software, will even buy the real stuff when my Testversion runs out.

[PattayaParent]

Now I always buy from US where they're 30% cheaper than UK.

How do you manage that? You travel to the US to buy or have them shipped to Thailand or UK?

Shipped to a mates address in USA and he hand carries over to Thailand.

[Pdavies99]

Hi there...without trying to be criticising, there are a few facts to be aware of..

Firstly Dell are a pain to repair in Thailand or the UK, the reason is that as they are a direct sales firm, you end up having to return faulty computers to Dell.

Next, in general universal parts such as hard drives and ram processors will not fit in a Dell, so you have to buy brand name Ram etc from Dell, which are about 3 times more expensive.

Vat in the Uk is now 15% and you will not get a refund of that amount as all sellers of computers, ie Tescos, Currys, PC World use an export agent who takes 6% of the vat amount as a charge, so you end up with a maximum of 9% less service charge.

Finally you are right that most computers sold in Thailand have counterfeit programmes, but if loaded and maintained correctly work pretty much as good as originals. (Have you ever tried downloading Microsoft updates? (Even in the UK many people turn them off)

It really ends up to what the exchange rates are and what you want...for Example, an Acer Aspire Widescreen, Intel Pentium Processor T4200 with 4 gb DDR memory and 320 gb HDD and Virtual surround costs currently £399 in Tescos and that cannot be beaten in Thailand, but 18 months ago, it was in comparison far cheaper in Thailand.

Finally Windows (7) have already announced that there will be no free upgrades.

Good luck

,

Buy a dell in the UK from about £300 and have peace mind.

Put www1. before

euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/laptops_great_deals/fs.aspx?refid=laptops_great_deals&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&redirect=1

or have a look on hotukdeals,com for special offers

Edited September 17, 2009 by Pdavies99

[tropo]

Now I always buy from US where they're 30% cheaper than UK.

How do you manage that? You travel to the US to buy or have them shipped to Thailand or UK?

Shipped to a mates address in USA and he hand carries over to Thailand.

Nice if you can do it. Impossible for most of us.

[wolf5370]

In the UK you will get more up to date hardware (graphics cards etc) - here DDR3 is the usual best graphics cards here - DDR5 are available in the UK for example (such parts can be sought here in Thailand for upgrade but they are much more expensive and limited to on-line as far as I have been able to find). You will get an OS, a decent warranty (that's worth something) and a stable burnt in machine.

In Thailand mostly you either go Linux, buy your own full price (OEM) copy of Vista/Xp etc or go pirate (and have all the update issues and blue screens that come with it). Warranties are often next to useless unless from goods stores like Acer, Sony or Apple. Dell is only for businesses, you have to go to Singapore for a Dell (and they try and get it into Thailand without paying import tax - throw away the packaging?). To top it all, you can get it cheaper in PC World than here.

No brainer me thinks.

[PattayaParent]

Hi there...without trying to be criticising, there are a few facts to be aware of..

Firstly Dell are a pain to repair in Thailand or the UK, the reason is that as they are a direct sales firm, you end up having to return faulty computers to Dell.

<snip>

My first hand experience with having a Dell repaired in Thailand.

1. A repair needed while under warranty. Dell Thailand were exceptionally helpful even though it was a model that is not available here and it has only US Warranty (one of the problems of buying from US). They sent out a technician to investigate the problem and gave me a report to send to Dell US so they would know exactly what needed fixing.

Unfortunately Dell US would not send the part to Thailand for them to repair so the machine had to go back to US, again hand carried by a mate, and returned in the same manner.

The customer support I received from Dell US was outstanding during my frequent contacts back and forth and my mate reported that the on site service of the repair was also excellent.

All in all a pleasant experince with Dell.

2. An out of warranty repair. I just took the machine to Tukcom and one of the shops there was able to fix it no problem.

[Pdavies99]

Well you basically answered my statement...Dell may be helpful but it had still to be sent away to be repaired,. It is nice to hear your positive comments, but the problem lies with the following facts...Dell Ram chips are smaller than other universal chips so you have to buy Dell chips which are not sold in TUC-com, likewise the hard drive is a special shape so universal replacements will not fit, and this goes with many common replacement parts, so good luck if you want to upgrade your Dell!

(For example; N.b. Acer warranty is world-wide)

As I said at outset I am not trying to criticise, I repair computers and understand the issues with direct sales Laptops not actively sold in computer shops etc.

i

Hi there...without trying to be criticising, there are a few facts to be aware of..

Firstly Dell are a pain to repair in Thailand or the UK, the reason is that as they are a direct sales firm, you end up having to return faulty computers to Dell. (

<snip>

My first hand experience with having a Dell repaired in Thailand.

1. A repair needed while under warranty. Dell Thailand were exceptionally helpful even though it was a model that is not available here and it has only US Warranty (one of the problems of buying from US). They sent out a technician to investigate the problem and gave me a report to send to Dell US so they would know exactly what needed fixing.

Unfortunately Dell US would not send the part to Thailand for them to repair so the machine had to go back to US, again hand carried by a mate, and returned in the same manner.

The customer support I received from Dell US was outstanding during my frequent contacts back and forth and my mate reported that the on site service of the repair was also excellent.

All in all a pleasant experince with Dell.

2. An out of warranty repair. I just took the machine to Tukcom and one of the shops there was able to fix it no problem.

Edited September 18, 2009 by Pdavies99

[PattayaParent]

Well you basically answered my statement...Dell may be helpful but it had still to be sent away to be repaired,. It is nice to hear your positive comments, but the problem lies with the following facts...Dell Ram chips are smaller than other universal chips so you have to buy Dell chips which are not sold in TUC-com, likewise the hard drive is a special shape so universal replacements will not fit, and this goes with many common replacement parts, so good luck if you want to upgrade your Dell!

(For example; N.b. Acer warranty is world-wide)

As I said at outset I am not trying to criticise, I repair computers and understand the issues with direct sales Laptops not actively sold in computer shops etc.

But if you bought a Dell in Thailand then they would do an on-site repair.

I have also had an Acer with a worldwide warranty that needed repair twice.

First time in warranty Acer came and picked it up and brought it back.

Second time out of warranty they didn't want to know, even I brought it to their service centre myself.

[barryofthailand]

All electronics are more expensive in Thailand. You can purchase any electronic item, LCD TV, Computer etc, with a world wide guarantee, and especially for computers I.T. City a nationwide company will repair most name brands. Personally I would stay away from Dell. HP products seem to be about the best performing and long lasting.

Barry

[Pdavies99]

Yes I agree, HP is a easy repair in general, so is Acer and Toshiba...I give up!! Some people just like to pick apart advice!

All electronics are more expensive in Thailand. You can purchase any electronic item, LCD TV, Computer etc, with a world wide guarantee, and especially for computers I.T. City a nationwide company will repair most name brands. Personally I would stay away from Dell. HP products seem to be about the best performing and long lasting.

Barry

[mickylonster]

All electronics are more expensive in Thailand. You can purchase any electronic item, LCD TV, Computer etc, with a world wide guarantee, and especially for computers I.T. City a nationwide company will repair most name brands. Personally I would stay away from Dell. HP products seem to be about the best performing and long lasting.

Barry

Hi , I bought my Asus laptop here in Bangkok, only to find the "microsoft xp " is a pirated copy , and every time I turn it on I get the on screen message " you may have been a victim of couterfeiting " with a resolve now message , which I ignore, and after 5 seconds am able to proceed to open "internet explorer " It would be a much wiser decision to buy in the UK, and probabely cheaper too !

[jasreeve17]

Hi there...without trying to be criticising, there are a few facts to be aware of..

Firstly Dell are a pain to repair in Thailand or the UK, the reason is that as they are a direct sales firm, you end up having to return faulty computers to Dell.

Next, in general universal parts such as hard drives and ram processors will not fit in a Dell, so you have to buy brand name Ram etc from Dell, which are about 3 times more expensive.

Vat in the Uk is now 15% and you will not get a refund of that amount as all sellers of computers, ie Tescos, Currys, PC World use an export agent who takes 6% of the vat amount as a charge, so you end up with a maximum of 9% less service charge.

Finally you are right that most computers sold in Thailand have counterfeit programmes, but if loaded and maintained correctly work pretty much as good as originals. (Have you ever tried downloading Microsoft updates? (Even in the UK many people turn them off)

It really ends up to what the exchange rates are and what you want...for Example, an Acer Aspire Widescreen, Intel Pentium Processor T4200 with 4 gb DDR memory and 320 gb HDD and Virtual surround costs currently £399 in Tescos and that cannot be beaten in Thailand, but 18 months ago, it was in comparison far cheaper in Thailand.

Finally Windows (7) have already announced that there will be no free upgrades.

Good luck

,

Buy a dell in the UK from about £300 and have peace mind.

Put www1. before

euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/laptops_great_deals/fs.aspx?refid=laptops_great_deals&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&redirect=1

or have a look on hotukdeals,com for special offers

Nonsense.

I've 2 Dells bought in BKK.

Excellent service and support - phone and onsite (at home). [For the missus who is always trying her hardest to break her laptop...]

Had an Acer - awful support - I had to take it to their site and wait for ages for repair. I had a Sony, had to be sent away for repair (like every other manufacturer...).

From my experience (as an ex-electronic engineer [working onsite for a couple of my younger years]too...) Dells are exceptional computers with great online, telephone and onsite support. Anyone arguing against buying a Dell in Thailand for these reasons is giving awful advice...

Actually a funny story from last week - the missus was complaining to the Dell telephone support that her microphone wasn't working. They tried to help her for over an hour; checking settings and downloading drivers, asking her what s/w she has downloaded... to no avail, so they planned to come to have a look the next morning. When I got home she told me about the problem, so we did a quick skype call, to test - her mike was awful, sounded like Donald Duck. Mmmm, sounded like Donald Duck, and I know she likes to download video and audio effects; indeed she'd got some audio effects s/w and left it switched to 'Donald Duck' mode...

[PattayaParent]

BUT jasreeve, will the Dell bought in Thailand come with an international warranty as I think the OP will be taking it back to UK?