Where To Buy A Laptop

[ltdknowledge]

Hello everyone,

Sure this subject has been covered countless time.

I'm due to return to Thailand next week and having sold my 2 laptops here in the UK which are 3 years old and need some attention, i've diceded to buy a new one.

Should i buy here in the UK baring in mind i will be in Thailand for some time, or should i buy in Thailand and are the prices any cheaper. Alternatively would it save me to buy in the Duty free on my way over.

I know this is boring but what makes should i look at. My previos ones where Packard Bell & HP. I have a budget of £500-700.

Many Thanks

[britmaveric]

I'd buy one in the UK - prices aren't that good in thailand, and specs aren't in line with what you would get in UK.

[lung]

I'd buy one in the UK - prices aren't that good in thailand, and specs aren't in line with what you would get in UK.

really ??

[britmaveric]

I thought might be cheap myself took at look at Tucom and well I was a bit gutted.

[lung]

ever been in pantip ?

in some shop's in there without paying VAT.

and the newest stuff there.... and you get a half-thai-keyboard

but ok... i'm not english

Edited October 23, 2006 by lung

[meatgrowler]

Hello everyone,

Sure this subject has been covered countless time.

I'm due to return to Thailand next week and having sold my 2 laptops here in the UK which are 3 years old and need some attention, i've diceded to buy a new one.

Should i buy here in the UK baring in mind i will be in Thailand for some time, or should i buy in Thailand and are the prices any cheaper. Alternatively would it save me to buy in the Duty free on my way over.

I know this is boring but what makes should i look at. My previos ones where Packard Bell & HP. I have a budget of £500-700.

Many Thanks

i was gonna do the same,i checked out pantip in bangkok,mmm didnt seem much cheaper and most were made by benq,i really wanted a toshiba, as ive heard they made top laptops..i bought 1 when i got back to old blighty £650,its the nuts and im on it now.......

[youngkiwi]

There are numerous shops in Pantip offering good prices on notebook computers. I would recommend an IBM notebook but they are a bit hard to find. HP and Acer seem the most common in Thailand.

[BlackArtemis]

Buy outside of the country. My Dell 17inch truelife screen w/ p. M 2.0, 2 gigs of memory and 256m geforce 6800 go can sell for $300-400 more in Thailand than it can in the US... In fact I probally will sell it once vista starts comming shipped.

The short: Buy from home, Thailand is overpriced.

[jezchesters]

Buy outside of the country. My Dell 17inch truelife screen w/ p. M 2.0, 2 gigs of memory and 256m geforce 6800 go can sell for $300-400 more in Thailand than it can in the US... In fact I probally will sell it once vista starts comming shipped.

The short: Buy from home, Thailand is overpriced.

Agreed...

It may be an idea to look at an Acer with international warranty - they're manufactured here so if you do have any problems, you should be able to get them fixed quickly rather than having to send the laptop overseas...

[youngkiwi]

I would have to disagree. Thailand notebook prices are not that overpriced. There are some very good deals available if you shop around. A friend of mine brought an IBM R51 machine from Pantip a week weeks back for 23500 baht on promotion.

The large IT shops such as IT City tend to have elevated prices and hold older model stock. Try and find a smaller supplier who is more focused on delivering more personal service.

I wouldn't get an Acer machine - you're buying trouble. They have had problems with their batteries and charging systems from my experience. HP have had problems with their cases (chipping and easily scratching).

[jezchesters]

To each their own...

A friend of mine just bought a new laptop from Pantip and had to take it back the following day due to it having a pirated version of XP, and being virus ridden. This was meant to be a brand new machine...

I, personally, have never had any problems with Acer products, but I guess its down to personal preference. All I was pointing out was that, should something go wrong, you are more likely to have a local Acer shop that can do the job quicker than with other manufacturers...

I researched price comparisons between LOS and the UK (including Pantip's prices) and found the UK to be marginally cheaper. I'm told that KL/Singapore/Jakarta are cheaper than either. I guess that it just boils down to where you're coming/going - obviously it would be stupid to spend more on an airfare than you would save on the product...

[youngkiwi]

Notebook computers are cheaper in Singapore but not significantly. There is more range and it makes it even more difficult to choose. In Singapore, Sim Lim Square (on the top levels) is where the reputable dealers reside.

As far as international warranties are concerned, you cannot beat the support of IBM which I have always found to be extremely rapid at all service centre locations.

[penguin]

A friend of mine just bought a new laptop from Pantip and had to take it back the following day due to it having a pirated version of XP, and being virus ridden. This was meant to be a brand new machine...

It's always worth looking if you can at the Thailand website for the brand you want before you buy to check if XP is included. If for example Acer say you only get Linux (this is true for most of their cheap notebooks) but some small shop is selling it with XP then be careful. I've even seen some department stores selling 15k baht desktops with XP Pro running.

I was in a True shop the other day and had to laugh when l saw a pop-up from Microsoft advising that the copy of Windows on the laptop being used for one of their music download promotions was not genuine.

[Casanundra]

My advice: Get it from the UK!

Why?

Prices are comparable to Thailand with no real difference and secondly worldwide warranty is likely to be honoured if bought from back in the UK.

Don't forget that consumer protection here is pretty naff to say the least and almost every PC my friends have ever bought here in Thailand has had to go back for one thing or another within the first few months. Also take note, most receipts that I have seen here seem to have 'refunds not available' stamped on them especially if you have paid for it with a credit card.

[ltdknowledge]

My advice: Get it from the UK!

Why?

Prices are comparable to Thailand with no real difference and secondly worldwide warranty is likely to be honoured if bought from back in the UK.

Don't forget that consumer protection here is pretty naff to say the least and almost every PC my friends have ever bought here in Thailand has had to go back for one thing or another within the first few months. Also take note, most receipts that I have seen here seem to have 'refunds not available' stamped on them especially if you have paid for it with a credit card.

Thanks for the advice folks. Just been looking at Dell in the UK and the direct prices seem to be reasonable. Is duty free not worth considering. Suppose if i buy in from a UK shop i can check it before i come over to Thailand.

[lung]

i have check 5 notebooks and in my homecountry (europe)

they exactly DOUBLE price. and without wireless.

acer give's 3 year warranty!

[youngkiwi]

Be careful if purchasing a Dell. They have had a major worldwide recall on notebook batteries. Personally I find the Dell machines to be cosmetically unappealing as well, but they are a better bet than buying an Acer.

IBM and Toshiba remain the premium brands and have dominated the high end corporate market for years.

[britmaveric]

Majority of notebooks have recalls on batteries not just dell. Apparently sony sort of makes most of the batteries.

[youngkiwi]

The most serious recall of notebook batteries has been Dell, followed by Acer. This is not to say their products are bad, however the bulk of their machines have been built to meet the needs of entry level buyers.

For example, many of these low range machines share video RAM with the main system RAM. I have seen this repeatedly on Acer machines. Most buyers (who are not technically savvy) would not know this, or would overlook this consideration. The majority of the IBM and Toshiba machines I have worked on have separate video RAM.

With the cost of notebook computers having fallen considerably over the past year, a good quality IBM or Toshiba machine is within the reach of entry level buyers which may have otherwise been steered towards an Acer, Dell or HP machine.