Buying a laptop in China, recommendations?

[abcdefg]

@Sujeto -- #40 -- How long will you be in Houston? If you are only changing planes at the airport, the considerations are different from if you are spending a night there.

 

The latter would be much better for three reasons:

 

1. You then would have time to visit more than one store. You mentioned Fry's. Some shopping malls have a Fry's and a Best Buy almost side by side.

2. You would have time to start up the new laptop back at your hotel and be sure there were no problems right out of the box. You could make sure it was not defective and needed to be immediately returned to the store.

3. You would have time to download and install any additional software that you might want. You would get the English versions of those programs, which might not be the case if you waited until you got to China to do that.

[sujeto]

abcdefg i will be there from 1 pm to 1 am according to the fligth plan, unless i request the travel agency to stay a couple of days in USA  wich would be cool but also expensive since i'll have to look for an  hotel. However i'm quite considering also.

[imron]

Will the airport also have a Duty-Free section?  You mentioned maybe getting a macbook and the airports I've been through recently all have Apple laptops on display (but I didn't check prices).  If nothing else it might be worth stopping by there first and compare prices with that of Fry's.

[sujeto]

imron i don't like apples, i migth be buying either a MSI Ghost, Dell XPS 15, Samsung ATIV book 9, etc. Do you know if US airport demand to use suitcase without padlock ?

[abcdefg]

Do you know if US airport demand to use suitcase without padlock ?

 

You must use a "TSA Lock." It's a lock (usually a combination lock) that can be opened by TSA (Transportation Security Administration) staff using a universal key.

 

Search Amazon using "TSA Luggage Lock" as your key words to find examples.

[imron]

imron i don't like apples

Fair enough, I only brought it up because you mentioned them earlier as a possible option.

 

For what it's worth, in the Ultralight category (which you also mentioned you were interested in), it's tough to beat macbooks on a price for similarly spec'ed machines and you can always install Windows on them if you don't like the OS.

[vincetan]

For your advice is you better purchase online from official website. Such like dell or HP. If you purchase via US website is much more cheaper than you purchased in China. Try to purchase out of China. This is my advice.

[sujeto]

Nah. Cancelled my scale fligth trougth Houston. Stupid US government denied me a Visa. Maybe they think having a Bsc i want to stay in USA serving Whoppers at burger king, as i said "Paranoids" . I'm travelling now trough France with Air France. What a silly that almost 500 years later we have to take the older Marco Polo Silk Route.

[Lu]

Yeah, they must be completely crazy to think that a young unmarried man with a decent education and good English would think his chances in the US are better than in his home country and thus is statistically a pretty high risk of staying in the US illegally :-/ It sucks that you've been denied a visa, especially because in your case it's completely unwarranted and only makes things difficult, and I sympathise. But do you honestly think that it's overly paranoid?

Well, fortunately there are computer shops in Paris as well. You can consider buying a laptop there.

[sujeto]

It's funny that you mentioned, I belong to a middle professional class, my parents are Lawyers why would i change a promising future in China vs a fugitive life in the "big brother". I mean i'm not that hurry for pulling the tail to Mickey Mouse. No, this gotta be related with the awfull relationship between our govs. Anyway, thanks everybody for your inputs. see you soon.

[Simon_CH]

Just a quick note, France is not great for buying electronics either, but I suppose you have no choice.

[sujeto]

??? Guys, i'm sorry but i'm not getting your position. You say america is the only place to buy things, neither Asia, neither Europe, much less Africa, but then US Gov just denied me a simple tourist visa. So must i understand i shouldn't even buy anything, and just stay in my country and do nothing... Seems legit.

[tysond]

Your original plan was USA so people gave advice based on that... 

 

In Asia, Hong Kong is probably the best place to buy electronics due to low taxes, fierce competition.  Most Chinese people prefer to buy their goods there if they can.

The prices there are quite competitive and almost as good as USA.   But if you aren't going through there you need to work with what you have.

 

You still have many options -- buy before you go, buy duty free in an airport, try to use tourist refund/duty refund, or buy when you arrive.

 

Like was said earlier, if you are going to Shanghai should be able to buy OK, the retail scene is well developed.  Harbin I think might be hard.  

[sujeto]

Ok tysond, i think i will give a try to Shanghai once i install myself in university, i migth ask help to administrative staff to guide me where to buy good stuffs, France is also unknown for me. Saddly, cost of US visa process arent refundable. BTW, Chinese President is visiting my country very soon, i migth ask him to give me a raid in his presidential airplaine

[Vivi MENG]

Laptop in China is cheaper than the UK, but more expensive than the US or HongKong. If you're sure to buy one in China, just ask help to one of your tutors or schoolmates(better be a male), I think they'd love to help. Just don't go to retail store alone, you may be charged more. 

[sujeto]

Ok Vivi i will do, i hope everything goes good. I didn't know in China were that hard to buy stuffs, may i ask, are there too many scammers in China? I just recieved today the news, i'm not goin Shanghai but Harbin

[Vivi MENG]

 

 

I didn't know in China were that hard to buy stuffs, may i ask, are there too many scammers in China?

Haha, It's not hard to buy stuffs in China. There are several online shops where are reliable to buy laptop with good price, such as Jingdong, Suning, Guomei. But it's a long story to tell you how to select products on them. As a newcomer, you better be cautious and have someone help you. Better safe than sorry. Scammers in China is more than that in the UK I think, especially in laptop selling, but I don't know about other countries. But please don't worry, I think 'charge more' is the only trick to foreigners, local people face more challenges. 

[MoTzu]

Judging from the attitude in your messges, your level of computer knowledge and your knowledge of the way things work in China do yourself a MASSIVE favour and buy one before you come here.

[MoTzu]

lol I just noticed you're coming to Harbin now, I still HIGHLY recommend you buy one before you come into the country, but if for some reason you get here without buying one hit me up when you get to Harbin and I can probably arrange to get a chinese speaker to go shopping with you. Don't expect to be able to come here and pick one up cheap though, even with a chinese speaker helping, and like the others have said if you buy one with an english OS it will more than likely be pirated

[sujeto]

Thank you Motzu I'll give you a call once in Harbin. I still have faith in Harbin for buying a Lap. Problem is, in Venezuela there are not good options or are REALLY expensive to buy, in terms of technology development, I think China is way better than Venezuela, of course, USA is the pinnacle, but as mentioned am not allowed to go there.

 

Lastnight I went to the " Tech Center" of Caracas, supposedly harboring the top technoogy, all what I found is a lot of Chinese garbage and Knock off Samsungs at skyrocketed prices. For this instance I migth better try in China itself.

 

Whith luck, somebody in Harbin could take me to a Genuine Samsung, Asus, or MSI store in Harbin., It really does't matter If prices seems a bit high, it would't be never the same than my country.

 

Certainly, I'll be in France - Paris for 3 hours but I dont think I'll be able to buy stuffs, being bussy preparing myself for get the next airplane.

 

Motzu, I can still Install a new OS in English by myself, I already own a Genuine Windows 7 for this purpose.