Job Discussion Forums

nuchie · Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2004 9:33 am Post subject: Notebook/Laptop Advise

Hi
Just thinking of buying a laptop and if anyone can give me an advice where to buy a reasonable price with english OS.
And would it work in Australia if I take it back home?
do I just need a transformer or something?

Cheers!

shmooj · Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1758 Location: Seoul, ROK

A laptop will work worldwide but you'll need to get an adaptor for the plug differences.

Where you are in Japan might sway what advice we can give as it will show us what is reachable from where you are.

nuchie · Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 5:34 am Post subject:

I'm in Osaka

If I buy a japanese version OS laptop can I just later back home install an English Version OS?
I've heard Sony Vaio models doesnt allow this conversion with their laptops?

Nismo · Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 520

I have a sharp mebius laptop. I got it with Japanese version Windows XP. I formatted and installed English Windows XP and it won't recognize the graphics card fully, everything else works fine. It's an annoying problem, and I would suggest purchasing a laptop with English version of Windows XP so you know it works.

I'm just giving up on Windows entirely and buying a Powerbook.

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

I have a Toshiba Satellite with an English keyboard and OS. I bought it from a store in Osaka, they always have ads in the Daily Yomiuri. It is the Toshiba store. Works great.

nuchie · Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 5:50 am Post subject:

Im choosing between Sony Vaio English Version or Toshiba Dynabook, Dell?
dont know which model yet.
my price range is below 200,000 yen

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

IMO, go for the Dell or the Toshiba. Sony (Vaio) and Sharp (Mebius) are notorious for producing not-quite-standard, even completely proprietary products.

A friend of mine bought a Vaio recently in Akihabara -- it's driving him APE because of Sony's proprietary (and extra, expensive $$$) attachment required to output the display to a regular TV...

Steer clear of products that don't follow standards. If you want a good deal, check out Prime PC. I know many people who've done business with them. They seem to be quite reliable -- and you can get fully English OS and keyboard too. (Of course you can ALSO do Japanese, but it's not as annoying because all your menu functions and Windows messages are in English)...

Good luck.

DoctorPayne · Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 7:01 am Post subject:

What about a Mac? I am thinking about getting a iMac myself since Windows and Microsoft related products really annoy me. Also, I have had good experiences with them in the past.

I have also heard that Macs are popular in Japan, can anyone vouch for this uneducated and ignorant supposition?

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

Macs are a beautiful thing. But aside from the fact that they cost a fair bit more than their PC counterparts, I have absolutely no idea what's involved in anglicizing a Mac. Given that ther hardware (other than the keyboard) is the same, I would tend to guess that the best solution would be to get an English mac in the first place. I would also venture to guess that you'd likely be able to order one directly from Apple (or your favorite Japanese electronicas retailer) for no additional cost... If not,l it's probably only a phone call or e-mail away to ask Apple directly whether or not it's possible to swap out the Japanese OS with an English version.

tokyorabbit · Joined: 15 Feb 2004 Posts: 30 Location: Tokyo, Japan

If you need a Windows system, I think Tokyo IT Services in Kamiyacho has pretty good deals on laptops with English software.

http://www.tokyo-it.com/index2.html

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

P.S. Yes. Macs are more popular in Japan. I can walk over to my local (denki) shop like Kojima, Yamada Denki, Nojima, etc.. etc... and check out the "Mac" section. Good selection too.

In Canada, when I walked into Future Shop and asked to see a Mac, they laughed at me. 　(Actually, I worked for Future Shop. We had all of 1 iMac and 1 1Book on display, and about 3 somewhere in the back sitting in boxes). Not only was I the only one who tried to (and succeeded) to sell any of them, I was the only one who did not dump insults and show open contempt to the Apple rep who came in on occasion to merchanidize the products (or lack, thereof) and help sell the things to customers. I guess that's why I ended up with some dope Mac merchanidise (like a quality T-shirt with a Mac logo on it) and everyone else in the store got squat. Wink

I really like Mac. I used to do graphics design and desktop publishing. It was the shiz. I just can't afford to have one. Sad

But I'll tell you.. If/WHEN they EVER force me to switch my WIN2K to XP (or God forbit what comes after that) I WILL save my coins and I WILL buy Mac and never look back...

Heh... That even rhymed. ;-P

homersimpson · Joined: 14 Feb 2003 Posts: 569 Location: Kagoshima

Nuchie,
With your budget (>�200,000) you should have no problem finding plenty of notebooks/laptops. Toshiba Direct (you have to do a search; sorry don't know the website), a place called "user's side," and dell all sell computers with English versions of the dreaded Windows. If you want a Mac I would advise against the Apple Store Japan because the price is too high. I recently bought a Mac iBook and got it from amazon.co.jp. Amazon has really good prices on both Windows- and Macs-based machines. The nice thing about Mac is that, despite the Japanese-based software, when you install your operating system it lets you choose English as the installation language.

shmooj · Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1758 Location: Seoul, ROK

I had a Sharp Mebius and it stank. Real badly put together piece of junk. THey may have improved but I doubt it. I now have a FMV Biblio by Fujitsu. Runs nicely but it is badly put together. My speakers died after a couple of years and the clip that holds the lid down snapped.

I'd go with the Dell. Vaios are for poor little rich boys IMHO - quite pricey for what you get. Dell are worldwide standard business machines so they have a reputation to keep up. Sony doesn't.

Funny you should ask about installing Japanese OS over English as I did that last weekend finally on the Fujitsu I bought in Japan years ago. Worked fine but you have to start up and press F2 to get into the BIOS, select the Boot menu and then set it to Boot from CD. Insert your new version CD and then just press F10 to save and quit to go into installation mode. XP did really well. I didn't need to install a single driver though I had the disks. No worries.

aziraphale · Joined: 11 Feb 2003 Posts: 12 Location: Yokohama, Japan

... It's better to buy from a company that specializes in English computers. That way your machine's BIOS will also be in English. I work at a school as Tech Support, and our older machines have the Japanese BIOS. I've flashed most of them to English now, or just memorized the menu sequence (also, my katakana reading has improved), but when I first started out, I dreaded having to touch those machines.

Someone else mentioned PrimePC, and I can second that. I recently bought a new desktop from them, and not only was it cheap, but it arrived quickly, and continues to perform well. The cheap keyboard it came with was a dud reminiscent of the C64 keyboards in terms of clunkiness, but I soon replaced it.

Good luck!

DoctorPayne · Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 5:00 am Post subject:

Actually, if you want a new iBook, they are just as cheap these days as pc laptops. I'm going for the 12" version which is only about $12-1500 CAD depending on what kind of add-ons you want. The 15" models will run closer to two large though...and you can get them at Best Buy now. Future Shop are on the PC-take.