Job Discussion Forums

Gawain · Joined: 26 Jan 2005 Posts: 66 Location: California

Plan to globetrot as EFL teacher in Argentina, Bolivia, Korea, China, Prague. Addicted to Internet and email. Plan to live in cheap rooms prone to burglary.

Ideally I want a dirt-cheap laptop (used?), maybe US$300, that way if it gets stolen I won't freak out, just buy another one.

In California now, new laptops are still over US$1,000. Shocked

Should I just fly to Argentina without one, then shop in Buenos Aires for dirt-cheap reliable laptop new or used? Any advice?

I heard places like Taiwan and Japan, that export tons of laptops, ironically have laptops more expensive than USA.

What do you think? Laptops cheaper overseas, or harder to get?

nomadamericana · Joined: 18 Dec 2004 Posts: 146 Location: Minneapolis, MN

Don't buy it in Argentina... Electronics are VERY expensive there... about double to triple the price. And laptops are not as comon there as they are in the US yet and would likely be VERY expensive.
I would probably buy a used one or very low end new one in the US before you go.

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

From my observations both in Indonesia and here in Mexico, it's difficult to buy cheap used laptops; people hang onto them until they are outdated or have reliability issues. Used desktops are a completely different story: they're very easy to buy in both countries.

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

Used laptops in Japan will almost certainly have a Japanese OS and would not be worth it in my opinion. Bring your own and load it with programs that you want.