Job Discussion Forums

[shoosh]

Hey everyone.

I had a quick question after reading some posts on here. I always assumed it would be cheaper to buy things like laptops and other electronics in Japan simply because everything seems to be made there.

More specifically, I figured that if I were to buy a laptop here (in Ontario, Canada) I could buy the same thing in Japan for a lot cheaper just because they are supposedly a lot further ahead of us in Japan. Is this true?

One other thing, I really want to teach in Japan because I am most interested in this country. I love playing video games so I wondered if I should bring a video game system of mine to help pass time away if I ever have moments where I'm at home just relaxing, or is it cheaper to get a PS2 or PS3 in Japan? part of me is thinking it would be a lot cheaper to get this stuff in Japan, but another part of me thinks if it were that much cheaper wouldn't everyone just order this kind of stuff from Japan and have it shipped to their homes in Canada?

ANy info is appreciated. Thank you.

[markle]

If you can afford it I would get your laptop before coming since you won't save much. Also you avoid all the OS language/ keyboard headaches. Not many computers are made here anymore it's all in China and SEA.

As for the console the biggest issue is region specification and again language. Bring your own and enough games to tide you over.

[Chris21]

Laptops are way cheaper in Canada. They might be Japanese companies but they're made in China, and priced for each local market. So Japanese laptops are considerably more... I was shocked the last time I went to Canada and saw how much laptops have come down in price lately.

As for PS2 and PS3, not only are they just as expensive (or more) here, and not only are the games in Japanese... you'll have limited availability. They don't carry the same titles over here, and the titles that they do carry are often delayed. I don't know if you're a GTA fan, but it took more than a year for GTA: Vice City to get released in Japan.

[Khyron]

[Chris21]

As an owner of an American PS2, I can tell you that it doesn't play Japanese games or DVDs.

[Sour Grape]

[ghostrider]

I'm having the same problem right now.

If you want one cheaper and want the English XP preinstalled, get one here.

If you want a Japanese keyboard, don't mind paying a bit more for the same specs (or the same for lower specs), and have an extra copy of XP in English, get one in Japan. That fits me, except that I can't afford to pay much more.

Japan isn't anymore ahead or behind on computer specs. There are more options from Japan based laptop manufacturers in Japan of course, and fewer from American based companies like HP...and vice versa. For example, Sony just released a new line of VAIO's a few days ago that have not been updated in the US yet. I also think you'll find more ultraportables in Japan and more 17"+ laptops in North America at least that's what I gathered from shopping/researching online.

[Willy_In_Japan]

I got tired of the "Aren't electronics cheaper in Japan?" question, when I mentioned to people that I bought a video camera in Canada. Even at the customs where I got it checked for my GST refund. I ignored the question since they wouldnt believe me that there was no advantage and just said "Well, I don't read Japanese very well.......Id rather have a camera in English"......"oh!" was the response.

When I was in Canada, after tax, I got a Nintendo DS lite cheaper than I can get them for here. I bought 25 verbatim DVD-R's for 8 dollars...16X speed, first rate quality discs. I got 100 TDK 16 X DVD-R's for 20 dollars on sale......ive not come close to anywhere those prices for DVD-Rs here. Also, got a pocket Western Digital 120 gig USB drive for about 140 dollars after tax. In Japan, those things are more money.

I hear that you can buy a Mac Mini IMac in Canada for 600 dollars. I think that the price I saw at Bic was about 75,000.......hardly a bargain. Even with the drop in the Yen, electronics are the same if not more here it seems to me.

[Neongene]

I'm definatley buying my laptop before I go, not only cuase you can get a decent setup for about 800 dollars but I can't exactly read japanese and the keyboard issues would be a bit much as already previous stated in the posts above.

I've stopped playing videos games becuase to me there are a huge distraction, I still love video games, in fact I pine for them all the time but I don't think bringing a game system with you is practical.

If you do. You should be able to buy english games from amazon and just have them mailed to you

[shoosh]

Wow I thought it really would be cheaper to get electronics in Japan or China seeing how it's all made in that area. Instruction manuals wouldn't be a problem because when you buy them here they usually come in multiple languages. I assumed when you bought stuff in Japan it would be the same idea. But I've heard from people, and have read on here, that it's somewhat common to be walking down the streets on garbage day or something and you see stuff like stereos and tvs and stuff like that sitting on the curb because electronics are so common there. People that buy the newer models have nothing to do with the old so they get rid of them. I think I even remember seeing a post saying that this is how some foreigners get some of their electronics. Now this sounded far-fetched to me for a number of reasons, but I still thought maybe it was possible.

As for the laptop I guess it makes sense that the computers would be priced differently for each market. However I have heard of some people I know that said they got stuff in Japan cheaper than what they would have paid for it here (ie. digital cameras, cell phones, computers in some cases). I'm not worried about the Windows XP being in Japanese. I'm familiar enough with computers that I can easily install my own copy of winXP. The keyboard is not a huge issue as it wouldn't be too difficult to set it up for english and just have stickers (or memorize) what the english letters are. So it seems buying a laptop in Canada is really more of a convenience here. It will save me some work so I guess that problem has been solved.

As for the consoles all of mine are modded so they will play stuff from all regions. The only thing I'm worried about I guess is that to bring my PS2 let's say with a small stack of games would take up valuable space in my luggage. I think that I'll just get a laptop that will be good enough for gaming. As long as it plays World of Warcraft without a problem I will be totally fine I would hope I wouldn't be spending much time playing games there anyway. I would rather be seeing the country.

Thanks for the help everyone as I consider these issues to have been resolved now. I can breathe a little easier