Job Discussion Forums

[britishsummertime]

Any advice re. this? Is it more expensive to purchase over there than the UK? Any technical issues to consider regarding this? Thanks in advance.

[Commenter]

Tech stuff in Saudi usually works out at about the same price as the UK, or ever so slightly cheaper.

Most of the major electronics stores (Jarir Bookstore, eXtra, etc) usually have exactly the same price for the same products, so there's not usually any benefit in shopping around.

You can also get laptops from the main supermarkets (Panda, Carrefour, Danube, etc), but there usually isn't much difference in price here, either.

There is quite a wide range to choose from, and most of the products are brand new models.

If you do buy in Saudi, I'd only really say that you need to make sure that you get an English version of Windows (or whatever OS you prefer).

[It's Scary!]

And, don't forget...Saudi tends to the the dumping spot of crap electronics and refurbs. It might be brand name, but my Acer was a piece of dookie!

It's maddening at times!

[Commenter]

Acer have never had a reputation for making good quality electronics, no matter where you buy them from.

Acer products are relatively cheap, and there's a reason for it.

There's also a reason why Sony, Apple and Toshiba products, for examole, are generally more expensive.

[DeApple]

Purchasing any electronics in Saudi is cheaper than Europe because of two main things the lack of VAT, very high in some countries like the UK (19.5%) or Germany (19%) and non existant import-export taxes.

I as well as most of my colleagues shopped around and bought a digital camera in Panda (cheapest and best offers you can get if you can wait for it) a printer, several small appliances (i.e. toasters, iron, etc).

Also I had an Acer laptop from Europe which handles multimedia wonderfully and got another Acer Netbook there to travel, only problem you have to reset the software to work from Arabic to English and remember your keyboard will always be in Arabic

[blackwellben]

[veiledsentiments]

[It's Scary!]

[veiledsentiments]

I always bought my laptops in the US because they were cheaper than anywhere else I priced them, but I can't speak for UK prices.

As to the Gulf being a dumping ground, there were always cheap outdated computers available, but there were also the newest. The ones sold in the Gulf and the ones sold in the US were and are almost certainly produced in the same factories so the only difference would be marketing software.

VS

[Commenter]

Acer makes the shoddiest laptops, according to IT professionals
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/hiner/acer-makes-the-shoddiest-laptops-according-to-it-professionals/5721


Reliability: Asus and Toshiba on top, Acer and HP trail behind
http://www.digitalversus.com/reliability-asus-and-toshiba-on-top-acer-and-hp-trail-behind-news-11992.html

[simonenglish]

Toshiba beats Acer and Asus hands down for me. Build quality and monitor was much better on the Toshiba..

[veiledsentiments]

I've owned quite a few Toshibas... and their service went totally down the toilet. All of my Toshibas had fan problems... they decided after replacing two keyboards on my last laptop that they didn't replace keyboards under the warranty anymore (2nd one in two years - same problem - all the writing disappeared on the keys... so I tossed it in the trash). After I decided to never buy another one, my favorite techie pointed me to Acer as cheaper and more dependable. YMMV... and every techie and IT professional has his favorites. But, I've never had to even get in touch with Acer tech service. No hardware problems - just the usual Microsoft crap.

VS

[Betrayer of Hope]

I found laptops to be expensive in Saudi. I was able to find better deals in Canada. In general, the market in North America for laptops is much greater than in Saudi, hence better prices. North Americans get more bang for their buck.

I'm quite surprised to hear that laptops in UK are nearly the same price as in Saudi.
As far as laptop brands are concerned. I've always been a Dell boy, not a Bell boy
I have three Dell laptops, and they are all running fine.

[Middle East Beast]

[walkin to the future]

How about buying a PS3 in Saudi Arabia?