Korean Job Discussion Forums

[joltaxt]

Hello. My laptop recently broke and I'm going to Korea soon to work (Seoul) and I was wondering, since I plan on buying an Apple laptop, should I buy it in the States or in Korea? Is it going to be cheaper in one country?

Also, I'm assuming in Korea it would come in Korean not English, my friend bought a laptop in Japan and they charged him a rediculous amount of an English-ready one. Don't know if anyone knows anything about that but I thought I'd mention it.

It's not a problem either way. I can always have it shipped from my home country. Thanks a lot.

[kimchi girl]

You choose the language of the system when you do the initial set-up of the laptop on a mac. The keyboard will have Korean characters, though. The only other two issues you'll encounter are the 220v vs 110v, and the DVD player will be of a different region--- but I believe you can change the region twice, but I might be confused/wrong on that.

Best bet is go to the Apple.com and apple korea websites. You'll know the local sales tax etc in your home state, so figure out the total price. The prices on the Korean site include tax. Do a conversion to see which is cheaper. Only difference is you might be able to haggle here, but I don't know that for sure. So if it's cheaper in the US by even 40 bucks, best to buy it there.

I just did a quick check and the best listed 13" macbookpro is 2.15 million here and 1500 US. 2.15 million is about 1900. So if the tax in your home state would have to be about 25 or 26% to come to 1900 bucks. Definitely cheaper to buy it in the US, I would think.

FYI, you can buy a simple plug adaptor to plus the 110 into the 220 Korean outlets. Laptops are dual voltage, so it's safe.

[furtakk]

buy it at home. apple stuff is overpriced here.

[Murakano]

[joltaxt]

Yea he didn't buy a Mac he bought a Sony so maybe it was different.

Anyways, looks like I'll be purchasing in the States, thanks guys

[machellebelle]

Though I know you're asking about buying-- a word of advice about the Certified Apple Repair centers-- I got mine fixed at the one by COEX, and they royally screwed my CD drive. I had my Korean-speaking friend with me, so there wasn't a translation problem, but they did a shitty job of fixing it, and so now it doesn't work at all-- no burning, no reading, nothing-- so when I returned to the US and tried to see what I could do, as it was fixed while under warranty, and is no longer under warranty, they told me that they couldn't do anything about it except charge me to fix it.

[kinerry]

[Mr. Pink]

buy your mac in the states. The prices for macbooks in Korea atm are WAY over priced. Also don't worry about voltage, the laptops come with a universal voltage adapter.

Buy your apple care in Korea though, it was cheaper there.

Also, COEX service center isn't that bad, but the guy is right. My superdrive doesn't burn discs. I brought my macbook in due to a dead HD and it comes back with a new HD but superdrive doesn't work. They held it for almost 2 weeks too. I don't know what to do now, I need my notebook.