Korean Job Discussion Forums

ophelia · Joined: 03 Feb 2006

I'm looking to buy a PC laptop in the near future. Is there a superior brand to get in korea? what should i look out for? this will sound stupid, but is the technology compatible with north american standards?

keithinkorea · Joined: 17 Mar 2004

Of course it is comparable in terms of quality, most 'American' products are built in Taiwan and China anyway

It is just that pricewise you'd probably get a much better deal in NA, plus you can get an international warranty. In Korea most products don't have an international warranty.

NA is pretty cheap for stuff like that from what I've heard, Korea is similar prices to the UK. Electronics are not a bargain here. Tarrifs are to blame.

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

Look up and check the sticky faq on laptops in Korea. In short, you won't find any deals on laptops in Korea. However, your laptop will work in Korea.

keithinkorea · Joined: 17 Mar 2004

Regarding standards. Make sure to flip the switch on the comps power supply. A friend of mine recently damaged-fu)8ked his computer by just plugging it in without flicking the voltage switch down!

He's a computer science grad, so why I should I need to give to give him advice? I dont know! Anyway it did cause smoke to be emitted! lol

You shouldn't have a degree if you're that bloody thick anyway!

Use google and friendly, non geek sites for advice.

You're better of buying a laptop in NA. But for comfort you might as well get a decent bespoke system built here.

Bulsajo · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

Bulsajo · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

Bulsajo · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

Ophelia,

Other than to say "follow Mindmetoo's advice"...

Yes, they are completely compatible with North America (LAN, wireless, and modem standards are the same) save for the plug prongs for which you can buy a cheap adaptor at almost any hardware store in America or Korea.

I can't speak for prices but don't forget to consider WARRANTY and BUNDLED SOFTWARE and LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS (i.e. do you feel you will have a need for a keyboard with hangul on it? can you live with a Korean operating system?). Any shortcomings of these could very easily cancel out any deals you might find in the sticker price, and the converse is true too.

T-dot · Joined: 16 May 2004 Location: bundang

Am I the only one that got a decent deal on a laptop?

HP/Compaq offers an international warranty, OS in English and the price was better than back home(Canada).
Mind you, I bought it almost 3 years ago.

paid 2.4 mill for a centrino laptop + extra battery+leather carrying case+optical mouse and pad

the same laptop was going for about 2599+tax (CDN) at best buy or future shop, WITHOUT all the add-ons.

huck · Joined: 19 Jan 2003

I've mentioned it before, but if you want an HP laptop, it's way cheaper to go to the HP website and custom-make what you want, rather than buying it in Korea.

I_Am_Wrong · Joined: 14 Sep 2004 Location: whatever

I was looking at notebooks at Yongsan and they sell very nice notebooks that are thin and stylish. However, I think the price to performace ratio is much higher than in North America. Also, do you want korean windows xp? I don't.

I_Am_Wrong · Joined: 14 Sep 2004 Location: whatever

I should add that a lot of people have problems because they format the drive to get rid of korean xp and install English xp. It seems that it's incredibly hard to get the drivers functioning properly after this is done. Why? I don't know. If you don't mind having Korean xp or if the store will install english xp then, of course, buy one here.

I was in e-mart and I saw some very nice Fujitsu's and Toshibas at reasonable prices...1,000,000 and slightly under. How much power do you want? These weren't the latest technology or the most powerful but they'd be more than enough for mp3's, divx/dvd, internet, word processing, and games that aren't crazy 3d graphic intensive.

plattwaz · Joined: 08 Apr 2005 Location: <Write something dumb here>

I bought an HP Compaq at home a few months ago and it was $899 Canadian ($944 with tax I suppose). The same model is available at E-mart and it was on sale last week for 1,200,000 won.

With the current exchange rate, that is $1420 Cdn.

jazblanc77 · Joined: 22 Feb 2004

If you decide to buy, make sure that you buy from one of the larger western companies, ie. Dell, HP/Compaq. Their warranties are valid anywhere in the world and they are able to provide English install sets of any software that is included in the package, like the OS. Other companies in Korea will not provide either of these service.

ophelia · Joined: 03 Feb 2006

[quote="huck"]I've mentioned it before, but if you want an HP laptop, it's way cheaper to go to the HP website and custom-make what you want, rather than buying it in Korea.[/quote]

what about duty tariffs?

huck · Joined: 19 Jan 2003

I had it sent to my brother in the States. He opened everything up, turned it on, and then put it back in a box. He put that inside of a USPS box, and he wrote USED and GIFT on it.....

I ended up paying about 90,000 won at the post office.