Korean Job Discussion Forums

[dharma bum]

my current laptop is slowly dying on me, and i'm thinking of going ahead and purchasing a new one. i know almost nothing about computers though, so i'd really appreciate a little help from the some of the more tech-savvy here.

the first thing i'm wondering is should i go ahead and buy a laptop here or wait until i get back home (U.S.) in 3-6 months?

my second question is the obvious one: which laptop should i get? i'm really just looking for something that will be reliable and last me a while. i don't do a lot of gaming or video editing, and mostly just play around on the internet, use MS Office, and hook my laptop up to my TV to watch movies. i do want something that's going to run fast and smooth and would also like it to be fairly portable and have a good battery life. however, because of the amount of word processing i do, i'm worried about eyestrain with anything tiny like a hp touchsmart, netbook, etc. price-wise, i'm hoping to spend around $700 (770,000 or so won) but have up to $1000 (1,100,000 won).

what do you guys think?

[eamo]

For your needs, your budget is spot on......I wouldn't spend more than 800,000 if I wasn't gaming or video editing.

Unless your current laptop is beyond use-able then I'd wait until I got to the States.....laptops are cheaper there and English Windows won't be an issue.

Here's Danawa's laptop page.....I think you don't want to go less than 14''....
http://www.danawa.com/product/list.html?defSite=NOTEBOOK&cate_c1=860&cate_c2=869&cate_c3=10599

Use the sliding price thingy in the blue box to set the price range you want. Then scroll down to see what your choices are.

[dharma bum]

Thanks for the link, eamo - that's a pretty cool site. I think you might be right about waiting though. I've been looking at some of the deals available on laptops back home - and for whatever reason, am just a little wary of buying a laptop here, dealing with negotiating and then software issues.

[ttompatz]

You might want to look at some of the Lenovo/IBM series of laptops.

For the mid-range they are priced similarly to North America (compare the Korean price to the current internet prices).

You can get the O/S of your choice or get it without an O/S (they come with drivers CDs) and install the O/S of choice (or have it done for you - it isn't rocket science).

They make decent work horses and are price competitive (700k-1 million won).

They have decent off-shore warranty (1-3 years depending on model) and good global service.

It was discussed a bit here:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=193834&highlight=lenovo

Ya, the other option is to wait till you get home. At least it will be easier to deal with the sales person (English rather than Konglish).

.

[dharma bum]

thanks for the recommendation, ttompatz. i read that other thread and also took a look at the lenovo website. seems like they have some good deals going on their laptops in the states (http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/na/LenovoPortal/en_US/special-offers.workflow:ShowPromo?LandingPage=/All/US/Landing_pages/Promos/IdeaPad/weekly-sale/series1) - especially the i5-460M - and, even in korea, there is the i5-430M that one poster on the other thread cited at 720,000 won (http://english.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_goods/goods.asp?goodscode=196539151&pos_shop_cd=EN&pos_class_cd=90000001&pos_class_kind=T&keyword_order=Lenovo+g460). since i need english windows, i'm guessing i'll have to head to yongsan instead of using gmarket - but am i on the right track in terms of system specs if that's the direction i go in (still debating whether to buy here or at home...)?

[eamo]