Korean Job Discussion Forums

[insamsaram]

What are the pros and cons? If I buy here will everything work ok there? Are most cafes etc... in Seoul wireless?

[marista99]

If you buy one here in Korea chances are the menus will be all in Korean, and I don't know if you can switch it--I know very computer savvy people whove tried to get english menus on their korean computers to no avail. This is especially frustrating when you get error messages you can't read.

Also, electronics here are WAY more expensive in general than, say, the USA. My advice is get one before you come to Korea.

It will work fine as far as wireless, ethernet, etc. I have an ibook, and macs are rare here, but the KT dude was able to hook me up for DSL without problems. For power you'll most likely just need a plug adapter which cost like 30 cents.

[mindmetoo]

[insamsaram]

thanks so much for the advice. i think i waited too late and may have to do it there. tried to order one yesterday but the build and ship date was not guaranteed before I am scheduled to leave.
it will help improve my korean skills if i have to always read menus in korean, and I find it much easier to type korean with a korean keyboard since i don't know all the keys well.
i guess i will just have to bite the cost if it is expensive there.
would be nice to watch a dvd on the plane though.

[Demophobe]

My friend and I bought laptops together about 6 years ago. He formatted his and tried to install Win98, but the computer kept asking for the specialized install cd from samsung that should have come with his notebook. He lost it. He managed to install Win98 finally, but the machine wouldn't accept any drivers except from that CD. He had a notebook without any drivers. All he could do was word process on Wordpad. The BIOS was hard coded so it wouldn't accept anything else beside the Install CD that came with the laptop.

Now, that was a long time ago, and drivers, OSes and laptops have come a long way since then.

If you buy from a truly international company, it's worth your time to send out an e-mail to their support department and explain the situation and see what they say.

If I bought a notebook again, Iwould probably format and install XP Eng. or insist that the store do it for me. The kind of money that you are going to drop is well worth their time to get this done, if it can be.

I did a google for this topic and didn't get much, but people are definately changing the OSes on their laptops, so it can be done. Perhaps it's not simple, but with some time and good internet hunting skills, you most likely can get the job done.

Post back here with the make/model you are looking to buy and we can collectively try to find out the hardware configuration and see if we can hunt down all of the drivers.

I really think it's possible. Perhaps a dual boot? Boot from an external drive? This would preserve the original install and give easy access to the correct drivers, as they would be on the other partition with the original OS.

Dunno....just ideas.

[mindmetoo]

[Gord]

[Demophobe]

[jazblanc77]

I bought an HP notebook computer in Korea and I had no problems whatsoever getting them to install Win XP in Enlgish rather than Korean.

If you buy from one of te main computer conglomerates that are present in North America, you should have no problem getting the same setup.

You could also go to Yongsan, have a computer made from scratch, and then install your OS from scratch. Isn't it usually from pre-assembled computers that you would have hard-coded problems such a the ones listed in the above posts?

[T-dot]

its no problems buying here.

compaq/hp all have english option xp. optional programs like office etc. might be harder to find in english.
you are also guaranteed "service" meaning something for free.
ie. free battery, mouse, leather carrying case etc. the price is a touch cheaper here than back home (canada).