fraser

Better to buy here, OZ or Hong Kong

I thought Oz as if I buy one here the warranty will be worthless.

But if they're that much cheaper in HK maybe worth having no warranty

saraliz

Some of the major brands offer worldwide warrantees. I bought a Compaq laptop in the US for next to nothing, & asked the salesman about the warranty - he told me it was US-only, so I was resigned to not having a warranty. Opened up the box, read the small print - it was a worldwide warranty!

Laptops seem pretty expensive here in Oz. Don't know about HK prices.

gingerlion

I heard a shop called fortress in HK was most reliable.. sold with warranty etc...

fraser

Thank you I'll have to ask Mrs. JTL

JackTheLad

Yes, Fortress is a reliable shop, as is Broadway, both big electronic chains you'll find everywhere. A good place to check out all the latest and greatest laptops in Hong Kong is the Wanchai Computer Centre. It's got multiple floors selling all sorts of hardware and software. Most laptops do come with worldwide warranty. There's one shop called JOS (Jardine Office Systems), and also a few distributors of Toshiba, HP/Compaq, Apple, etc laptops. Have a browse around there and you should be able to pick up a laptop for a reasonable price. As long as you stick with the big brands, you'll be safe.

When you come into Australia, you have a duty free allowance of AUD$900 ($450 for under 18) worth of new goods per person, effective Feb 2005. Depending on how many of you are travelling, you may or may not have to pay duty on values above the total allowance.

Have you got any specific requirements on the laptop? Let me know and I'll check with my brother. He's really into all kinds of gadgets and can probably give you some recommendation on what and where to shop.

Slightly off topic, one of the latest toys in town (Hong Kong) now is the new Sony PSP. We got one recently for hubby's birthday and he's now hooked. You'll no doubt see a few of those in shops when you're in HK. They're not released yet officially except in the US and Japan. The UK release date is 1 September.

Cheers,
Mrs JTL

fraser

Thanks Mrs.JTL
I was just after a wi-fi laptop to use until my computer arrives.

The PSP looks great, but I'll have to give it a swerve as my PC and x-box take up enough of my time

Flying Banana

Assuming you have a good desktop and as you say you just need something to tide you over till your stuff arrives, take a look at Dell.

I bought an Inspiron 510m for the same reason and have been very pleased with it. It won a best wireless laptop review in the UK PC Pro mag March 04 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/55052/de...+inspiron+510m

It has all wireless built in, is very light (about 2.6kg) and the battery life was about 4 hours when new or 3 1/2 with wireless on and/or using CD Drive heavily.

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/pr...spn&l=en&s=dhs

Base model starts at £549 at the mo but you really want to upspec a few bits. Dell customer service can be abysmal but if there are delays or they aren't playing ball then email Michael Dell direct and you'd be amazed how fast they can move.

The warranty is worldwide and Dell Australia even sent me Aussie power leads for both laptop and desktop free of charge when I phoned up to ask how much they were.

If you want any info or specs etc PM me and will be glad to help.

Only drawback is that Dell is classed as a mail order supplier so you can't claim VAT back when you leave the UK. As for Aussie customs chuck the box in the bin when you leave UK, tuck the manuals etc in the container with the rest of your stuff and say nowt. Worked for me anyway.

fraser

That looks great will a Uk wireless router work in oz

Flying Banana

The laptop works fine everywhere (I was actually out with a friend in Sydney and when his Compaq wouldn't connect we tried my Dell and it picked up a full 5 bar strength signal.

As for the router from home I'm not sure, I was still on dialup when I left the UK and bought a Netgear Wireless router here, I'm assuming a UK one should work as wireless freq and AC power are the same, will just depend on whether the ADSL modem will work here I suppose. Have a look on www.whirlpool.net.au might be some info there.

fraser

I don't know that much about them. How does thet work exactly, you can just pick up a signal and use it how do you get charged for that.

Please excuse my ignorance

JackTheLad

If you are at home then you have to have your own, wifi adsl setup.

If you find a hotspot, often provided in airports and coffee shops and other places, its free

Especially places like Starbucks, they want the young guns with their laptops in there, so they provide the wifi access. Hotel, airports etc also see a benefit in providing them. Other places accidentally provide them

JTL

jas_uk

True, however lots of places now charge (most UK Starbucks for instance), the computer will connect to the network correctly however whichever web page you try and access it will provide a starbucks page asking you for the code which you got when you bought an hours worth of surfing along with your coffee... extortionately expensive! However some places (many UK McDonalds) provide it for free, handly when someone digs through the cable!

Usually though you will have your own wireless access point/router in your own home which allows you to use the laptop within a certain range of it... how far depends on the model, what your house is made of, if its day or night (sunspot activity... etc!), whether you are wearing blue or black socks, if you washed the car recently.... etc..!

Wifi doesnt coincide nicely with some DECT digital cordless phones (mobiles are fine though) and even some microwaves can mess things up. However, most new kit these days is pretty hardy.

Most important thing is to enable WEP (or WPA if possible) which provides at least some form of security (pretty good in the case of WPA) to stop anyone using your connection just because they are in range. Again, most new kit will talk you through it, altho none as far as I have yet encountered come with it enabled out of the box.

marco121068

Did you get any media when you bought your laptop? I recently got a new Inspiron 9200 (absolutely brilliant btw) and it didn't come with the XP discs although I seem to remember on here a while ago someone mentioned you were entitled to them as you'd paid for the licence. Any ideas if that's true?

Wanderlust

Hello,

I know nothing about computers (except how to use one) but my Aussie/Kiwi bloke - who is a computer GENIUS of the highest level, ensures me that one of the best value and most reliable laptops in Australia are TPG. They recently had a price drop too - check out this link... http://www.tpg.com.au/online/
Check out the wide screen version, AMD Athlon™ 64 2700+ processor (35W)

512MB MEMORY
60GB HARD DRIVE
DVD RW+/- DRIVE
WINDOWS XP HOME
FREE WIFI (PCMCIA

for $1398 AUD - that's about 580 GBP (there's no pound symbol on Aussie PCs!)

And once you get your laptop, the best website to find out your broadband options and more info about local pc info, check out www.whirlpool.net.au/

Anyway, that's my (and Neil's) tuppence worth. Good luck!

W.

Carruss

If you have bought a brand new laptop with XP on it then you should get all the software to rebuild it to the specs you have paid for. You may not get the actual Windows XP discs but a 'Restore' disc that will build the laptop to how it was when you bought it which will have the operating system on it and all the necessary drivers for the laptop etc.

If you did not get either of these then I would get on to them and get one, after all, you have paid for it.

R.