snowball

Hi, can someone offer some advice please. My pc is ancient, so have been thinking about investing in a laptop, before we leave for Melbourne in January. Here in the Uk, starting prices are roughly £400.00 :scared: I have been thinking that if I have any problems with it, my warrantly won't be of any use to me over in Australia. How much, roughtly, are basic laptops over there? Any advice much appreciated. Cheers

wafc

I'm pretty sure that prices of laptops in Oz are roughly the same as the UK so to be on the safe side I would wait until you get out there and then buy one from Oz, at least then if you have any probs with it you can take it back etc.

I plan to buy one not too long after getting there.

MartinLuther

Buy it in Australia. The prices are the same, the power cords fit the sockets, and if your employer is happy to do it, you can buy it out of pre-tax salary (limited to 1 laptop per year).

Quokka

Remember they aren't the most reliable item you could buy, so warranty is important.
Bought one 3 weeks age (in Aus) which has a fault.
HP said return for repair or take it back to store.
Took it back, store will swap for another no problem.
Bit more difficult if the store was in UK.

suebrennan

My advice based on personal experience is wait until you get here. I sold my pc and bought a laptop 3 months before leaving for Oz. It is now kicking up big time - probably hard drive failure and I wish I had taken a colleague's offer to buy it before I left up. If I had sold it and bought here I would be able to go back to the shop. I don't even think I have the receipt and try dealing with a shop in the UK from here. Even if it costs a little bit more here at least you will have the peace of mind of taking it back should it all go pearshaped.

Sue

ozzieeagle

Prices start at circa 799 Aud, for a 15 inch screen... 40 gig HD, 1.8 gig processor... DVD Writer/Reader etc, Wireless card.


Check out at www.msy.com.au

CHnJ

I have both UK and Australian laptops. The only advantage I have with the UK one is that it has a £ sign as well as a $ sign. If that bothered you enough you could buy a £10 British USB keyboard before you left. That lets you sit the laptop up at eye-level for better posture.

tucs

why not buy one on the way over?
where are you stopping off? might save a few bob on the duty free

Hels Bells

Just to add to this, we bought our laptop in the UK from PC world, got a 3 year warrenty on it that actually does work in Australia....

We had to use it just recently actually and it all went pretty smoothly to be honest.

spalen

dell will give WW warranty

go on dell.co.uk and dell.com.au and compare like for like pricing then you can decide.

but - if you can buy in Aus and use the tax thing with your employer its instantly worth 20-30% for you because you pay for it out of your pre-ta salary not your post-tax salary as you would if you bought for cash.

but if buying one now is important - then Dell with global warranty is probably ok. THeir support isnt the best in the world (indian call centre stuff) but their products are pretty solid and safe.

tucs

agree with the indian call centre bit. A disaster to say the least.
world wide warrenty was very expensive if i remember though.
I think dell is very cheap and generally good quality

snowball

A big thank you to everyone who took the time to reply - a great help. Have decided to wait until we get to Oz before I buy one.

tin

I've been one of the unlucky ones who's Dell laptop has gone wrong a few times (in the UK) and I have to say the support has been fantastic. I have got an extended 3 year warranty and both times it went wrong they were at my house the next day - pretty good service. Haven't had any problems since I've been in Oz and hopefully I wont need it again!

Martyn

JackTheLad

Wow, I feel a business idea coming on

You just need to justify buying shed loads of laptops to your employer, and then sell them on ebay. 30% profit right there.

(I expect 10% of the profits if you use this scheme )

JTL

tofster

[QUOTE=snowball]A big thank you to everyone who took the time to reply - a great help. Have decided to wait until we get to Oz before I buy one.

I built my own PC - I should say I'm no expert, but thankfully my brother-in-law is. !!
Laptops are all very well, size wise 'n' all, but a nightmare to repair/service. personally, I would never buy from a PC world type outfit - my advice would be to visit one of the independent PC shops there "must" be in whichever city/town you are moving to, in Oz. Get it built by them to your spec (they will advise). Then if anything goes wrong, you can take it back (or usually they will visit). As the PC expert usually owns the shop, he is more likely to know the product inside out, compared to a PC world assistant (no disrespect to any who are reading this!). Also it will be no more expensive (usually cheaper) than a high street brand. Obviously a computer savvy friend is a great asset.
I find laptops to be too slow, even the best performing ones.
However, I can't use my own PC for MSN when I'm travelling !!!

Good luck.