Where in the world can the best electronics bargains be found?
Have you found bargains? If so, what have you bought and where did you buy it? How much did it cost? Did you discover any disadvantages to buying at such a bargain price?
Hi guys
soon im going to Panama and i am told electronics is a lot cheaper in Colon and Panama city than other countries (because the duty free) including the USA. Can anybody confirm this?
Later on my trip im going to the US and it would be painfull to see that a same notebook is a lot cheaper...
Is a laptop/notebook cheaper in Panama then the US?
Thanks and safe travels!
Reply to this Hi Maarten,
I am not sure about the price difference, but one thing to be careful of is to make sure that they run on the same voltage as the US and that they can be plugged in (or have things plugged into them) that are from the US. i have looked at buying cameras overseas due to price, and then realized that everything that came with them had the 3-prong plug and was made for a different voltage so i would have had to convert it when i got back home! Just some things to think about!!
Reply to this HI.
this sounds wierd. i have to say i have never been to panama, but i was under the impression that portable devices such as Cameras laptops and mp3 players and the like are actually made to work on voltages between 110v and 250v allowing them to be used the world over.
on some devices like my own laptop all you need to do is cut off the plug and attach the one you need for your own country.
kitchen appliances and most other things generally work only on 1 voltage and therefore need a converter.
hope this helps, but do read the specs before doing anything
matt
Reply to this Hi Matt,
They will work, but you need a converter sometimes. E.g. my camera has a chargeable battery. if i bought it elsewhere, the plug would be one that fits in outlets (sockets) in that country, e.g. panama. therefore, you would need a converter when you come back home to fit in your US outlet. It can be done, just kind of a pain. it depends on the electronics if the voltage is the same or not. some are, but like my mom's laptop does not convert voltage, she needs a converter.
Reply to this In my experience - the cheapest place to buy consumer electronics in the world is through the internet in the USA - assuming that you don't have to pay sales tax on those purchases.
Japan, China and Hong-Kong have reputations as being very cheap also - but with the dollar historically low at the moment the USA is probably very competitive still.
The rest is relative - South-East Asia is very cheap compared to South-America, in South America - Paraguay is the cheapest of those countries - Brazil is the most expensive. Most of the time this is due to Tax - Brazil has massive import taxes - a protectionist economy, Panama is a duty free zone - but most of the items are imported via the US and so have high initial costs compared to the US.
Keep in mind as well that choices on the street are not going to be as vast as on the internet - that you may or may not get a guarantee/warranty that is valid world wide or your home country.
You may or may not be unlucky enough to be charged import duty when returning home.
As for converters - most consumer electronics have power-supplies that work from 110V-240V - if in doubt look at the back of them - they usually are clearly marked. If not - don't buy.
Adaptors - most of the time you can buy a new one in your home country that has the right socket - I've always found adaptors such as travel adaptors really easy to get hold of - some of the better quality manufacturers ship a variety of plugs - apple and creative had a complete interchangeable set.
When ever I buy anything above a low price - I always get a quote from amazon - use that as my benchmark and factor in the additional costs of the local taxes, import difficulties etc - to work out if it's a good price.
HTH
Reply to this - And the cheapest/best place to buy a good quality camera?
Reply to this Worldwide - the USA via the internet is your best source - though most places only deliver within the USA and Canada.
Reply to this There are a few chains of very cheap supermarkets here in Germany. They have specials in electronics such as computers, cameras, printers.... Also kitchen things such as bread makers, blenders, coffee makers.... And other items such as hair driers...
The specials are not top brand names but they are always good quality and generally cheaper than buying them someplace else. The downside is that if you want something you have to wait until they have it and one never knows when that will be. They give out a magazine a week in advance to advertise the specials of the next week. Then when they do have what you want you have to get to the shop early to ensure gettting one. With some items there is a long queue. They wheel out a pellet and just keep handing out what the special is and then wheel out another pelletful. Not every item is in such demand because they have them more often.....
Reply to this If you are looking for a travel laptop I would recommend the EEE PC by Asus. Only $400 on ebay, 2 pounds, internal WiFi card, webcam, and a solid state hard drive so you can drop it without fear.
Reply to this just to elaborate on that
the 7" version fo the EEE has good 3.5 hour battery life, the 9" version has bearly 2 hours. yo can get a 3rd party battrery that will bring the 9" version up to 5 hour apparently but this will bring the cost up another $100
Reply to this hey, i use the eee 901, which im on now, in panama and it has about 7hours of life from a standard (6 cell battery). it has the atom 1.6 in it aswell. its not badly priced at just $600 either but i dont know about ebay prices.
Reply to this ops. looks like the eepc has moved on already. i stand corrected.. my 900 only has 2 hours ---though the price is going up every time they release a new model, and therefore getting less appealing for travel use.
i would prefer a laptop that just types text files and takes uploads of fotographs.
and costs $100
that would be more apt for my needs.
could call it a "blog-top" hehe
Reply to this If you are in Hong Kong you can get a good buy as it tax free and most techie stuff comes from near there ( china / japan ) so its basically straight out of the factory, I also got a good deal by bartering and paying cash. But Ali is right , the US is good right now to buy stuff especially cameras, I havent had any bad experiences using ebay stores - all new items come with a standard warranty. I bought a camera whilst in Guatemala and it ended costing about half price of me walking into the shop there to buy one, the problem was it took about 2 months to get there! I bought another recently for my next trip and it was quick to send to Ireland from the US so make sure if you are buying something over the net it will get to you before you leave the country.
Happy e-Shopping!
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