Buying laptops overseas

[Migi]

My friends and I are going for a vacation to Japan(!) next week. A friend said she was going to buy a new MacBook and iPhone there because they are cheaper compared to buying it domestically because of the taxes and such.

The question is: what are the disadvantages? I've been doing a research online, so far I found that the largest problems are warranty and language. We can only use the warranty at the country we buy the device, and the software language or keyboard arrangement may be different between countries (especially because this is Japan). I've read that for Apple items we can request an English version at Japan stores, but I'm not sure.

If anyone has an experience or knows a lot about this, please let me know. Thanks a lot! 😀

 

[Page]

All hardware are the same, What is different is the power output and the plugs are different and so when buying you need to do your research on if it will be powered up in your country after you got another power cord with the right plug end

I taken my computer over from Australia to the UK and I only need to chnage the power cord with an UK end on it and UK and Ozz have the same power watt output.

Then Keyboard layout!! You can chnage to English and country on the OS but it's the keyboard itself that you need to look at to see if it's in english

 

[Migi]

Noted about the plug, thanks. Many house appliances have different voltage at Japan compared to mine, so it's another point to think about. I think it's safer for Australia and UK or other Western countries because the system is more or less similar.

 

[John]

Be very, very careful about buying knock-offs. A lot of "changes" from country to country are actually just counterfits of the name brand product.

Other than that - ensure that the charger and language work correctly.

 

[Page]

Noted about the plug, thanks. Many house appliances have different voltage at Japan compared to mine, so it's another point to think about. I think it's safer for Australia and UK or other Western countries because the system is more or less similar.

Well, Sometimes paying more for an item is the best option. Some country can not be trusted

 

[Migi]

I ended up not buying anything because I don't want to deal with the problems that arise later. My friends did buy a new iPhone and MacBook, good for them and I hope nothing goes wrong. I also didn't want to worry about whether the item is real or fake. I do trust Japan and its official stores, but usually promising deals are made by less known shops and the risk is too high.