cheap electronics

[Kuya John]

Out of stock........slightly off topic but

Once on a return flight from Philippines, stopover at Doha, in desperation, I asked at one of the duty free shops for Imodium tablets.

Sorry sir not in stock, but I have paracetamol! (now that really is a pain in the butt)

10 hours ago, AlwaysRt said:

hahaha right! Instead of the uniforms they wear, they should all be dressed as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Anytime you ask for something they can wave their arm saying 'That is not the product you are looking for' LOL

 

[not so old china hand]

Out of interest I did a comparison on buying an Apple MacBook Pro 13 inch basic spec in the UK the Philippines, and Hong Kong. I list the price in local currency and then in the other two currencies at the mid-rate from XE.

 

UK £1,249. (P82,693 Hk$12,702)

RP P76,999 (£1,163 Hk$11,825)

Hk Hk$ 9,988 (£982 P65,034)

So the difference in price between Hong Kong and the Philippines would go a long way to paying for a trip to HK.

The UK price includes VAT at 20% If that can be reclaimed  the cost is only marginally different from HK.

 

It could be argued that Apple products are atypical because AFAIK they operate a worldwide pricing policy and the pre-tax price is fairly constant. They also discourage resellers from discounting (with the exception of end-of-line items).

i picked Apple because they are easy to price online and one is sure of comparing like for like.

 

 

[AlwaysRt]

3 hours ago, not so old china hand said:

Out of interest I did a comparison on buying an Apple MacBook Pro 13 inch basic spec in the UK the Philippines, and Hong Kong. I list the price in local currency and then in the other two currencies at the mid-rate from XE.

 

UK £1,249. (P82,693 Hk$12,702)

RP P76,999 (£1,163 Hk$11,825)

Hk Hk$ 9,988 (£982 P65,034)

US US$1240 (p63,091) added since someone also mentioned US prices earlier

[jpbago]

3 hours ago, not so old china hand said:

Out of interest I did a comparison on buying an Apple MacBook Pro 13 inch basic spec in the UK the Philippines, and Hong Kong. I list the price in local currency and then in the other two currencies at the mid-rate from XE.

 

UK £1,249. (P82,693 Hk$12,702)

RP P76,999 (£1,163 Hk$11,825)

Hk Hk$ 9,988 (£982 P65,034)

Best Buy in Canada has it at $1550 C plus 13% vat = $1751 or P66,538 (P38 exchange rate). Sometimes it will be marked down by $100 - $200.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/apple-apple-macbook-pro-13-dual-core-intel-core-i5-2-7ghz-laptop-with-retina-display-english-mf839ll-a/10360522.aspx

[not so old china hand]

4 hours ago, AlwaysRt said:

US US$1240 (p63,091) added since someone also mentioned US prices earlier

This seems to follow the old rule of thumb that UK prices are numerically the same as US prices: except the amount is in GBP and not USD. Interesting that this still holds after the pound fell against the dollar.

BTW I assume the US price excludes local sales tax?

Still early here in Darkest West Sussex.

[not so old china hand]

5 hours ago, jpbago said:

Best Buy in Canada has it at $1550 C plus 13% vat = $1751 or P66,538 (P38 exchange rate). Sometimes it will be marked down by $100 - $200.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/apple-apple-macbook-pro-13-dual-core-intel-core-i5-2-7ghz-laptop-with-retina-display-english-mf839ll-a/10360522.aspx

That looks like the older model which has just been discontinued. When I flew to N. Ireland two weeks ago Dixons at Gatwick had one for about PDS980. That would have included VAT since it was in the domestic departure part of the terminal.

[AlwaysRt]

1 hour ago, not so old china hand said:

This seems to follow the old rule of thumb that UK prices are numerically the same as US prices: except the amount is in GBP and not USD. Interesting that this still holds after the pound fell against the dollar.

BTW I assume the US price excludes local sales tax?

Still early here in Darkest West Sussex.

All in price, delivered to your door (in the US). Listed on Ebay.

[Jake]

Regarding laptops and PC's, do you guys still have concern about the operating system?  I believe most of them are still pirated, full of viruses and bloatware.  Even the actual operating disk are questionable (if you have a disk drive to load the software).  

How about other consumer electronics like stereo system, TV's or blue tooth devices (headphones)?  Name brand appliances, as well as other -- how are their warranties?  I think after sales customer service would be at the top of my list for choosing products or services in PI.  Are on line reviews reliable there?  

[bastonjock]

I think that we brits often expect stuff to be cheaper overseas ,to give a prime example and this is quite recently when it was 1.4 euros to the pound .I bought an RV from belgium because the exact same RV was £25.000 dearer in the UK

[Snowy79]

On 7/19/2017 at 9:29 PM, robert k said:

I agree. One day I want to track down someone who tempers the relatively soft steel from a vehicle leaf spring! I just want to see their technique.

When I was in Belize we used to make machetes from the leaf springs. We'd cut the shape using an acetylene blow torch then finish it off on a grinder then files to get the cutting edge. We'd then head the blade until the colour was changing to a slight blue tint then quench it in com water. You could chop almost anything with the finished item as the steel used was great quality.