Laptops in Japan

I am UK based but visiting Tokyo and Osaka in October before going to Seoul. I need a new laptop and was wondering if it is cheaper to wait and get one in Japan? I would need to get one with the international OS and Keyboard I guess. The power issue would be resovled simply enough. I keep trying to find out about prices at Sony Building in Ginza as I know these are international but there is not even a hint anywhere. Probably budget in the region of 100,000Yen and not after a used one.
Any advise would be appreciated?

Laptops in Japan are more expensive than most other countries. I guess it depends on which country you're coming from. My cost about 100,000 and I could've got it in America for probably half that cost.

Slightly disagree with above. I've found laptops in Japan newer versions and more powerful, but price wise more or less similar. Certainly not heaps more expensive.

There are so many places to buy discounted stuff in Japan, that even finding RRP prices would be meaningless really.

But, unless you really need to penny pinch, I'd honestly consider buying one back home where you have a warranty and a shop to talk to when things go wrong.

I would need to get one with the international OS and Keyboard I guess. The power issue would be resovled simply enough.

International models (and if you don't read Japanese or don't want to figure out a Japanese keyboard then you want an international version) will be more expensive than domestic models.

I keep trying to find out about prices at Sony Building in Ginza as I know these are international but there is not even a hint anywhere.

Check out the japan sony site:

http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Product/Computer/Vaio/index...

The prices at the sony store are the retail price and should be similar to their website. I think they tend to carry limited international models.

I think price isn't necessarily the biggest consideration here as buying in the UK avoids a lot of problems with language or warranty. But if you feel comfortable working in Japanese then you may be able to save quite a bit of money depending on the model.

There is really no such thing as an "international" keyboard, although there is a "US International" keyboard. Even the US and UK keyboard layouts are different. I am not sure what you would find in Japan, but it would probably be the US international version. You can find out more here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout

Personally, I would get the laptop in the UK. I doubt you would save much, if anything by buying in Japan and you would also have the correct keyboard, OS and warranty.

Keep in mind that Windows 7 is coming out soon, so it might not be the best time to buy a new computer if you're a Windows user.

Hey there,

I live in Japan and I've recently been through the whole process of deciding on and buying a laptop (received it 2 days ago). Here's a quick summary:
-DO-NOT-BUY-AN-'OVERSEAS'-MODEL. Really. They are (a) overpriced, for example Toshiba A505 costs about Y150k compared to an equivalent of Y80k in the US for the same model, (b) difficult to find a new model, most of them are old [as in, there's almost nothing that's less than 3 months old], (c) low specs for the price.
-Buying a Japanese model might not be a good idea (JP-only warranties, weird keyboards etc)

I suggest you buy a laptop in your home country.



I bought a VAIO FW93 (equiv. of FW4 series in US and EU) with 2.53GHz, 6GB RAM, HD4650 etc for Y150k.　At the same time, a certain Duty Free shop (btw, DF shops = bs. Overpriced, and they use the stereotype of Japan as the technological heaven to rip you off) offered an older version of FW (FW3 series) with 2GHz, 2GB RAM, and 90% slower graphics card for... Y150k.

One more example:
Sony Vaio Z (sorry can't remember exact specs, but we're talking about the same, identical model):
-price in JP for JP version: Y170k
-price in JP for Overseas version: Y270k
-price in Hongkong for the same Overseas version: Y170k
-price in US for US version: Y180k
Let the numbers speak for themselves.

But then again, the choice is yours. One thing to remember: at the current exchange rate, no English laptop in Japan comes close to the EU or US models in terms of price/performance.


This is pretty much all that can be said on the topic. Good luck making choices, and I hope you won't spend a month on it like I did :-)