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Buying computer online with English OS

KyushuWoozy

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Hi,

Heading to Japan to live soon.

I'll be living in a city (Fukuoka) far from Tokyo and so far from Akihabara. Are there any shops in Akihabara where I can browse online in English, buy a computer (haven't decided yet laptop or PC) with English OS, and get it shipped to Fukuoka.

Thanks.
 
(a) buy an apple--air, macbook, macbook pro, etc.

(b) see (a)
 
Why? Do they have multi-lingual OS? Does it mean I buy one in any Japanese computer shop I can change the OS to English?
 
Yes, it's a simple choice during setup, and all menus, help, etc., become english.

Buy in Japan and you get a couple extra keys so that when you're composing or writing something you can easily switch between english & japanese input.

***
That said, my wife got a Dell xps 15" last winter that I still think is a great machine. All the system is in japanese, but their help service is good and they might tell you how to change it.

If you get the english version, I think you have to install a language pack. Again, the j-version has an extra key to toggle easily between E/J.
 
Why do you want it to come from Akihabara? It's a laptop, not really a hard to find electronic part.

Amazon | 本, ファッション, 家電から食品まで | アマゾン lets you switch between languages if you need to. Though I think you'll find that your wisest course of action is to buy one before you come. Quite pricey here.

When I bought my Chromebook here I just chose what language I wanted. I think all modern OSes let you choose when you set up.
 
Windows can indeed be changed to a different language by installing a language pack. So, even if your computer comes preinstalled with a Japanese Windows (chances are it will), you can switch it to English without reinstalling.

But like mentioned above, it seems easier to buy a laptop now while you're still in the UK and take it with you.
 
It's good info - never knew anything about Macs.

>Yes, it's a simple choice during setup, and all menus, help, etc., become english.

How about if it's already set-up for Japanese (as it will be if I buy in most shops in Japan). Can it still be simply changed to English (like my android can) or does it need a reinstall?

About your wife PC. I tried years ago buying Japanese OS PC and reinstalling with English OS. It was a bit of a hassle and remnants of the Japanese OS hung round afterwards. Hence this thread - that's what I want to avoid.
 
You simply drag English to the top. Or, if you want to switch, you drag English to the bottom (or Japanese to the top) Use the + or – to add/delete other languages:

 
And frankly, if you're going to be in Japan for a while, it's hard to believe that you'd want a machine that had been sanitized of its Japanese!!!
 
You can enable all the Japanese you need in an English OS-based machine these days. Or switch to English in a Japanese machine. The main question is whether it's cheaper in Japan or not. If it's cheaper in Japan, I would think you don't necessarily need to buy from Akihbara. Fukuoka is a big enough city to have everything you need and pricing in Japan is not that variable. There are also mail order sites like Rakuten now.

If you've never used a Mac before there's no real reason to start. I'm using a Mac now but virtually all of my time on it is spent within Microsoft Office apps which are not as up-to-date as their PC counterparts.
 
You know that Fukuoka is a major city with all sorts of PC shops and electronics stores? It's not exactly the Siberia of Japan. Fukuoka even has its own Apple store. Shopping online is also convenient - Dell Japan can set you up with a Dell with English O/S. Amazon Japan is also excellent.
But, as Wonko and Lanthas pointed out above, if you absolutely must have a machine that is completely free from Japanese software, and you don't want the hassle of going through Dell Japan or Amazon Japan, you are better off buying it overseas and bringing it with you (especially since the yen is a bit strong right now.)
 
From all the good info I got this:

1. Any computer (Windows or Mac) can easily switch between English or Japanese OS
2. Cheaper to buy-before-fly (which means OS will be English anyway)

It's exactly what I needed, thanks all.
 
KyushuWoozy said:
From all the good info I got this:

1. Any computer (Windows or Mac) can easily switch between English or Japanese OS
2. Cheaper to buy-before-fly (which means OS will be English anyway)

It's exactly what I needed, thanks all.
Click to expand...

At least when my laptop was stolen in Italy and I had to buy a new one in a hurry, it was NOT possible to change the OS (Windows 7) to English in a legal way because it wasn't set up for a language pack - don't recall the details but it was to do with the specific version of Windows 7 that was installed. Linux yes you can choose any language at setup, Mac I don't know because I've never used one.

However of course the OS doesn't change the language of the individual programmes that are installed on the laptop. So if there is software pre-installed it may not automatically change - once I did manage to change the language to English through nefarious means, some programmes were still in Italian e.g. the picture editor. Maybe I could have changed it if I'd tried hard enough but I can speak Italian and I'm lazy.

Also note if you buy a laptop abroad the charger will be from that country and the keyboard layout may be much different than you're used to (French keyboards are a nightmare...).

IDK anything about price ranges but having a laptop from your own country is much less hassle IMO. It is certainly possible to type Japanese on any modern OS and I'm sure that's all you'll need.
 
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