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Prices of Hi-tech products in Japan

varuna82

後輩
20 May 2007
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Hi!

I am interested in prices of electronic and other high items in Japan. I know the living cost is high in Japan. But, because they are popular for electronic items I wonder whether the electronic items are cheaper.

Sayonara.
Varuna
 
Its not much cheaper than the US - but you have to consider than anything bought in Japan will have Japanese instructions, Japanese buttons and controls, Japanese warranty and in the case of TV's and the sort will be set for Japanese channels etc.
 
Hey, I see you reside in Sri Lanka, and I have heard that electronics are cheap in other nearby places in Southeast Asia. You might want to check that out, too if that's what you are interested in.

Mauricio
 
I've shopped around the Akihabara area in Tokyo, arguably one of the best known locations for 'cheap electronic goods' that people mention when the topic arises. Quite honestly, the prices were not so great and in fact were higher than here in Canada in some cases. Computers for example.. most laptops available were on par with US/Canadian pricing if not a little more expensive. And when you factor in the abysmal aftermarket support (i.e. short warranty period, complicated repair process) it's really not worth it at all. I had two friends who had bought their laptops in Tokyo and inevitably something broke (in both cases a jack, one power and one line-out/earphone). Both laptops were sent away and took one month to return, the manufactuer did not allow them to bring the laptops in personally, even though this would have been cheaper and easier. Furthermore the warranty was only good for one year. By comparison, a North American laptop from Lenovo has a 3 year warranty and as long as you're in the country of purchase its door to door service.

One thing that is good, there is a huge variety of laptops and computers, they have much smaller versions over there too, like super-thin models with 12" screens. Or conversely a 36" Sony plasma widescreen personal computer/multimedia station.

The other thing that isn't so grand is the lack of quality second hand shops. There are many laptop and computer places where second hand stuff is available (even then its still rather expensive) but as for stereos, appliances, etc., I only know of one spot in Shibuya near the scramble and he only sells stereo equipment. For anything else, the independently owned 'junk' stores are the only places to get 2nd hand stuff and its all as-is, if its broken too bad. That, or a sayonara sale out of the Metropolis magazine. The Japanese don't tend to recycle and re-sell, once somethings obsolete its usually garbage even if it still works.
 
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