I was inspired by an earlier thread to post an unrelated and far less technical question which you might be able to advise me on…

I’m after a new laptop. I will be going on my jollies to the USA at the end of this month. Will I be likely to find amazing deals on laptops (or possibly a tablet) out there? Or am I just as well scouting for the best deal at home? It seems that a lot of electrical stuff isn’t as dear right now in the UK as conventional wisdom (‘RIP-OFF BRITAIN’ etc) would suggest. But how does it compare?

Any tips on particular retail chains which might be worth looking out for when travelling round, or passing through the airport?

*bump*

The deals won’t be much better since they are all sourced from the far east anyway and are priced in their currency ultimately. You might get a cheaper laptop but it’ll probably have more corners cut. Also the keyboard will be wrong.

But the two big chain electronics shops are Circuit City and Best Buy – both loads better than Currys.

HTH.

Generally deals arn’t that much better, but you can save a wee bit.

As molgrips said the keyboard will wrong and also I would check that the warranty would be ok in the UK. Be wary of the damn pesky state tax depending where you go as well….

Probably still worth it for a mac. And the ‘warranty’ and AppleCare are applicable worldwide. I wouldn’t bother with other brands as they are usually competitive in pricing over here. Try googling a few models & compare though. I thought Circuit City filed for chapter 11 a couple of years back. Best Buy are still going and as molgrips says they are interested in customers and have a clue about competitive pricing and their products. They’re worth going into just to see the difference in range, knowledge and pricing. BTW, there’s a best buy in southampton, england.

One thing to be aware of: sales tax. Some places have so many sales taxes that what looked like a nice price on the shelf turns into nothing special at the till. Again, you can check this out on line. You can get state sales tax, county sales tax, city sales tax… You’re not going to Delaware (first state of the union) are you? No sales tax there.

ive know a friend who ordered stuff online from a usa store and got it delivered to his hotel. might be worth an investigation…

dave

Thanks all. Helpful 🙂