Electronic equipment in Hong Kong

Only new to trip advisor and still feeling my way around.

Can anyone tell me where is a good place to purchase laptop computer/mobile phone etc that would be compatible back in Australia.

I have been old to make sure it has an international licence.

Are the prices cheaper that in Australia.

many thanks in advance

Electronic equipment in Hong Kong

Because Hong Kong is tax free, most electronic products are much cheaper than in other countries.

The safest places to buy electronic products are the big chains such as ';Fortress';, ';Broadway'; and ';Gomi';.

Most products offer international gurantee. Just ask the sales assistants.

Electronic equipment in Hong Kong

Most electronics are not cheaper in Hong Kong than other countries. The high indirect taxes (property costs) as well as the fixed exchange rate with the US$ sees to that.

Agree with fortress and the others being safe places to shop.

Disagree that international warranty is common. Often I can only get something repaired free of charge in Hong Kong - not much use if I live in Australia.

Avoid the brightly lit electronic shops along Nathan Rd. You will be cheated.

prices are cheaper compared to Europe, Australia, Canada, at authorized dealers(in HK and overseas). Many online stores sell grey market so no point comparing prices on those.

Most portable electronics products do not offer international warranty. Some shops will try to scam you by providing an international warranty card, but with fine print that says it is valid only if the product is purchased in country X (but not HK). This is especially common for cameras.

I know of no mobile phone that offers international warranty valid in Australia. Usually it%26#39;s for mainland China and HK only.

Some (but not all) brands of laptop do offer international warranty, such as Fujitsu, Toshiba, IBM. Please check the official HK websites to confirm. Again, only authorized dealers are able to give this warranty. They are located at Star House in TST or Windsor House in Wanchai. You can bargain in these stores(';free'; accessories). The chained stores also carry notebooks but less room for bargaining and less selection.

The various computer malls obviously have laptops but personally I wouldn%26#39;t buy from those places, even though they are cheaper.

We don%26#39;t have any duty on electronic goods, and I%26#39;ve always found the price on large items to be a bit of a lottery, excepting that Hong Kong is closer to the source of these things usually. What are much cheaper are the smaller items, particularly things like batteries, flash memory etc. I%26#39;m not sure I%26#39;d want to buy something large and expensive there given the warranty situation. I would however reinforce the others%26#39; opinion -- don%26#39;t go to the smaller shops. If you must, carefully inspect what you have purchased before you take it away. You%26#39;ll probably get ripped off anyway.

even buying at reputable chain stores, you can still run into situations where you pay new product prices but get customer returns (which is apparently not illegal). I bought a ';brand new'; phone that had logged 2 hours of talktime. The shop was very good at deceiving customers by resetting the counter. I forgot to check the hidden counter which is not supposed to be accessible by end users.

Local cellphone forums are full of these kinds of complaints.

That%26#39;s interesting- a good thing to know thanks. I presume you meant THEY forgot to check?? That%26#39;s a good thing to know also!!

Hi Silver53, yes, electronics prices can be 30% or more cheaper than Australia - with the strong AU$ maybe even more so now. You just need to be aware of the import duty you have to pay if you exceed a certain $ amount on purchases (some people throw away the packaging and purposely put dirty finger marks, small scratches, etc. on products to ';show'; customs officials that they are not newly purchased).

If you buy from an authorized retailer of a brand, there should be no problem with guarantees. Some manufacturers require you to go to their office and exchange the HK / Asian guarantee for an international one; others will honour the guarantee that came in the box as long as it is presented with the receipt - check their websites.

I cannot emphasize enough that you should ONLY buy through authorized retailer for each brand. Steer well clear of brightly lit independent shops with ';helpful'; staff and no prices listed. Paying with a credit card can give you some protection against shonky merchandise if you choose not to follow those guidelines, but at a reputable place paying cash can net you another 10% discount or some freebies like extra memory, additional lens, etc.

You have to know your product, your prices, your exchange rates, and your import duties before you can determine whether your ';find'; in Hong Kong is any cheaper than what you could get at home or through the internet via an on-line quality dealer.

Warranties, repairs and compatability are other concerns which require a lot of research before you go to buy. Unfortunately, taking the word of the merchant about any international warranty seems chancy at best.

To get a better idea of what you are up against see:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294217-i1496-k479鈥?/a>

%26gt;%26gt;I presume you meant THEY forgot to check??

The hidden talk timer is not end-user-resettable. Point being it%26#39;s common for shops in HK to sell customer returns as brand new and often you can%26#39;t tell.

Ah, I was just wondering if you forgot to check it before you left the shop or you meant they forgot to check it before they sold it to you, but I thought it must be you because it%26#39;s not resettable anyway, (and they assumed that you didn%26#39;t have the knowledge to check) and they couldn%26#39;t have done anything about it presumably. No criticism intended. Just clarification. I presume all this hoo ha is to avoid giving huge discount because it%26#39;s been used?