Buying a laptop in Japan

[hoyteamx]

Hi everyone,

Our laptops had it! I`m living in Japan at the moment and was wondering if there might be any problems if I picked a new one up locally and brought it back to the UK. Any problems with software compatibility? If I get one with a Japanese Vista would I be able to install an english version of Office? How about games?

Any minimum spec if I want to partition the HDD at a later date (ideally we`d like to have the English windows for me and the Japanese windows for the Mrs)

I`m looking for any unexpected hurdles so any advice is much appreciated.

[kryss]

I have the english versions of OO and Opera on my fujitsu, no problems.
They make games for computers these days??

If you have Vista Ultimate you can have multiple languages without needing a second version installed. Or you could use a Linux build which does the same but doesn't cost.

If you get one from BIC camera you can get 10% (or more) back in points) to spend on games...just a thought like.

[r3z]

I picked up a Vaio TX last year.. much, much cheaper than the Euro model (still expensive tho!) and the Sony Owner-Made service is great.

I've been using Vista Premium JP-version with mostly English software (inc. Office) for about 18 months without many problems, the main thing is some English software won't like it if you use files/paths with folders or files named in Japanese characters.. also it was a bit bizarre when I went back to the UK last year and after I changed the region part of the system settings and shortcuts in start menu/etc started changing themselves over to English at randomn (actually, I'm back in Japan now but they haven't gone back to Japanese).

[hoyteamx]

Cheers for the advice.

Seems I don`t have too much to worry about. I`ll have to do the rounds of the electronic stores around here. I addicted to Yamadadenki points at the moment but they didn`t have many options when I went in there last. Unfortunately there`s no BIC near here. No doubt I`ll have more questions after I`ve had a good look around.

Is it only Vista Ultimate edition that lets you change the language?

[r3z]

Yeah, if you need it it'd probably be best to get Ultimate pre-installed as it costs 20,000 yen to upgrade from Home Premium (25,000 from Home Basic) using the Anytime Upgrade service.
If you get a Sony then they now seem to offer Ultimate as an upgrade option on Owner-Made for about 15,000 but at the time I bought it wasn't available so I didn't bother with it.

[noobish hat]

When I was looking around for one in Akihabara a while back, every place I went offered the machine with the English version installed. Without me even asking. The racist bastards.

[kryss]

What can you do eh?
I'd be more annoyed at the fact that the computers with English Windows seem to be >30% more expensive.

[noobish hat]

I'd be more annoyed that I spent £200 on it, the screen was ****ed, and when I tried to sell it on 10 months later when I left Japan, I got £30 for it.

[r3z]

What computer was that? Sounds like they were trying to sell you the 'international' model (=usually US, did they have English keyboards as well?) which the big stores seem to stock for tourists/foreigners, and that as kryss said are considerably more expensive (although 200 quid doesn't seem so bad!) - partly because they generally have an 'international warranty' - which they would usually emphasize the JP one does not - so you should have been ok to get it repaired in the UK unless it was some obscure JP/Chinese brand (who generally wouldn't offer an English option in the first place).

In fact, speaking from my experience with Sony Owner-Made again (although I think other manufacturers offer it too), they give you the option to get a US keyboard instead of JP also, so with Vista Ultimate installed to set the OS to English as well the JP version would appear pretty much the same as the US model for less. However, it might be worth noting that even with Vista Ultimate, non-OS related pre-installed software would still be in Japanese.

[kryss]

200 quid and you sold it on for 30 almost a year later? I don't see a problem there. Although obviously if the screen was screwed that makes a big difference, though you still managed to sell it on...Hmm. My Fujitsu laptop was 130'000yen and my Kohjinsha was 120'000yen (both with 15% back in BIC points = 6 free DS games) but 200 quid for 10 months is probably cheaper than what you would have paid in a manga-kissa for the use, and you get spared from semen-covered desktops.

[noobish hat]

Well it was some manky old Toshiba or something, Japanese keyboard but with English windows installed, but it wasn't a new model or anything. I guess you're right Kryss, but a lot of things kind of annoyed me. Like I spent ages trying to find a standard CRT tv and when I did it was £50! I found out about a week later that my next door neighbour had bought the exact same model for a hundred yen. When you're first in Japan you have most need of these things, but that's when you have the least knowledge. Which is a bitch.

[r3z]

Ah. if it was chuuko then they probably want to try and offload whatever machines they've got with English OS first if they see a foreigner come in.

[Salsa Party Animal]

So how can you type in english with japanese fonts and keyboard.

[noobish hat]

Japanese keyboards are basically the same layout as an English keyboard but with kana also on the keys. Even the Japanese software will allow you to type in English. They wouldn't get very far with just Japanese ****, how do you think they'd enter URLs?

edit: why is **** censored?

edit: ****! they did it again. what about lolz?

edit: ahhh

[chaoticjelly]

I've watched someone I know type Japanese on a normal UK laptop. He changes the language to Japanese in the settings, and then types the romaji in, and I think it turns it into kanji or am I way off?