US has the best prices worldwide
t. in Taiwan and been looking at hardware literally made in a factory down the road

>>2860789
It's ridiculous that this is true. But it is true. It's likely a consequence of countries setting prices in USD, and then they set local prices on a higher price in order to account for currency shifts. For example, 1 USD is currently about 31 Taiwan dollars. But when setting prices, they might calculate the price as 1 USD = 36 Taiwan dollars, so they have leeway for currency fluctuation. But never under any circumstance will they go the other direction and set it downwards, even if a currency is rapidly strengthening. So you'll get weird shit where 1 USD might be 24 TWD, but the prices were set based on 1 USD = 36 TWD a year ago so prices are 50% higher than they should be.

>>2860789
thanks for your input but that isn't really what I asked, I want to go somewhere 'nearby' and shop for it in person, and other electronics.

anything is better than philippines with its 30%-45% tariffs
is there a standout electronics district in taiwan?

>>2860800
Ok well Taiwan prices are alright and it's a quick trip for you but just saying if you want the cheapest it's US or online.
Anything in SG is going to have the rent+wages tax, just fucking go for a day over the border like every sinkie does to buy everything
Thailand has the sales tax refund which will get you 7% back, when I was there looked like the same price as TW though

>>2860800
>missed your last sentence
bro there's an entire fucking suburb of computer stores with a big mall

I know Hong Kong used to be the place for electronics. Not sure how true it is anymore.

>>2860793
I think it's just the huge market of the US enables massive wholesale discounts and then everyone else has to compete with that

>>2860785
>or Taiwan
just go Taiwan and get some of their meme food there. You're pretty much going to be paying international retail pricing for something like a laptop, so you might as well just pick one. Manila has some cool stores that can get you MSI or Asus laptops so just go with that. Taiwan may have a larger selection, but you're doing all that for some laptop? You'll end up paying more traveling around like a tard instead of just getting a laptop in Manila.

>>2860807
sweet, I'll go find out
>>2860825
You are so hostile and looking for conflict its past the point of satire.

I said I want to enjoy a little 2-3 day shopping trip along with avoiding the insane electronics tariffs prices in the philippines. That's the point of the thread. The thread title isn't
>help me find a reason to shop in the Philippines
or
>convince me not to fly to a nearby country to go shopping

If you don't have advice or don't like the topic, just mind your own business. It's so easy, you just do nothing.

>>2860834
>spoonfeed
So it's Zhongxiao Xinsheng station you want to get off. GuangHua is the actual mall but a bit away from the station. Get on an youbike at the station and dump it at the mall.
The mall is cool to checkout but for laptops don't even bother. If you into other electronics like radios, audio and robot shit it does actually have some good deals.
For computers you want to try all the street level retail stores surrounding it.
All these stores in a 500m radius are computer stores. Nearly all are local aunties and uncles with a bunch of random stock. And I mean fucking random. You'll understand if you go.
I wentrecently trying to find some good memory stick deals like a crack fiend but I was too late.

https://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002090&id=6794

>>2860838
sweet thanks, that type of environment is what I want to shop in

>>2860785
China prolly

>>2860839
Stick to the local stores
For laptop/desktop the mall seems to be good for repairs but because it's a magnet for tourists the prices are silly
You could probably walk in the mall and negotiate down telling them but I don't have the energy to deal with haggling and not everyone speaks English, so either give a good price or don't is how I see it

>>2860843
I've never been to Malaysia, this is tempting also

>buy a $150 roundtrip flight to KUL
>ride high-speed rail to city center (can't do that in Manila)
>buy laptop
>go hiking in the rainforest (can't do that in Manila)
>go back to your Philippine shithole with your new laptop
>second-guess your decision to return until some slumrat sends you a "daddy" message (can't get that in KL)
Malaysia and Singapore are the top two choices for electronics shopping in Asia. Source: Asian professionals who travel frequently

>>2860852
this post speaks to me on a personal level, so I think this will be my itinerary

Go to the Shenzhen market and build your own.

>>2860852
>high-speed rail
>Malaysia
gay and fake
150km/hr on that thing is not fucking HSR

>>2860987
160 km/h is faster than you can legally drive on an expressway. So yes, it is high speed.

>>2860987
>locally racist SEAgook angst
nobody cares, you are all the same to us

>>2861107
Lad do you even Malaysia?
I get overtaken on the highway at 160km/km

>>2860843
>travel 2 hours to a clean nice city
>travel 4 hours to a dumpster fire muslim shithole
>pay the same amount in each
hmmm tough one here for OP

>>2861251
>>travel 2 hours to a clean nice city
>>travel 4 hours to a dumpster fire muslim shithole
>>pay the same amount in each
>hmmm tough one here for OP
eh? what are you even going on about
i suggested a place to buy a laptop. didn't suggest he ups sticks and moves here
low yat is like 7 floors of IT related shops, you can find pretty much anything there in one place. people come to kl from other countries just to go there
also i have no idea what you are referring to when you say "clean nice city". the only remotely "clean nice" place mentioned in this entire stupid thread is singapore and the poor mouthbreathers on here tend to hate it

>>2860785
Prices in "PC Central" in the Philippines are pretty decent. They have a Facebook page. Take a look before you fly.

I once needed to buy a laptop when I was in Thailand but the selection wasn't great because all the keyboards were Thai style. How you gonna deal with that? You want some laptop with gook symbols on the keyboard?

>hello /trv/ where should I go that isn't too far for a small trip and some electronics shopping?
>SIR PLEASE SHOP MANILA PO SIR
>SIR TRY PC CENTRAL PO
is it just me or are filipinos becoming as annoying as indians?

>>2861372
I looked at laptops in thailand before but only some of them had thai symbols. I want a big electronics district so I can enjoy shopping and find something I like that suits my needs. Low Yat sounds interesting. I like big tech-hive shopping areas.

>>2861277
Singapore is jeetfilled trash what the fuck are you on about
Go to any suburb and it's filled with infinite Bangladeshis all night sitting in the street
Taipei is clean as fuck and sans indians

>>2861432
This. They just loiter in the evening. It's creepy and they are everywhere. Fuck any country that uses Indians as their labor, I don't want to see that shit.

>>2861432
sweet fucking jesus why can't anyone ask a question on here without some hostile twat posting shit like this
>Taipei is clean as fuck and sans indians
nope. i have worked in taipei. big tech companies there import teams of pajeets to do testing and stuff. you probably never noticed them because they were at work while you were walking around, and you didn't go to the places where they live.
also there are tons of indian restaurants in taipei and they are not run by locals. especially at the cheap end, they mainly serve indian expats.

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>>2861458
>Fuck any country that uses Indians as their labor
That's most of them, unfortunately. The only countries that don't use Indians for labor are the ones that are somehow worse than India.

>>2861469
>big tech companies there import teams of pajeets to do testing and stuff.
Oh dear mother of god.

>>2861405
I was just trying to help. What the hell is wrong with you.

>>2861405
Funny you use Indians when you reference the annoying ones when it's the Americans and Europeans that are extremely annoying in the Philippines. Indians and Africans are extremely well mannered here. Leave and never come back please. We don't need you.

>>2861560
>it's the Americans and Europeans that are extremely annoying in the Philippines.
I agree.

>Indians and Africans are extremely well mannered here.
I disagree. Good luck trying to convince anyone here that this is the truth.

>Leave and never come back please. We don't need you.
I agree. Let's see how well the Philippine economy does without foreign money.

>>2861251
Taipei is more expensive than KL in every way. KL is multicultural, so inevitably it will make /pol/brains seethe. Taipei is cold and gray and wet this time of year. No fun to visit. KL is much more English-fluent than Taipei as well. Both are sprawl hells desu, but I haven't explored enough of Taipei to say if it has neighborhoods that mog the go-to districts of KL. Taipei was simply too goddamn expensive to stay in.

>>2861560
>illiterate begging monkey outs himself
Lmao so gross

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>>2861597
I'm paying about $30 a night in Ximen hotels right now, no idea what you are talking about, and this is right on the eve of CNY
Yeah its cold this time but the lowest is 14 degrees, average day is 24, perfectly manageable, KL is oppressive heat 365 days a year
You can eat insanely cheap also, on par with Malaysia. I stagger into those economy buffet restaurants and pay $4 for a massive feed

>>2861458
I've stayed all along that line from the airport to the city in various suburbs and it's every fucking night, just hordes come out once the sun goes down.
It's not dangerous or anything just depressing, and theres never any women in the street so all you see is brown dudes for hours.
If there's Indians in Taiwan they're working skilled jobs and definitely not spending 6 hours in the street on their phone every night.
I really enjoy Little India though, amusingly you won't see that shit there.

>Visit asia
>Be surprised to find other asians already there
You people are complete fucknuts

I have a similar predicament. Rather than a laptop, I'm looking for a smartphone. Should the same suggestions work just fine, or would you recommend any different countries for that?

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>>2861469
Absolutely delusional
>>2861864

>>2860785
hong kong. maybe if you can't get a deal there cross into shenzhen if you can manage it. taiwan doesn't have any bargains. hong kong does. shenzhen cheaper than hong kong but you need to be able to do it.

>>2861816
>$30 a night in Ximen hotels
what are the walls like? that is a pretty cheap hotel, cheaper than i have ever stayed in in taipei. can you hear the people in the room next to you? that seems to be a common complaint of taiwanese hotels.

>>2863015

Fyi I'm staying in a spacious, comfortable and quiet airbnb in banqiao (10 mins from ximen ) for $11 a night lol

>>2863012
I'm banned from China for another 9 years so not possible

>>2863015
Rarely hear much, you have to be really loud, those Ximen buildings are built like fortresses unless there's been recent development, the windows are dismal though
I have Taiwanese people say they don't care about windows and laugh but every room with a basic account of sunlight apparently is worth 500 bucks more a night so the words clearly doesn't line up with market prices

>>2863071
>when Winnie the Pooh memes go wrong

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Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore are generally considered the best places for buying electronics in Southeast Asia, offering a mix of competitive pricing, wide selection, and, in some cases, tax refunds for tourists. Bangkok, Thailand, is particularly noted for having lower prices on branded gadgets, sometimes 30-40% cheaper.

>>2863160
>@grok

>>2863071
>>2863079
I'm more surprised that it's a ban and not an outright prison sentence. What the hell actually happened?

I'm headed to malaysia in a few days boys. I had to delay the trip a bit because of the start of chinese new year overlapping with ramadan makes for too much chaos. I look foward to checking out the huge tech mall.

>>2863306
Domestic violence dispute with my crazy ex
>flies into jealous rage over some shit
>hits me and gouges me with her nails, cuts all over my cheeks
>slap the shit out of her to get her off me
>she takes picture of herself with nosebleed and crying and begins livestreaming screaming and crying to her mother
>get arrested (I thought I was fucked at this point)
>talk to guy at station explain what happened
>talk to embassy, advised don't take it to court just accept deportation
>embassy talks to guy at station
>stay overnight in jail
>get told in the morning to go pack my shit and get ready to leave, my visa has been revoked and I'm on a flight out tomorrow or next day
>also I'm on house arrest until then, and will be taken to the airport by a plain clothes officers
>what can I do, I pack my shit
>go with officer in the morning to the airport and get kept in some sort of holding area and then escorted onto the plane, then he leaves
>destination LA
overall it was pretty efficient, I was expecting to rot in jail for at least a week, but they kicked me out just like that

Mission accomplished, but at what cost?

Prices jumped 25% in a week as I was planning my trip, and nobody would match MSRP.

All I can say is that this is not a sustainable situation. Consumer electronics need to be available to consumers. Perhaps a dark age of stagnant or slideback is coming for accessible processing power at home.

>>2860800
Ask a military guy to buy a thing you want at his military supply store thing, plenty of them in Asia vacationing around when on leave. Beware that if you bring that product home you'll have to use seek out warranty issues with the Asian branch rather than the American one.

>>2860785
Ciudad del Este in Paraguay is the best place to buy tech for cheap