[UNESCO]

I'm going to be leaving for Japan in a week (8 month teaching contract) and am wondering what other Head-fi members experienced with Japanese gear. Stereotypically, Japan is always associated with the latest gadgets packed full of features and advancements not yet available in North America.

Specifically, I'm looking at buying a P&S digital camera (mine just died), and a laptop. Any first-hand experiences with pricing and availability would be greatly appreciated!

 

[jjcha]

The stereotypes aren't as true as you would think. Pretty much all digital cameras are sold in both Japan and the US -- nothing too special there (Sony may have a few Sony Style Japan only colours though.) Prices are often cheaper here in the US, so I'd price compare first if I were you. This depends more on taxes/exchange rates and whatnot than anything else.

There are often more models of laptops in Japan than in the States, and they come out there earlier. But be aware that when buying a Japanese laptop, it'll have a Japanese style keyboard (you'll learn the joys of this as soon as you get there -- example the @ button isn't by pressing shift-two, but is totally elsewhere on the keyboard) and will come with Japanese operating software. For a Mac, I wouldn't worry about this really, but for windows, at least with XP, you can't set the Japanese OS to be entirely in English. So unless you want to install print drivers and the like entirely in Japanese, I'd avoid.

You can get international (US) versions of laptops in Japan, but then you have a much smaller selection than what you'd get here. I'd imagine prices aren't much better, and are prob worse in many cases.

Bottom line? For a few things, like Stax headphones or certain gadgets (I remember mini-disc), yes Japan is better, but for most stuff you'd want to buy, it's a safe bet you'd want the US version a lot of the time.

Best regards,

-Jason

 

[Assorted]

The extremely small laptops are always released earlier or exclusively in Japan. But performance wise, there's nothing wrong with US models. Like jjcha said, this is especially true of laptops and digi-cams.

But if you want those cool and wicked gadgets that you won't find in North America, that's a different story.

They also have a wider selection of and cooler cellphones. For example, my grandfather in Japan uses a video cellphone and text/email me from his cellphone. He also keeps a number of small things that I don't know what it quite does, but it looks so cool! Yes that's vague, but I'm just giving the idea.

 

[Zorander]

What about AT headphones? Are they cheaper in Japan?

 

[UNESCO]

thanks guys (esp. Jason), I'll soon see for myself but it's nice to have some people's opinions beforehand.
I'm going to bring my own English version of Vista x64 over with me to just install over any Japanese OS that comes pre-installed with a laptop. It's the ultraportables I'm interested in although if the pricing isn't too different (if anything at all) that's a bit of a bummer

What kind of gadgets would they have over there we wouldn't have access to here Assorted? I know their cell phones don't work on GSM/CDMA networks so bringing one back isn't really an option but it's the things that just don't exist over here that seem the most interesting.

If anyone from Head-fi is curious about pricing for Japanese-only or domestic brands (like AT) I'll try to find a few shops and post about the pricing over there. Maybe a group buy?

 

[Zorander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by UNESCO /img/forum/go_quote.gif If anyone from Head-fi is curious about pricing for Japanese-only or domestic brands (like AT) I'll try to find a few shops and post about the pricing over there. Maybe a group buy?

You sure you will have enough weight allowance for them?

 

[krmathis]

I think we can say it pretty simple:
Japanese made gear are usually less expensive in Japan that abroad.

I only have first-hand experience with buying headphones from Japan. But I figure other items (cameras, computers, etc.) are equally less expensive.

 

[rxc]

I think pricing is about the same here and in the U.S.

Availability depends on where you're teaching, the countryside won't have the variety available in Tokyo.