Price of a laptop in Vietnam

Thanh6161 wrote:

Can anyone tell me where The best place is to buy a laptop at a decent price in Bien Hoa Vietnam, the only price I have seen is starting out at 16 million Dong.

Depending on the computer specs 16 million Dong might not be a bad price.

Thanks for the info.

Thanh6161 is correct. Electronics are generally more expensive here in Vietnam than they are in, let's say America where I'm from for example.

drutter wrote:

Thanh6161 is correct. Electronics are generally more expensive here in Vietnam than they are in, let's say America where I'm from for example.

Probably find most are made here locally by foreign companies, that then by law have to export them to say Singapore to avoid taxes... Then re-imported. Seems crazy to me.

You also have to budget for retailers inflated markups. I looked at buying the PS5 from a well known shop here... Double the price because it's from Japan... Even though the console is the same spec everywhere. Sure shortages do push prices up.

What do you need the laptop for ? Depending on demand you might find cheaper.

Lets us know. .. might see or know a cheaper shop

drutter wrote:

Thanh6161 is correct. Electronics are generally more expensive here in Vietnam than they are in, let's say America where I'm from for example.

I bought an ACER Aspire 3 laptop here 8 months back, cost 11.5 mil VND & does me fine. Same laptop spec in UK best price I can see 349 gbp so I for one wont be losing sleep over 1 mil VND extra at official exchange rate.

Strip out the import duties and I think the laptop in Vietnam may cost the same or maybe even less than in most western countries.

Spotted a couple of i3 spec machines with 4gb ram, 128gb SSDs earlier today for 10 million, so it's doable. They won't be suitable for heavy loads like going. But general office work, streaming and movies are all covered.

Is mail order a thing over there and, if it is, are the companies reliable (Not likely to run away with your cash) ?

Fred wrote:

Is mail order a thing over there and, if it is, are the companies reliable (Not likely to run away with your cash) ?

It's a brave person who buys something like that on line for delivery. Even big stores here and the risks of damaged during delivery are too high

Jlgarbutt wrote:

Fred wrote:

Is mail order a thing over there and, if it is, are the companies reliable (Not likely to run away with your cash) ?

It's a brave person who buys something like that on line for delivery. Even big stores here and the risks of damaged during delivery are too high

Being brave & full of confidence & having just (in the last 2 weeks) had 2 computer cases smashed on delivery I would offer this advice, look on Cho Tot, Shopee, Lazada or your favourite online shopping site, look at their online store, grab the name and put it in google maps and get the actual location and phone number, call them if have a vn speaker, or send a message and wait for an answer in english,, say you want pick up and go get it.

Check it out and bring it home.

Most big online stores have a shop you can go to, secondhand  sellers may or may not.

If its major store like Halo, dienmayxanh, TNC, PCBIENHOA etc then delivery is no problem they are big sellers and will sort anything out as they dont want a bad rep, I bought a case which was smashed on delivery, changed no questions asked.

If unsure to get delivery and the hassle then go in store and pick up.

Recap:
Look on line for good price, look for their store on google maps, contact or go in buy enjoy.

Dont speak VN and need help then send a PM what you have found and where and I'll try to help.

Just buying for my grandson to use to continue his education there he is 10.

Thanks

Thanh6161 wrote:

Just buying for my grandson to use to continue his education there he is 10.

Consider a Chromebook rather than Windows, especially if his school uses Google's software.
The things are amazing and don't suffer from Microsoft.

Updates - 22 seconds every time

Fred wrote:

Thanh6161 wrote:

Just buying for my grandson to use to continue his education there he is 10.

Consider a Chromebook rather than Windows, especially if his school uses Google's software.
The things are amazing and don't suffer from Microsoft.

Updates - 22 seconds every time

Remember that Chromebook only works if his school has WiFi.  Without WiFi is is a brick.

If you ‘re talking 16m VN Dong - which if I did the math right thats about $700 USD. For a MacBook that’s a virtual steal. I would question if you could actually get a new one for that price. In the States they’re well more than double that. Pay the 16m and run and I mean run fast!

Thanh6161 wrote:

Just buying for my grandson to use to continue his education there he is 10.

Ok, just spotted the age of your grandson, at that age anything 11 mill up would be fine.
Our eldest is 14 and most he uses for school work is online lessons looking at diagrams, videos, lesson plans, word, etc he is using a 2015 i5 we bought secondhand for 4.5mill so you dont need much apart from decent size screen, wifi and maybe headphones so he can hear the teacher clearly.
The twins aged 7 use my old lenovo 100s think pad which is low spec and they di all their online schooling no problem.
Like GOB  said a computer around his specs would be fine.

Kjmwest wrote:

If you ‘re talking 16m VN Dong - which if I did the math right thats about $700 USD. For a MacBook that’s a virtual steal. I would question if you could actually get a new one for that price. In the States they’re well more than double that. Pay the 16m and run and I mean run fast!

I don't think anyone mentioned Apple.   The least expensive Apple laptop, the Air, is $999.  It is only very rarely discounted and even then only a bit.   The Macbook Pro 13 inch starts at $1299 and moves up from there as you add features.

Windows based laptops are a lot less than Apple in the US.   The Acer Aspire 3 (Intel i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) similar to the one purchased by goodolboy can be bought on Amazon for $339 which is less than the British price that he quoted and a little over 8 million VND equivalent.  I have been told by others that computers are not particularly cheap in AU either.   Acer is a Taiwanese company so shipping to Asian countries is hardly a factor. 

Could it be that the US is the only major country that does not add duties to laptops?

THIGV wrote:

Fred wrote:

Thanh6161 wrote:

Just buying for my grandson to use to continue his education there he is 10.

Consider a Chromebook rather than Windows, especially if his school uses Google's software.
The things are amazing and don't suffer from Microsoft.

Updates - 22 seconds every time

Remember that Chromebook only works if his school has WiFi.  Without WiFi is is a brick.

Same goes for a PC or mac if it's for online work.

Also, as a Chromebook user, I can confirm that bit about the things having to be online to work is years out of date.
It used to be true, but no longer.
If I want it online outside I usually stuff my phone on it as a modum, but you can happily use a mobile wifi unit or a dongle.
If the school doesn't have wifi, change schools because the place is clearly rubbish.

Even Cambodia seemed to have lower computer prices than Vietnam
a few years ago anyway.

It largely depends on where you look.. big chain stores usually list higher prices, do some digging and you will find cheaper.

And the all-important specification. As each generational step of CPU or GPU comes out, previous spec ones get cheaper. In the real world the performance gap is not that important

drutter wrote:

Thanh6161 is correct. Electronics are generally more expensive here in Vietnam than they are in, let's say America where I'm from for example.

That's also been my experience shopping for electronics in Việt Nam.

The exception (when I was shopping for an air fryer and a TV) was in purchasing items made in Vietnam or China.

The Hisense TV I purchased was as good as any other TV I've ever had, and substantially cheaper than name brands such as LG, Samsung and Sony.

I wasn't sure if I understood the translation from the salesman, but I think he said that some of the manufacturing process is done in Vietnam (maybe assembly).

I know that the company makes laptops, although I don't know if they are yet sold in Việt Nam.

On a related note (in Đà Nẵng) I was able to get a really good Epiphone dreadnought acoustic guitar--made in China--for about $135 US dollars.

Back in Nashville, Tennessee, where there is a plethora of guitar shops, the same guitar would probably go for close to $300 US dollars.