In today's article I'll talk about why I don't want to purchase my electronics in Japan.
Bringing My Laptop and Kindle
When I first moved to Japan in the year 2016, I was all set with my electronics. I had my 17-inch Toshiba laptop, with a Blu-ray player. I had my Kindle fire, and my cellphone... Which I of course knew I needed to replace when I moved. I held my Kindle fire in my carry-on bag, but my laptop was just too big to fit. Therefore, I had to put it in my check-on bag. It was okay when I arrived in Japan, and I had no problems at all.... Until about my third month here.
Oh Kindle...Why Are You Doing Me Like This
What happened, I'm sure you would like to know. Well... I'm still not for certain. I was using my Kindle fire willy nilly, and then all of a sudden, it started to act buggy. It would glitch all over the place, it would move it's screen, and open apps that I hadn't pressed. It would also move up and down on its own. I was so sad. I like my laptop, but my laptop at that time was so big, and I didn't feel like lugging it around all the time. I DID only pay fifty dollars for my Kindle, so that's why I wasn't too broken up about it. I looked at the one available in Japan, and it about 65 dollars!!! I thought, what the actually h*ll. Why is this one so expensive compared to the one I brought in America! I like to get a deal, aka I’m cheap. So, to this day, I still have my old Kindle. I was soooo frustrated because I had JUST purchased that a few months before, and it was already broken. I do have some theories. I feel that since Japan is so humid, it led to the demise of my Kindle LOL. I threw my Kindle in my luggage and left it there for about a year. I rediscovered it when I was packing to leave Japan to move to the Philippines. I turned it on and... IT WAS WORKING BEAUTIFULLY. No glitches, just a normal Kindle. Of course, that was about a year ago, so it's up to its old tricks again. It's getting worse, so I think it's time for me to buy a new one... But the price to buy in Japan is so ridiculous that I might just wait it out again. Also, if I buy the Japanese one, I won't be able to access the American store to get the apps that I truly want.
My Laptop
I had my laptop for about 8, yes EIGHT years. I loooooved that laptop with all my heart. It had everything that you could need. A big screen, and a DVD player. My screen was so big because my parents bought it for me when I was in university and I didn't have a big TV LOL. So, I had my lovely computer in which I would watch all the shows my heart desired. it had my old papers, and it had Windows that I purchased in university... And the Windows was a GREAT price. But it kept telling me to update to Windows 10, and I heard horror stories, so I just didn't. My computer WOULD shut off SOMETIMES if I had been watching shows for too long, but other than that it was perfect. What happened you ask..
My Theory
My computer was a "house" computer because it was too heavy to carry, and the battery was bad. So, I would just leave it at home. When I moved to the Philippines, I HAD to put my laptop in my check-in luggage. BIG, no, HUGE mistake. In the Philippines, they aren't exactly gentle with one's belongings. I know it's true in probably EVERY country, but I know for d*mn sure that it's true for the Philippines. When I traveled from the US to Japan, my computer was perfectly fine. I used it for the following years. HOWEVER, when I flew from Japan to the Philippines...LAWD. Now, I know you may be thinking that it was an old computer, and it was. My computer turned on once... Just once when I moved to the Philippines. And I saw the reason why. My computer had a crack in it. It was a small crack, but the Lord only knows what a crack can do to an already old computer.
Buying a New Computer
To fix my computer while in Japan, they said it would cost about 500 dollars, the price of a new computer. I wanted to buy a computer from the US rather than Japan. The reason is because I CAN GET A BETTER-QUALITY COMPUTER FOR THE SAME PRICE AS A SH*TTY COMPUTER IN JAPAN. I'm not sure why, but ALL the electronics I see in Japan are way more expensive than in the US!! And no, you're not getting any special features. It's the basics. I wanted to buy a TV; a small USED TV in Japan is 100 dollars. By small, I mean about 18 inches. When I went to Walmart back home, I saw a big ol' TV for 200 dollars, and that wasn't even Black Friday. When I looked on Amazon, I saw big, nice TVs for a good price. When I looked on Amazon Japan...H*ll to the naw is what I thought. It doesn't make sense to me at all. You would think that if it's a Japanese brand that it would be a decent price IN Japan. Nope, you're better off getting it sent from the US. Not to mention that if I get a computer with a DVD player, I won't be about to watch my DVDs from back home anyway. I still need an American DVD player. It's a hassle.
Oh, and it will be programmed in Japanese, just to let you know.
If you HAVE to, then of course go for it. But if not, save yourself the headache and just buy while you're in America, or buy from Amazon. I was luck enough to inheriting my husband’s old Toshiba computer. It was not without its headaches. My husband had to find a way to program the computer to American English. BUT the keys are set to the Japanese way. Therefore, good luck finding the keys. I googled it only once. Now, most of time I just press all the keys to find what I’m looking for. I also had to find the English Firefox and Google Chrome Browser. And don’t even get me started on d*mn Microsoft Word. It was hard, but in the end, I’m happy that I have a computer.
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