How many electronic gadgets do you have in your bag? At home? On your desk at the office? In your car? Not counting of course the electronic thingamajigs that are part of your car?
The way we “consume” technology dictates that we find a way to get the best deals on gadgets. Time was when we scramble to get bargains overseas to shave off high import costs. So my eyes widened a little bit when Augustus J.V. Ferreria, executive vice-president of Generali Pilipinas and a financial planning educator gave this tip: stop buying gadgets overseas.
He has a point. Several, in fact. It’s complicated, not to mention expensive, to return an item in case it’s defective. You’ll also find yourself in a bind if the gadget conks out a few weeks after, and you don’t have an international warranty. Sometimes, even if the manufacturer has local dealers who provide services here, it has to ship the gadgets abroad for fixing.
I found out that Joe was right, the hard way.
It all began when I was covering a press conference a few months ago. As I was taking out my good old trusty recorder – almost a friend who has witnessed all my interviews for many years now – these young reporters whipped out their digital recorders. I felt like an ageing journalist as I wryly looked at my beloved recorder!
So, when my mom who was coming home from Canada asked me what I wanted as pasalubong, I asked for an MP3 or MP4 player that has the capability to record interviews on a microchip instead of on a tape. Creative’s Zen gadget was a fraction of the size of my recorder, and at 4 gigabytes, it only cost more or less $100. The more important consideration, I thought, was that I could now preserve my recorded interviews. I had already lost that one-on-one interview with Nobel Prize winner Mohammad Yunus to mold and mildew.
Unfortunately, Zen’s Media Explorer program proved to be useless and I wanted to exchange the gadget for a Samsung, even at a higher price. “No problem,” the store in Canada said in reply to an email. They have a very nice return policy, but boohoo for me, the shipping charges are prohibitive. It would be much cheaper to buy a new one here.
Money myth buster tip on buying gadgets abroad: CONFIRMED.
November 13th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Please advice where to buy gadgets that ships in the philippines. I already dealt with dealextreme.com im looking for a similar website..
October 19th, 2007 at 10:44 am
html was stripped off so just to clear things up in the previous post…
1. what do you need it for and how long will you be making use of it? in Salve’s case, she really does need it and she will definitely be making use of it for a long time so that leads to the next points…
2. do reviews from reputable sources sum up to something favorable? such reviews can easily be obtained from the internet or even peers who have been using similar products for some time already. take note of discrepancies between product specifications from the company’s website or brochures against related points mentioned in such reviews.
3. if you really need it for the long term then find out the reputation of the manufacturer. among related details include market share, feedback on customer service and impression on previous products. these would help you gauge if the manufacturer would be able to stay around long enough to provide customers with firmware upgrades, (for products such as cellphones) and support, (for products such as laptops and digicams.)
October 19th, 2007 at 10:40 am
“Sometimes, even if the manufacturer has local dealers who provide services here, it has to ship the gadgets abroad for fixing.”
- acer has a local service center here in the philippines and my friend didn’t have a problem availing of the international warranty they offered.
an important thing to learn here is just like mutual funds and financial instruments, it pays to do research before getting a gadget. on top of having a local service center you can easily go to, get to know these things:
what do you need it for and how long will you be making use of it? in Salve’s case, she really does need it and she will definitely be making use of it for a long time so that leads to the next points…
do reviews from reputable sources sum up to something favorable? such reviews can easily be obtained from the internet or even peers who have been using similar products for some time already. take note of discrepancies between product specifications from the company’s website or brochures against related points mentioned in such reviews.
if you really need it for the long term then find out the reputation of the manufacturer. among related details include market share, feedback on customer service and impression on previous products. these would help you gauge if the manufacturer would be able to stay around long enough to provide customers with firmware upgrades, (for products such as cellphones) and support, (for products such as laptops and digicams.)
technology’s not for everybody that’s why it’s often been described as a major headache. if you’re one without tech know-how, i’d give emphasis to favorable customer service there.
October 18th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
I bought my Sony VAIO laptop in England. It was actually more expensive, but hey, I was earning pound sterling back then. After 1 year, the keyboard broke down. I sent it to a Sony repair centre along EDSA Balintawak. They fixed it after 4 weeks, and they even had to order the parts in Singapore.
Anyway, it’s fixed, and i’m happy now. But for a month, I was really stressed.
Kudos to the Sony Repair centre in EDSA Balintawak. They initially declined to repair my laptop because they are not supporting it yet, but when I insisted, they accepted it. And they did a good job.
October 18th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
If buying gadgets abroad can’t be avoided, make sure to check that the brand is being sold in the Philippines and that they have the same power requirements.
This will minimize the chance of buying unusable products.
Don’t buy because they’re cheap, flashy or portray exclusivity. Chances are they’re only good for display.