Travelling to Canada!! *Questions*

Hi everyone!

End of this year mid-november I'm flying over to Canada to present at an international engineering conference in Vancouver. I've heard from some that Canada is in fact a good place for shopping! So since I've been wanting to buy a portable laptop with good battery life and decent performance (M11x comes to mind, love that machine), I was considering buying it while I'm at Vancouver!

So question is..... being a complete noob from a terrible shopping paradise New Zealand, how should I go about shopping in Canada (recommended stores, online shopping, etc). If prices are good then I might pick up an M11x even (I don't mind if it's REFURBISHED, but feel free to talk me out of it )

Thanks in advance.

 

Hehe...Dubai always struck me as >THE< place to shop, Hong Kong not being too bad either.

Not sure though if prices will be much different than NZ...

 

Ive travelled to winnipeg, canada multiple times over the years.

Comparing to Australian prices some things are cheaper but usually not by much.
Example talking alienware laptops some of them come down to only about 100-200bucks cheaper after you do the currency conversion.

See how you go however.

I just checked dell.ca vs dell.com.au and specced the same laptop i could then compared the prices.

 

I always though it was the opposite, most things are cheaper in the States then in Canada :S

A lot less taxes

 

but he didn't say he was stopping in the US...

 

If you're in Canada and want to buy a bunch of stuff, see if you can hop over to Alberta (the next province to the east). BC has 12% sales tax (5% federal + 7% provincial). Alberta is only 5% (no provincial tax). Better yet, go south to Oregon -- no sales taxes and the US usually has lower prices than Canada.

Crunch the numbers though, because if you're just looking to pick up a laptop the extra time and travel might not be worth it. Also, I would check to see if you'll have any warranty coverage when you get back home.

 

The only place you can get a M11x would be in store at Future Shop or Best Buy. You can also order it online and have it shipped to your hotel.


However, prices here for the M11x suck. The SU7300 is $1100+ then you add tax. You can get a refurb i5 from the US store for $900 or less. The Canadian Dell Outlet store doesn't even carry Alienware notebooks, just Latitudes, Inspirons and the odd Studio or two. I can't even find the i3/i5 version on the Dell website, you probably have to call in to their sales to order it.

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/prod...aspx?path=9b6208f71a2fb79653c9723ea00935b8en0
http://www.dell.com/ca/p/alienware-m11x/pd


Vancouver is great for shopping, you just have to cross the border into Seattle....

 

Sometimes you can find a good deal or similar priced laptop in Canada as in US. Go to .ca, .com and .nz websites of the brand names and do price comparison. Redflagdeals.com is a good forum for general Canada based deals. Maybe you can make a post there about the things you are interested in shopping for. Shops that carry laptops:
ncix.com (online)
newegg.ca (online)
futureshop.ca
bestbuy.ca
londondrugs.com
sony style (i think sony at one of above stores might be cheaper)

dfsdirect (refurbished Inspirons)
auction4it (open box dell)

I suggest when you are in Vancouver you finish your shopping quickly and spend more of your time exploring the area.

 

if we are going to do some shopping, we usually go to Seattle(2hrs drive), much cheaper over there. It is what most people do over here ... specially on long weekends.

for an alienware i think you can check out futureshop ...
i jsut ordered mine from dell.ca ... 2-3 weeks before i got it.

 

Nice to wake up and see so many replies! you guys are awesome.

Thanks for all the suggestions and feedback, unfortunately during my 9 day stay at Vancouver I cannot leave the city because the conference is everyday lol. I've done some price comparison prior to posting this thread (comparing dell websites) and yea Dell USA does seem to have an unbeatable price.

Just had a look at all the websites kindly recommended by coriolis and NBRreader. Hmm nothing really catches my eyes.... I would primary like a good M11x deal (even if it's purchased second hand with warranty), I've also considered ASUS 1215PN (cheap, 12", but not powerful) and Acer TimelineX 3820TG (cheap, 13", ATi5650, 8hrs battery, but I hate the brand...). If only other manufacturers start to make more 13" with good switchable graphics card and good battery life like the Acer.

Feel free to post more recommendations! Cheers.

 

The 3820TG isn't available here sadly, just the 5470 version.

 

Since you are ok with second hand so maybe monitor vancouver, BC computers & tech classifieds "m11x" - craigslist