Originally posted by: Paine
I'm going to Hong Kong in a week for Chinese New Year, and I was hoping to get some questions answered about purchasing hardware there:
1) Should I be able to find an 8800 (hopefully a GT or GTS) for less money than if I were to buy it here in the States?
2) Will hardware that I buy in Hong Kong (not custom stuff, brand name) be identical to hardware I would buy over here?
3) Does anyone have suggestions for good places to go for hardware in Hong Kong (preferably on the subway)?
It's been a couple of years since I was in HK, so I don't know about current prices but my guess is you could get a better price than newegg as long as you're very good at haggling. Knowing cantonese would give you a lot better chance of getting a good price as well, but you can get by with English. They have a lot of local brands for components like video cards, but they're all based on reference designs so you'll be alright. The larger brands (asus etc) will be there, but will typically be more expensive than the local-name ones.
I used to get my stuff at the Mongkok Computer Centre on Nelson Street in Mongkok, (it's close to the "Ladies Market") but there's also the 'golden computer center' in Sham Shui Po which is supposed to be bigger and better. Nelson Street was only a couple of blocks from the Mongkok MTR station and the KCR which was easier for me, and is in a more touristy area.
If you've never been over there before, you probably won't believe your eyes in the computer markets. It's literally dozens of mall stores/stalls with very narrow aisles in between. The store might be able to test the stuff you're buying, or they might send you to a nearby office building where they can verify it (at least that's what happened when I bought a shuttle XPC.)
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