When I went a few years ago.
Comp stuff: There's plenty of low-end computer stuff - but it isn't cheap and the high-end stuff is either not on the shelves, or is cheaper back home. There is absolutely loads of absolute bargain-bin stuff; low-end flash drives, crap DVD drives, low-end graphics (Modern equivalent would probably be GeForce 7100 or 7300), etc. All in all, it's unlikely that you'll find anything worth buying. Of course, if you want pirate stuff, there's plenty of people selling 'Copy CD, five hundred dollar' (Approx US$15). However, if I was going to pay for pirate stuff, I sure as heck wouldn't pay that much.
Jewellery: There are plenty of fakes, some better than others. My Dad got quite a nice fake rolex for about $30. Looked good, kept good time and built reasonably. However, the vast majority of the fakes were absolute crap quality (glaring spelling mistakes, gold plate that comes off in your hand, glass on crooked).
You can get quite nice Chinese gold jewellery and it's not overly expensive. Make sure you get it from a decent shop, ideally recommended by a local. Be very careful if you go to the less salubrious areas, or the street markets, as there are crooks just waiting to rip you off with worthless fakes. Beware of tourist guides that take you shopping, they often choose overpriced, low quality stores, presumably because of kick-backs.
Cell phones: Taiwan uses GSM, so only expect to get GSM phones. When I went the technology wasn't quite as good, and the Chinese firmware was a limitation as not all phones had English display support. Hopefully, this should be better now. Again, don't expect a bargain, but if you want an unreleased phone or a phone that isn't available in the US, then you may be able to find something.
Comp stuff: There's plenty of low-end computer stuff - but it isn't cheap and the high-end stuff is either not on the shelves, or is cheaper back home. There is absolutely loads of absolute bargain-bin stuff; low-end flash drives, crap DVD drives, low-end graphics (Modern equivalent would probably be GeForce 7100 or 7300), etc. All in all, it's unlikely that you'll find anything worth buying. Of course, if you want pirate stuff, there's plenty of people selling 'Copy CD, five hundred dollar' (Approx US$15). However, if I was going to pay for pirate stuff, I sure as heck wouldn't pay that much.
Jewellery: There are plenty of fakes, some better than others. My Dad got quite a nice fake rolex for about $30. Looked good, kept good time and built reasonably. However, the vast majority of the fakes were absolute crap quality (glaring spelling mistakes, gold plate that comes off in your hand, glass on crooked).
You can get quite nice Chinese gold jewellery and it's not overly expensive. Make sure you get it from a decent shop, ideally recommended by a local. Be very careful if you go to the less salubrious areas, or the street markets, as there are crooks just waiting to rip you off with worthless fakes. Beware of tourist guides that take you shopping, they often choose overpriced, low quality stores, presumably because of kick-backs.
Cell phones: Taiwan uses GSM, so only expect to get GSM phones. When I went the technology wasn't quite as good, and the Chinese firmware was a limitation as not all phones had English display support. Hopefully, this should be better now. Again, don't expect a bargain, but if you want an unreleased phone or a phone that isn't available in the US, then you may be able to find something.
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