Buying home computer - in US or in Canada?

[radhak]

We are visiting my bro-in-law in Toronto the next weekend, and are thinking of buying a computer for them. Dunno notebook or desktop, but most likely desktop. Would not be a high end one. So I am thinking, is it better to buy it there, or buy here and take there?

We'd be flying to Bufallo and driving from there, so I could buy it in Buffallo (to avoid taking it in the flight - wonder how that'd work).

So - is there any 'custom-duty' to be paid? Also, is it worth the hassle? Lastly, what are the better stores in Toronto for such?

[Turaj]

I am not an expert in this area but I understand you may be charged for GST (6%) and Ontario PST (8%). There should not be any duty if the item is made / assembled inthe US. I say you may be charged as it depends how the officer see this (a gift?).

If you have time you may want to check the prices at "FutureShop.ca", "BestBuy.ca" or "Staples.ca" to get an idea for Canadian prices.

One last thing, most items purchased in US do not have any Canadian warranty.

Good luck! BTW, which part of Toronto are you going to be staying?

[radhak]

Wow - FutureShop seems to be pretty good, I might not need worry buying it here. The warranty might be needed as they don't have anybody able to fix even minor stuff at home... Thanks a lot!

They are living in Missisauga (L4X2M8), am told close to Toronto?

[LCHIEN]

It might be better to buy in Canada if its a gift of a complex electronic item.
If it needs replacement for DOA or failure within a few days, then he would be able to trade it locally. If it fails later, then you may have warranty issues.

[radhak]

I agree about the warranty and post-purchase liability - I want this to be a gift given-and-forgotten (by me, ie), not one for which I would be 'responsible' even later .

A friend gave me a bit of info that's news to me - says i can get refund on whatever 'sales tax' i pay while in Canada. ie, if i buy anything in Toronto, the 7 / 8% tax that i pay at the store, i get repaid by the Canadian govt if i put in a claim once i cross the border back to the US (or apply from here).

Need to google for that now; seems funny; i assume it must not apply to food and grocery...

[brecklundin]

We are visiting my bro-in-law in Toronto the next weekend, and are thinking of buying a computer for them. Dunno notebook or desktop, but most likely desktop. Would not be a high end one. So I am thinking, is it better to buy it there, or buy here and take there?

We'd be flying to Bufallo and driving from there, so I could buy it in Buffallo (to avoid taking it in the flight - wonder how that'd work).

So - is there any 'custom-duty' to be paid? Also, is it worth the hassle? Lastly, what are the better stores in Toronto for such?

Nope no duty due to NAFTA stuff....and who knows you did not have it when you entered Canookia? Buuuut, no matter what, make sure the system you buy has an INTERNATIONAL warranty from the mfg. Most consumer grade computers do not have such a warranty. HP/Compaq are famous for this issue.

If you buy a Business grade system then you will likely, in the case of HP/Compaq, have an international warranty and in case you need service they will honor the warranty in the US.

That being said, likely you will not save much buying up there...if at all. If you want a consumer level system look to Dell (not a great choice these days...but not awful) or go to Costco and see what they have...Costco is nice as they have a 90-day full refund with their computers. It used to be forever, then reduced to 6-months and is now down to 90-days. That is because of abuse by consumers...but that is another debate. And now that HP/Compaq and other mfg's, even Sony, honor warranties on items sold via Costco it really does not matter.

Personally, I would never buy a consumer grade system from anyone other then Dell...especially in the area of a laptop system. Dell is good on warranty work but be prepared to dial 1-800-Hindi for support. HP/Compaq business level systems are exceptional really...after almost 20-years of Dell laptops this year I switched up to HP because of the decreasing build quality in the Dell systems 4-5 years back (life cycle of laptops). I found us places to buy NX9240 systems with a matte finish display for around $1250/ea including shipping. With on-site warranty, secondary 12-cell battery, adding a stick of RAM they came in around $1600/ea...which was about a $700 savings per system.

And the 17" display is amazing~!!! Speaking of display's...if you want a laptop know this...the glossy/shiny displays will be useless outside, even in the shade. Plus if the room you like to work in has lots of bright white/light colored walls or "things" there is a solid chance a glossy laptop display will reflect those things back at you and again make it hard to read the display w/o a fair amount of eye strain. Glossy displays are for the causal user who wants something pretty over function...and for game players who seem to like dark rooms w/o any visible lighting.

Well, sorry for the tome...hehehehe...just a topic I have a bit of recent experience with...oh, btw, the systems I found us were actually from a vendor in Canookia and had several demo units that had done nothing but unbox and show to potential clients. But with some sleuthing similar deals can be had, pretty easily really.