Laptops In Japan

[mr. sparkle]

I've tried to steer my friend towards a Mac (she needs an English OS & apps, but good Japanese font compatability), but she's stubbornly sticking to Windows. .

One question: WHY?


I pity the po' fool!

Think diff'rent....

[Watcher]

PrimePC is, I believe, only a Sager reseller... just like Eurocom in Ottawa, PowerComputing in the states, and others. I've seen some PrimePCs up close and was not that impressed. You definitely get what you pay for... kinda like the cheap Dells suck azz, too. If you want to go the cheaper route I'd recommend eMachines AMD based widescreen notebooks or Acer... or Mac if you're into that sort of thing.
Me? I was going to get the Toshiba M30 in Japan (drooled over it for months) and ended up picking up one for less money at FurtureShop in Vancouver. I've been very happy with it since day one and have never had a single crash or even a hiccup despite my tooling around and general abuse of the registry.

[Caustic Saint]

I've tried to steer my friend towards a Mac (she needs an English OS & apps, but good Japanese font compatability), but she's stubbornly sticking to Windows. .

One question: WHY?

I wish I knew. An iBook would be perfect for what she needs, but she complains that she "doesn't want to learn a whole new computer." I've pointed out that there's really nothing to learn, but she wants a windows machine.

[Ketou]

Holy crap. The poor guy got some shitty misinformation there!

...and the computer guy says no, the english programs don:t work on a japanese OS.

Absolute rubbish. My wife's J-OS runs heaps of english apps and my E-OS runs heaps of japanese apps! Including the firewall! I even have a game which has two expansion cds, the original and first expansion are english, the second expansion is japanese. No problems!

... it might not work with english os and if it breaks you can:t return it or complain because there is no warantee, plus we get the right to donkey punch your girlfriend and rearrange your furniture when you are not home, sign here in blood please.

Why would a computer not work with an english OS??? The BIOS is in english for crying out loud!

[aquamarine]

For what it's worth, in the end I picked up a Dell 700m through Dell Canada since it's so incredibly small and fit my needs at the time.

[B Gallagher]

hmm.. shame they don't wanna even consider an iBook.

http://kropla.com/ is well worth a look.

[Caustic Saint]

http://kropla.com/ is well worth a look.

For what?

[Caustic Saint]

After making a fact-finding trip to Akihabara, I realize there are two options:

1. Buy an English model laptop from Laox or some other duty free store and get an over-priced, under-powered machine.

2. Buy a Japanese model and switch the OS to English.


Option 2 looks like the better one, but raises new issues.

Which models (or manufacturers) are good for changing over to English with a minimum of issues and headaches?

Will doing this totally screw the warranty?

Is there anything else I should be worried about with this approach?

[cstaylor]

Is there anything else I should be worried about with this approach?

Don't buy Sony. They suck.

I'd suggest a Dell or an IBM. Dell is especially cool, since when you order the machine you can ask for an English keyboard, and the support is worldwide (when you go back to the U.S. you can get it serviced there as well).

[FG Lurker]

After making a fact-finding trip to Akihabara, I realize there are two options:

1. Buy an English model laptop from Laox or some other duty free store and get an over-priced, under-powered machine.

2. Buy a Japanese model and switch the OS to English.

You have another option as well.

Buy an English OS/Keyboard Toshiba from Toshiba Direct

or

Buy an English OS/Keyboard IBM from IBM

or (gulp)

Buy an English Dell from Dell

I have no problems with Dell desktops but don't think much of their notebooks at all. If you will be carrying it around a lot then I suggest Toshiba or IBM.

Option 2 looks like the better one, but raises new issues.

Which models (or manufacturers) are good for changing over to English with a minimum of issues and headaches?

Will doing this totally screw the warranty?

Is there anything else I should be worried about with this approach?

Don't ever buy a Sony and try to switch it over! You're asking for nightmares and headaches.

Generally speaking the more knobs/wheels/buttons a machine has the harder the changeover will be. A standard machine with a keyboard and normal drives will be fine.

If you have specific questions about models or something fire away. I've done several hundred language changes over the years. Everything from Win3.1 to XP.

[yellowlightman]

I bought a Victor XP5220 this summer while I was in Japan, and I'm currently thinking about switching it over to an english version of XP. I know keyboard would be an issue, but I'm also worried about my wireless card; I've heard that Japanese and American wireless cards are different so I'm worried there might be some compatibility problems. Anyone have any suggestions?

[cstaylor]

[quote="yellowlightman"]I bought a Victor XP5220 this summer while I was in Japan, and I'm currently thinking about switching it over to an english version of XP. I know keyboard would be an issue, but I'm also worried about my wireless card]If you're talking about 802.11b/g cards, there's no difference. Japanese cards allow three more channels (12, 13, 14) than American cards, but the protocol is the same.

[Ketou]

[quote="yellowlightman"]I bought a Victor XP5220 this summer while I was in Japan, and I'm currently thinking about switching it over to an english version of XP. I know keyboard would be an issue, but I'm also worried about my wireless card]

I used a Jp keyboard with my Eng OS for about two years. Eventually you remember where all the keys are and it's no problem!

[yellowlightman]

I bought a Victor XP5220 this summer while I was in Japan, and I'm currently thinking about switching it over to an english version of XP. I know keyboard would be an issue, but I'm also worried about my wireless card]

I used a Jp keyboard with my Eng OS for about two years. Eventually you remember where all the keys are and it's no problem!

Hah, I might have to resort to making custom keys for myself since I'm not the greatest typer anyways. We'll see though, as I haven't been travelling much the laptop hasn't been getting much use.

Thanks for the info on the wireless card, CS!

[FG Lurker]

It is not hard to set up an English OS to work with a Japanese keyboard.

For Windows 95 and 98 I have a custom setup that I designed for this purpose. NT I can also do but for some unknown reason the CAPS LOCK no longer works after it is installed. I can post this somewhere if anyone is interested. (If I can still find it!!)

Windows 2000 and XP support Japanese keyboards natively though. You just install the Japanese keyboard driver within Device Manager, and then set the Keyboard Layout to Japanese in the "Regional and Language Options" Control Panel applet.

Happy typing!

[Caustic Saint]

I've tried to steer my friend towards a Mac (she needs an English OS & apps, but good Japanese font compatability), but she's stubbornly sticking to Windows. .

One question: WHY?

I wish I knew. An iBook would be perfect for what she needs, but she complains that she "doesn't want to learn a whole new computer." I've pointed out that there's really nothing to learn, but she wants a windows machine.

Praise Jeebus!

I took her shopping in Akiba yesterday and we went all over looking at laptops (the English models at Laox Duty Free and J-models everywhere else). After seeing how much she was gonna get jacked for an English model and how it could be a real pain to convert a J-one to English, I asked her if she'd just go to the Sofmap Mac store and look at an iBook.

30 minutes later she bought one.

I showed her how it'll do everything she wants, is flawless when transitioning from English to Japanese and how she can still type in whatever language she chooses. She really dug iPhoto as she's getting a digital camera next weekend.

And I got lunch out of the deal, plus all the points from the sale went onto my Sofmap card. (She gave me the points for a commission since I was the one who sold her on it. All the Sofmap staff were ignoring us.) And when she gets her camera next weekend I'll get those points on my Bic card.

Hmm, maybe I'll get an iPod Shuffle after all.....

[GuyJean]

I asked her if she'd just go to the Sofmap Mac store and look at an iBook... 30 minutes later she bought one.

I've had nothing but pleasure from my little 12 incher, until now.. For the simple tasks, it's perfect. Garageband, and iMovie tend to work the 800Hertz processor though.. The battery is starting to go to shit]'power manager reset'[/url] function for iBooks and PBooks, but not for my model.. Is the battery defective?

GJ

[cstaylor]

[quote="GuyJean"]The battery is starting to go to shit]
This is probably just voodoo magic, but I noticed if I left my battery alone, out of the computer, for a couple of weeks, then charged it again, I was getting longer use times.

You should get a new powerbook anyways. The new 15" can use the 30" HD Cinema display IIRC.

[Caustic Saint]

I've had nothing but pleasure from my little 12 incher, until now.. For the simple tasks, it's perfect. Garageband, and iMovie tend to work the 800Hertz processor though.. The battery is starting to go to shit]'power manager reset'[/url] function for iBooks and PBooks, but not for my model.. Is the battery defective?

Not defective, just dead after going through too many charge cycles. The same thing happened to my iBook G3 after a year of always-on-the-go use. My iBook G4 (purchased Jan. 2004) still gets a ton of life out of the battery, as it mostly stays at home these days.

The new 12" has a 1.2GHz processor and is pretty snappy. But I'm still waiting for Tiger to ship so I can get it free with a new 12" PowerBook.

[Charles]

I asked her if she'd just go to the Sofmap Mac store and look at an iBook... 30 minutes later she bought one.

I've had nothing but pleasure from my little 12 incher, until now.. For the simple tasks, it's perfect. Garageband, and iMovie tend to work the 800Hertz processor though.. The battery is starting to go to shit]'power manager reset'[/url] function for iBooks and PBooks, but not for my model.. Is the battery defective?

GJ

Batteries are expendable, they gradually hold less of a charge, so your 1 hour life isn't unusual for a well-used Mac laptop. There are new higher capacity aftermarket batteries that will outperform your original Apple battery. Try Other World Computing at http://www.macsales.com and look at the Newer Technologies brand batteries.

[mr. sparkle]

Hey Caustic,
Good on selling your friend on the iBook. I hope it is working out well for her.

Regarding battery life, you have to pay attention to the Energy Saver System Preference. When you are on battery power switch it to Optimize Energy Savings>Battery Life or DVD Playback, depending on what you wish to do. Keep your display as dim as you can, as that eats up the juice.

There are also ways to expand the life of batteries in Macs. I have two of them that I swap back and forth.

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

Of course, I recommend that yellowlightman get an iBook or a PowerBook, as well. However, I am a big fan of Macs right now as they pay the bills.

I'm doing a lot of work with FCP, Xsan, Xserve RAID, etc. these days. Cool stuff, extremely powerful but certainly not very portable!


1. Xserve RAIDs 2. Metadata Controller (Xserve G4) 3. FCP clients 4. FCP I/O Finishing station 5. Fiber Switch 6. Failover unit (Xserve G4)

Pretty killer rig, no?

[tonikoro]

I asked her if she'd just go to the Sofmap Mac store and look at an iBook... 30 minutes later she bought one.

I've had nothing but pleasure from my little 12 incher, until now.. For the simple tasks, it's perfect. Garageband, and iMovie tend to work the 800Hertz processor though.. The battery is starting to go to shit]'power manager reset'[/url] function for iBooks and PBooks, but not for my model.. Is the battery defective?

GJ

Sorry to be way late and add to this thread, but just a word of advice.
If you were to get a replacement battery, or one for your ibook model that is third party, you might consider (if the battery is not conditioned and charged when you buy it) take the battery and run it down to the last bit of juice till the machine goes to sleep. Do this without plugging it in, and then once out of power, charge it back up to full.

Most powerbooks when you get them require you to properly condition that battery when you get it. For example, I first-time boot on the AC adaptor, and then off a full battery, take and run it all the way down. then charging to full should do the trick.

this advice works for replacement batteries, as well as first time use of new laptops.