So I’m doing some long-term travel. I brought a MSI GS63VR with me and it’s been a real treat. Today, it got exposed to the elements. Everything I had in a “water-resistant” bag that’s supposed to be made of “X-Pac waterproof sailcloth” got wet while I was walking in the rain. It stinks, but is somehow not as catastrophic as one might expect. I’m taking for granted the laptop is on borrowed time, but it powered up and the only sign of damage at the moment is a ‘stain’ on the screen that is clear water damage and an ungodly amount of condensation under the laptop since it’s been on for a little while. It’s also been plugged into wall power and is doing okay with that.
I’m looking to get a smaller, ~12"-14" device with a touchscreen, but the shopping I’ve done here has been even more stone-age than going to Best Buy in smaller cities in the US. Most of the laptops don’t even have HD displays, and their CPUs are several generations old. I couldn’t tell by looking, but it didn’t look like any of the laptops were touchscreen, or able to be flipped over and used as a tablet.
Basically, I’d really like to get a nicer chromebook to take around with me. But Chromebooks don’t seem to exist here in Vietnam. I’m also very unimpressed with the selection of laptops I’ve seen in B&M stores. I’d much prefer the build quality and battery life of a Chromebook over a cheapo, dated Windows laptop.
The most compelling options I’ve seen are: it looked like there was a Macbook Air for ~$1,000, but I’m not used to the Apple ecosystem and I don’t believe that’s a touchscreen laptop. Or I think there are actually local vendors who offer Xiaomi laptops with a warranty. Again, that’s a non-touchscreen device, though.
Does anyone have any idea where I should be shopping for a Laptop/Chromebook in Vietnam, or know if there’s a sensible way for me to import a device from, say, Amazon? I’ve tried poking around on more local platforms before coming to you folks. Haven’t found any help yet.
Bro, you could make yourself some money by importing newer laptops, opening a storefront and selling them out of your store. You’d be like a self made millionaire.
Google has launched the Pixelbook. The i7 version is about$1,500 US on Amazon.
The i5 version, with half the RAM and storage ssd is about $1000 US on Amazon
I don’t believe all of the Chromebooks that are made are touch screen. But I do know that these Pixelbook’s are. And looking at Amazon, it appears that shipping is only $10 to Vietnam.
I believe Google make the most powerful Chromebooks, as the other models have weak “M” cpu’s.
I thought the pixelbook had a more powerful cpu, as it said it had an i5/i7. When it said that I was expecting one of the quad core hyper-threaded cpu’s. After doing research it just has a dual core/hyper-threaded cpu. I should have looked at the specs more. All tho, Google should have came out at the start and gave the CPU model #.
If its a chromebook it’ll be about as useful as my Y40-70. i7, but a netbook in the long run.
People laugh at me for liking older tech, but I’d rather have an Asus G50VT-X5 than a Lenovo Y40-70. Might be dual core, but with a little work can be quade core, have a good GPU, SSD, RAM… At the moment, till I get that new machine (whatever it will be), this thing is pretty amazing all by itself. Just a matter of watching the technologies and their capabilities.
Nam salaries seem comparable to what I and a lot of people I know made in Louisiana, and the cost of living is overall a lot cheaper.
I maybe could make a lot of money opening a store front and selling newer laptops. But I don’t know anything about the overhead of importing a single laptop, much less a large shipment of them. Never mind that I don’t have the capital to start doing something like that.
And the Google Pixelbook is nice and all, but in that price range I can buy an actual laptop with good build quality. The point here is I’m trying to spend ~$500 or less, and all my local options seem like total booty compared to a Chromebook or a CHUWI laptop. (Which are all out of stock in local retailers’ sites.)
