Customs Charges for a New PC into Japan

[haildamage]

i am thinking about buying a cheap netbook. it seems that the type i need is only available from dell to a US address. therefore, i may have it shipped to my parents and then sent to me. however, i worry that the customs charges might make it not so cheap in the end.

anybody have any experiences with customs charges on a new PC from outside japan?

thanks

[Twinrider]

I can't specifically answer your question but I can say that Dell sucks. Not a day goes by at work that I don't feel like putting my fist through my 1.5 year old laptop!

[haildamage]

i know, i hate dell too, and swore i would never buy one again, but i want somehthing cheap and small with XP to run my navi software on, and take on trips. plus this dell can be easily hacked to run, OSX = hackintosh. i could get an eee 1000h or an HP mini 1000 instead, but i am not sure that those are any better, and it is easy to make sure the dell has all the little things i want by customizing online.

[Twinrider]

Have you tried shopping around here? A guy at work has an English-OS mini-laptop he picked up here for just ¥20,000. He likes it a lot.

[haildamage]

yeah i've shopped a bit but am looking for very specific models as only certain models are easy to hackintoshize, mainly the three i mentioned. where did he get his english mini?

[Twinrider]

I'm not sure but I can ask him when he gets back from vacation next monday.

[Jav]

I believe the duties would be 5%. But your mum could ship it as a present and put a low value on it so the duties would be next to nothing.
I usually purchase from the US. Recently bought a Sony in Japan. Regret buying locally, as Sony
will not provide the drivers I need to change over to an English OS. Otherwise it is a good laptop.

[gkanai]

you can get models to hackintosh here in Japan. the downside is the Jp keyboard.

[Twinrider]

This program looks interesting. It allows you to change the OS language in any Vista or Windows 7 PC to English (or other languages).

http://www.froggie.sk/

[Kevbodian]

Duties will be 5% or nothing at all. I have never been charged duty to this day for smaller goods shipped into Japan.

I was not charged duty on my Rolex either :). I suspect they don't charge packages not originating from a company.

Does the netbook have a broadcom wireless adapter? My bloody dell laptop has an intel card that has never worked with any Hackintosh build.

[haildamage]

thanks for the info on duties! i got burned on an aerostich jacket once so i wanted to check. they charged me almost 10,000 yen in duties on the jacket.

i am not sure about the wireless adapter i will post the specs and perhaps you can tell me. according to my research the dell mini 10v is the best netbook out at the moment for the mackintosh hack. the mini 10 and other models do not work. you have to make sure you are starting with a machine with the right hardware, or it can be a real challenge to do based on my research.

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/1...-compatib.html

http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/noteb...10&s=dhs&cs=19

Mini 10v:
Intel® AtomTM N270 (1.6GHz/533Mhz FSB/512K L2Cache)
Intel® AtomTM N280 (1.66GHz/667Mhz FSB/512K L2Cache)

Mini 10:
Intel® AtomTM Z520 (1.33GHz/533MHz FSB/512K L2Cache)
Intel® AtomTM Z530 (1.60GHz/533MHz FSB/512K L2Cache)

Operating System
Mini 10:
Genuine Windows® 7 Starter 32-Bit

Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic SP1 32-Bit
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition SP3
Ubuntu® Linux® version 8.04

Mini 10v:
Genuine Windows® 7 Starter 32-Bit

Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition SP3
Ubuntu® Linux® version 8.04

Memory
Mini 10 and Mini 10v:
1GB,DDR2,533MHZ
2GB,DDR2,533MHZ (for Vista and Ubuntu only)
Chipset
Mini 10v:
Integrated Intel® 945GSE UMA Graphics Media Accelerator

Mini 10:
Intel® Poulsbo US15W

Graphics
Mini 10v:
Integrated Intel® 945GSE UMA Graphics Media Accelerator

Mini 10:
Intel® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 500

LCD Display
Mini 10v:
Glossy 10.1 inch display (1024x600) WSVGA

Mini 10:
Glossy 10.1 inch LED display (1024x600) WSVGA
Glossy 10.1 inch HD display (1366x768) WLED
Audio and Speakers
Mini 10 and 10v:
Main Speakers (quantity) : 2 x 1.0W
Microphone – Integrated single analog
Hard Drives
Mini 10v:
120GB7 SATA HDD 2.5 inch 5400RPM
160GB7 SATA HDD 2.5 inch 5400RPM
16GB7 2.5" Solid State Drive MLC

Mini 10:
160GB7 SATA HDD 2.5 inch 5400RPM
250GB7 SATA HDD 2.5 inch 5400RPM (not available with all operating systems)
32GB7 2.5" Solid State Drive MLC

Optical Drives
Mini 10 and 10v:
External only
Power
Mini 10:
3-cell 28WHr Li-Ion Battery
6-cell 56WHr Li-Ion Battery

Mini 10v:
3-cell 24WHr Li-Ion Battery
6-cell 56WHr Li-Ion Battery
Camera
Mini 10 and 10v:
Standard 1.3MP webcam
Wireless
Mini 10 and 10v:
Wi-Fi:
Dell 1397 WLAN 802.11g - Half mini-card
Dell 1510 WLAN 802.11g /n Mini Card

Bluetooth:
Bluetooth® Internal (2.1+EDR) mini-card
Ports, Slots, Chassis
Mini 10V:Externally Accessible
Kensington lock
AC Power-in
Integrated network connector 10/100 LAN (RJ45),
VGA connector
(2 )USB and (1) Power USB
Audio jacks (1 line-out, 1 Mic-in)
3-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS)
Secure Digital (SD) Memory Card
Multi-Media Card (MMC)
Memory Stick (MS)
Dimensions & Weight
Height
26.8 – 28.3 mm (front – back)
1.06 – 1.11 inches (front – back)
Width: 261mm, 10.26 inches
Depth: 182mm, 7.19 inches
Starting weight:
2.5 lbs8 with 3 Cell battery
Mini 10:Externally Accessible
Kensington lock
AC Power-in
3-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS)
Integrated network connector 10/100 LAN (RJ45),
HDMI connector
(2 )USB and (1) Power USB
Audio jacks (1 line-out, 1 Mic-in)
Dimensions & Weight
Height
25.34–28mm (Front-Back)
1.0-1.1 inches (Front-Back)
Width: 261mm, 10.28 inches
Depth: 182.5mm, 7.19 inches
Starting weight:
1.2kg / 2. 6 lbs8 with 3 Cell battery
Regulatory and Environmental Compliance
Regulatory Model: PP19S
Product Safety, EMC and Environmental Datasheets
Dell Regulatory Compliance Home Page
Dell and the Environment

[Kamikuza]

Seems to depend on the value of goods written on the declaration form on the package ... anything over about US$300 and they charge me. Tell you parents to write like $100 or something :D
"Gift" or whatever doesn't help either ...

[Twinrider]

Haildamage, say I get a J-spec Dell Mini 10V and install Snow Leopard. Can't I just select English OS in the Systems Preference menu like I can on my Macbook?

[haildamage]

Haildamage, say I get a J-spec Dell Mini 10V and install Snow Leopard. Can't I just select English OS in the Systems Preference menu like I can on my Macbook?

yes you could, running snow leopard in english should not be a problem. one of my main motivations for getting one is that i need XP to run mapsource on. i spilled wine on my XP machine, and it doesn't work so well now. in japan and australia, the mini 10v only ships with windows 7 starter. according to my limited research, windows 7 starter does not have the ability to run XP programs in XP mode. will mapsource run in windows 7 starter?

in addition, i can get a better battery which is not available in japan for $309 whereas it would cost me 35,000 yen in japan to get japanese windows 7 with the crappy battery.

[Twinrider]

This Mini 10V runs XP:
http://kakaku.com/item/K0000040649/

BTW, I've forgotten if you've got a Mac. If you do you could just run XP on it via Bootcamp. That's what I do. I am interested in getting a mini PC for road trips though...

[haildamage]

yes, i have a mac, but i only have a copy of XP with service pack 1. you need service pack 3 to run boot camp. i can buy a netbook, which i can take to my various jobs, and touring for not too much more than it would cost to buy a new copy of XP.

[Twinrider]

PM'd you.