North American laptops
 

My laptop is dying.

Was initially planning to purchase my laptop when I go back home to Canada during the winter break however it's not going to last til then.

I need to find a place that sells Toshiba laptops that are the North American version. The keyboard is the one I am used to, so is the software.

Any suggestions?

Yodabashi, Bic and Yamada all only have Japanese versions available. Do you know any that sells North American versions?

Check Duty Free shops. I'm pretty sure I've seen them there before.

I've heard that if you go to Akihabara, it's a lot easier to find that kind of thing than at the big electronics stores, but when I lived in Japan, I ended up just buying mine in the U.S. when I was home on break. Does Amazon.jp sell laptops?

I've never bought anything major in Akihabara, but on my browsing expeditions, I have noticed that they sell regional versions of TVs, radios (yes, radios--the Japanese FM band is where the old U.S. TV band was), and DVD/Blu-Ray players.

Why not laptops? I've never looked, but you never know...

It's worth a try.

If you absolutely must have a Toshiba laptop with a standard North American keyboard, the easiest thing to do is to simply buy it back in Canada. For Toshiba, the idea of selling other laptops with a North American keyboard in Japan simply doesn't exist - I'd bet that, as with other Japanese computer manufacturers, around 90% of their computer sales are in Japan.

If you're not completely sold on Toshiba, you can basically get any Lenovo laptop ordered with a North American keyboard and English OS for marginally more. I'd imagine Dell and HP do as well.

I don't know where the OP is, so I didn't get too specific, but as ksandness alluded to, there are stores in akiba that do sell north american electronics. I've also seen stuff in den-den town in Osaka. But they're mostly duty-free places, so look for duty-free signs. They come with english Windows and everything. =) I remember specifically having to avoid those places when I was buying a netbook, because I wanted a japanese one. =D

That being said, amazon is another good suggestion. I've not shopped on amazon.jp for laptops, but I'm guessing you could find a north american laptop there.

When I was Tokyo last fall, I recall wandering the electronic shops in Akihabara and they seemed to have various electronics for US/North America consumption. Almost picked up an iPad or MacBook. Probably a good place to look?

Why don't you just order on line from Canada or US and have them ship it to Japan? Pretty sure Dell, Lenovo and similar would do that.

Sorry for the delay in response.

It's not easy when your laptop is crapping out.

Spend the day at Yodabashi, Big Camera and came out with a big fat zero.

Will try Den Den Machi and if that doesn't work, will make a trek to Akihabara.

In the end, it may be quicker to get a computer literate friend to purchase it for me in Canada and ship it to me.

Never could have imagined how difficult it is to purchase a laptop, albeit a foreign one, in Japan.

Or, why not amazon.com? (i.e. the US Amazon site) I don't know what their shipping and anti-fraud policies are, but I've certainly purchase items from amazon.jp and had them shipped directly to the US.

Go to Amazon Japan. There are a zillion listed there.

I know it's probably not what you want, but if you're really desparate you could get a Mac and run Windows on it. In Japan, both BTO and the stores have English keyboards.

https://m.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/2yxadz/buying_laptop_in_japan/

It isn't difficult at all, provided you're flexible on the manufacturer. Why go to a store to buy it? If I went to Best Buy, I wouldn't expect them to have a Japanese computer.

Simply go to Lenovo's website, choose the one you want, and for the options select English OS and English keyboard.

I'm not too proud to say that craigslist is one of my best friends when in Tokyo:

http://tokyo.craigslist.jp/search/sy...toshiba+laptop

There are a few that look ok - and hey for a few hundred bucks if it gets you through until you get back to Canada that is worth it. FWIW I have had issues with companies shipping computers out of the US/Canada to foreign countries - not saying its still that way but in the past it was...

Yes - I've also found them in places in Akihabara - but you have to look hard - they are there - but not typically on the main street leaving the train station...