Best computer/electronic stores in Japan?

[TokyoJoeblow]

I realize that most people on here live in Tokyo, so there are a ton of options. Here in Shizuoka there are some options but not nearby as many. My roommate needs to buy a new laptop and she noticed a sale on computers (both desktops and laptops) at Yamada Denki. The thing is, I remember checking out the laptop selection there about 6 months ago and not being really impressed with what I saw, but I was mainly there to buy a headset mic, so I didn't look closely at every laptop they had but I did look at most of them.

As a competing electronic chain store, Nojima seems to have a much better selection of laptops and the staff seems a lot more knowledgeable on the specs and details of the different laptops than the staff at Yamada Denki. This was just my experience at a particular Nojima, so I don't know what other branches are like.

She wants to buy a laptop for casual home use, not for anything professional but she wants a laptop that will last many years and have a good battery life, isn't know for certain hardware issues, etc.

What electronic chain stores would you recommend for my roommate?

P.S. She is looking for a new laptop, so places that sell used laptops like Book Off and Hard Off would be...off the list pun intended haha.

 

[Sudsy]

What electronic chain stores would you recommend for my roommate?

None of them.

Go to Kakaku.com, look at the model she wants, and you'll find the place in Japan that has the best price on it. Any warranty will be through the manufacturer, not the store, so screw the chain stores. Some of the small retailers can go as much as 30% lower depending on the model.

 

[TAG Manager]

It's not really about where you buy it from but more about the maker.

My own personal preference for laptops would be Lenovo, which I've been using for well over 15 years. (IBM ThinkPad line and forward...)
Never had any hardware issues and the support has been good about providing updated drivers and updates to things like the BIOS, etc.)
Battery life is usually one of the best in the industry. I'm currently using the X1 series but that's probably a little too professional for her needs.

I also prefer to custom order mine, so I have exactly what I want on it and removing things I don't want/need, etc.

Among friends, who have a variety of machines, the most common failures were mechanical HDD's. Now with SSD's and NVRAM drives, that issue has been fairly well muted.

What I usually tell people is to:
1) Figure out form factor: What size of laptop do they want, usually dictated by screen size and overall weight, battery included.
2) Figure out actual needs: Processor Type/Speed (I wouldn't go with anything less than an i5 [8th Gen or Later] series from Intel or equivalent from AMD)
3) RAM Size, I wouldn't recommend anything less than 16GB these days.
4) SSD (Storage Size) - Nothing less than 1TB as a 512GB or 256GB would be filled up very quickly with applications and media.
5) Bluetooth - Useful for wireless mice, headphones, etc.
6) WiFi - Generic stuff will do, but at least get something that supports up to 802.11ac - doesn't have to be the latest cutting edge wireless for most people. (AX is the latest thing out, while a/b/g/n have been around for years now.)
7) WAN/Mobile Data - Most people don't need this. (Tethering or WiFi spots are usually enough for connectivity)
8) LAN RJ45 Jack - 50/50 on this - most people go with WiFi these days.
9) Touchpad Mouse vs. Eraser Tip (i.e. X1 has both as do other models) I find that users have a preference for one or the other but also still use an external Bluetoot or USB mouse.)
10) USB Type C - As more devices are Type C, it's nice to have the port available but you can certainly get USB A to Type C cables for most needs.
11) USB 3.1 - Most machines have at least 1 or 2 of these ports for standard USB devices. (High speed data, etc.)
12) SD Card Reader - Some machines have these built in, some don't... not a urgent necessity since you can connect most cameras and phones to the laptop with a USB cable for data transfer.
13) Battery: Some laptops have non-removable batteries, some still have modular, removable batteries. Personal preference here I suppose. (I haven't needed to use a spare battery in years, for example)
14) Keyboard - larger laptops will have a full-size keyboard with a 10-key keypad and others will have smaller, compact keyboards - standard sizes don't have a keypad.

That's all of the major points. Obviously going Mac decides a lot of that for you while Windows PC/Laptops still come in all sorts of sizes and hardware configs.

Good luck.

(PS: I don't have a recommendation for a specific shop, but for example, Yodobashi-Akiba in Akihabara has the largest display of laptops from most all vendors that you can actually touch and inspect.)

 

[ichigopantsu]

I've never tried it with computers, but I know you can haggle prices for appliances (washing machines, refrigerators) at Yamada Denki. They're particularly willing to make a deal if you agree to sign up for their credit card, but as a gajin you actually have a special trick here - for Japanese customers they make you put the application through on your phone, but us foreigners have to fill out the form by hand and mail it in. I may or may not have used this discount twice because each time I've just "forgotten" to mail the application in after leaving the store!

 

[MikeH]

I've never tried it with computers, but I know you can haggle prices for appliances (washing machines, refrigerators) at Yamada Denki.

Works with any of the big retailers. But basically because their prices are higher than those you'll find using kakaku.com like @Sudsy mentioned.

And it's true that (depending on the campaign and the credit card company) you might get 10k or even 20k kick-back from applying for the credit card. If you don't want to get the card just write you make 30 millions per year to the application and it will be rejected. It took me a while to figure this out as I thought if I write something really low there they reject me. But they were just looking at my clean credit card history and saying "he deserves another one". I have six now which I have never used.

 

[Desktop]

I recommend Sofmap if they want a used machine. I did this quite a few times in my broke days. They all still work too many years later.

 

[TAG Manager]

I recommend Sofmap if they want a used machine. I did this quite a few times in my broke days. They all still work too many years later.

Agreed.

Bought a few for people who wanted used machines, worked out well.

 

[SugoiBoy]

Might as well buy that computer now before the consumption tax increase.