Crazy price difference
My outgoing laptop computer is 4½ years old and going strong. I normally update my computer when it gets to this kind of age but this time I really don’t feel the need to yet. I had bought my Lenovo when I was passing through Singapore, at approximately 30% discount compared to New Zealand pricing.
With the possibility of a good price here in Malaysia, I took a look at the price of a few makes and models. Dell was about identically priced in Malaysia compared to New Zealand. When I looked at Lenovo’s global website, the base price of certain models were priced at 50% in the Malaysia region, compared to the New Zealand region. I was in disbelief!
I looked into this a little more. The specs in each country were a little different but the nifty site allowed me to customise my dummy order so that I could align the specs for an even comparison.
- In Malaysia, certain add-ons would be around MYR100 whereas in New Zealand, it would be nearly 3x more at around NZD100.
- An upgrade to a better quality display in Malaysia was MYR20 whereas it was 15x more at NZD115 in New Zealand!
- In Malaysia Microsoft Office Home & Student which gave me a badly needed update to my current software came free. In New Zealand it was an NZD239 add-on.
- Overall, it was still 50% cheaper to buy in Malaysia partly because there was a 9% discount promotion on. Even better, the website popped up a voucher code for a further 5% discount.
- Delivery to Malaysia was 3-6 business days while it was 4 weeks to New Zealand.
With that crazy price difference, I was pretty set on upgrading my laptop to another Lenovo and passing my old one to my brother who has been a gem to the family with looking after Mum. The specs for the model I wanted seemed close to a Dell that was nearly twice the price.
My new computer goes places
I placed my order for my new laptop and within a day I was able to track its route. Even though I purchased from the Lenovo Malaysia, it was shipped from Singapore, which was only 1h15 away by flight. But with nearly no flights during Covid-19, I noticed it flew to Shenzhen nearly 4h away, then backtracked about the same distance to Kuala Lumpur immediately.
In KL, it cleared customs, so I guess Lenovo paid the duty and not me! From there it made it’s journey to me today in Kuching.
With Covid-19, most people can’t travel, but my new computer is making up for it