In Reply to: I bought a Eeepc netbook last year posted by Peter_at_Perth on Sunday, 17. January 2010 at 09:42 Bali Time:
Bali is notorious for selling non-genuine software on their laptops, so it is definately something to watch out for. Especially the cheaper laptops where you don't receive any OS disks with it.
The size of your hard-drive on a netbook is only a small part of the equation. More important on a netbook is battery life, screen res, processor speed and ram. And inbuilt wireless modem & camera.
Trying to get something done under warranty during an annual vacation would also be impractical. Apart from the fact that you don't get to use it until it's fixed, some warranty jobs require the laptop to be sent to Jakarta, and take ages.
A netbook like I described above goes for around $400 in Australia and $300 on special.
Buying duty free is also not the way to go. You are looking at a 5% discount at best. You will get better discount shopping around.
Research what you want and then go on the net and find it for the best price. It is the best way to save money.
The best way to spend too much on a bad netbook is to go into a comptuer shop in Bali and buy something that you have no idea what you are buying. At the very least, do some research before you leave home so you know what sort of price you should be paying.
For research, try http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum/130. Also google netbook reviews for the model you are interested in. Narrow down to 3-4 models and then google for prices.