Buying a laptop for a relative in Poland (should we buy one in Canada or in Poland)?

Hello,

My wife is Polish and we live in Canada. We want to buy her mother who lives in Zgierz, a laptop. What would be the best way to do this? Buy a laptop here and ship it? Order from Dell and ship it there directly or just contact a store there? My wife does speak Polish but hasn't been in Poland in 20 years and isn't familiar with computers, either. I am in IT but don't speak Polish. Heh.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Keep in mind a Western laptop's a/c plug will have to be used with a power converter and plug adapter before it's usable in Poland. Polish outlets run 240 volts, while western ones 120. This alone is frowned on for using western computers. Power converters and rechargeable lithium ion batteries (or any rechargeable batteries) would be necessitated, and are contra-indicated for use by most converter manufacturers. Food for thought.

That depends entirely on the deal or preferences you'd like.
Most laptops made now accommodate a range of voltage from 100-240v.
The plug may be your only concern but plug adapters are cheap and available everywhere in Canada.
I bought mine at a dollar store that I use when I'm in Warsaw. Works great.

like this one:
hxxp://i01.i.aliimg.com/photo/v0/286899829/AC_Power_Travel_2_Pin_ Portable_Plug.jpg

I am Canadian, bought my laptop in Canada and I live in Warsaw. It works for me, however, if your relatives don't speak English- it will not benefit them. The operating systems will all be in English- which is useless to them. And more importantly, the keypad will not have the Polish letters.

Buy a computer in Poland.
There are many deals to be had here, it is just a matter of looking and the operating system will all be in Polish.
The voltage is not the issue. This is actually no big deal, all they would need to do is buy the proper plug- the voltage doesn't need to be converted like a hairdryer would.

I just checked this laptop's ac, and you guys are right, it's rated up to 240 volts. I'm worried about the Leap Pad 2 I bought my kid, though; and my 3DS gameboy I got her, they're both sensitive electronics with rechargeable batteries, which the converter I bought warns against using it with.

This is almost always untrue. It wouldn't hurt to make sure you check the specifics of any laptop to be certain, but almost all of them have a transformer on the power cable, and all you've got to do is switch out the lead (which can be done for less than 10pln). The same is true of most desktop computers these days, too; almost all have universal power supplies, so again, all you've got to do is swap out the lead (this one might cost you 15-20pln, though!). Even most video game consoles have universal power supplies now; although the PS3 has an amusing sticker on it that claims it doesn't, if you open up the case and look at the PSU itself, you'll see that the sticker is lying!

there are many tricks electronic companies like to pull on us.
There are a few websites about dvd players and accessing their region codes. our dvd player was uncoded so that we can watch anything from any region. It really is simple to do but each brand and model has a different method of doing it.

here is a comparative website to check prices [ceneo.pl] you will be linked to the online stores all will deliver in Poland.

Thank you all so much for clearing things up for us.

Pip: You basically described the nightmarish scenario. That is, the language and keyboard. The old lady in Poland does not speak any English and a laptop like that would be pretty much useless to her. I will arrange to purchase something online there and have it delivered.


Ah! thank you for this, I missed it the first time. It's exactly what we're looking for!

Thank you again for everyone's input.

Just compare prices with this page: allegro.pl/laptopy-491. After fast check I see that Canada has 13%vat so it should be little cheaper. 1 laptop you can take with you and not pay duties nor VAT for it. Replace charger for 230V should not cost you more than 30eur.