I was wondering if anybody can tell me whether its cheaper to buy a computer in Taiwan or in Canada (say in saskatchewan with 7 percent pst and 7 percent gst). any suggestions or advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Your info says you are in the PRC right? I would assume it would be cheaper there??
If not, then Taiwan would be cheaper than Canada. Unless Canada has some form of IT manufacturing industry I am unaware of? 
nope, not cheaper in the PRC, already checked. they manufacture them but then export the quality products and leave…well whatevers left.
I would say Taiwan. Even though I have no clue where Saskatchewan is.
Here’s the rundown:
Desktops (non-name brand): Definitely cheaper in Taiwan. You choose the parts, they put it together. Nice systems are going for US $400 without monitor.
Desktops (name brand): Hard to say. But no one in their right mind would get a name brand desktop in Taiwan, unless you’re a corporation.
Laptops: Cheaper in North America because of various sales, rebates, etc. Except for Taiwanese brands (ASUS, Acer, Twinhead) which aren’t readily available outside of Taiwan.
Branded ones can be had for around 20k upwards, but it’s usually difficult to customize and most have an on-board graphics adapter only (i.e. shared memory).
A proper equipped branded PC will cost around TWD 30-40k without monitor (e.g. Compaq, Dell, IBM).
i dont know where about u live in taiwan, but i jsut recently bought a laptop in taiwan. i am living in taichng city… and studying at donghai uni, been here for almost 2 wks.
me n my friends went to this place call nova, in the little europe area… gongyi lu…
its a compaq…
specs: 256Ram plus they also throwing in another 128 memory stick, a mouse and yea, the bag…
40GHDD
wireless networking b+g… not quite sure about the speed
the model is Ap2208b
DVD/CDRW combo
hmmm, after asking arnd and went arnd looking for the best deal… we found out that most laptop would cost rnd 39kNTD and above…
we paid only 29900TD and asked the guy to throw in ny programs he possibly can.
so i dont know if tht is good thing, but i o know for sure if u buy a laptop in australia u cant really get much of any extra software(not mentioning that they are free)
the operating system is windows Xp home, in english and office xp in chinese…
As far as notebooks go, some brands are absolutely cheaper in Taiwan. Do a comparison shop of a few IBMs and you’ll get the idea. The savings are rather staggering, actually - at least several hundred dollars for some models.
You bought a Compaq? For the love of God, Nooooo!
If you live in Taipei, and you need a top-quality computer at a competitive price, talk to Nam. He’ll set you up with a great system (with an English OS!)
(And he’s a nice guy, to boot!) 
The company I work at now purchases Nam’s computers as the standard corporate desktop computer. The company is glad to have found him and I can vouch for his high standards and professional customer service. In a country where technology parts and services can be a real crap shoot, Nam is the real deal.
There’s also a brand new shop opened by two long-time Taipei residents on Roosevelt Rd. Sec. 2 #79, 7F-6. It’s called the Hub, and in addition to assembling computers to order and specializing in providing service in English, they also sell inexpensive coffees (the shop is set up like a comfy little lounge, with sofas and tables) and they buy and sell used English books. Ph. 3365-1549. I’ve known one of the pair, Duncan Levine, for many many years, and he’s a very nice, honest, reliable guy, so I can personally recommend their shop.