Electronic fixes

If you are into Electronic Gadgets, you might think that a holiday destination like Bali is not the right place to buy or bargain for the latest toys. Tech hubs like Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok dominate this area in Asia.

In general, you are better off purchasing your new Laptop or Android Smartphone in one of those places. But thankfully, things are changing fast and the population of Bali (and its Expat Community) are getting more and more into the tech stuff. This provides new opportunities to sell IT and gadget gear here also and suppliers make increasingly use of it.

Bali has currently between 4-5 Million residents, depending on whom you ask and what season you come here. While most of its population is still working in agriculture or is employed in the tourism industry, electronic helpers like laptops, smartphones and even iPads can increasingly be seen in public. If you think that most of this stuff is imported, you are only partially right, as more and more options are available locally for desperate tech geeks.

So where are the places to go and get your fix, if you have a gadget addiction?

Bangkok has its Panthip Plaza or Powerbuy Shops, Kuala Lumpur its Low Yat Plaza, Singapore is blessed with a Funan IT Mall or Sim Lim Tower/Square and Electronic Supermarkets like Challenger, Harvey Norman, Best Denki or Courts. Here you can find great bargains and products with Asia- or even Worldwide warranty. The equivalent to go to in Bali (sans international warranty) is Rimo Center in Denpasar’s Jalan Deponegoro.

While housed in a 3-stories high building with around 100 shops all under one roof, it’s nowhere near as big as its big brethren in the former Asian capitols. Still it has its charm.

Some good bargains can be had here also, if you do your homework and know the standard prices for the stuff you want. The vendors there would have no shame to sell you any electronics for a multiple of what its worth, but if you know its value, you can negotiate your hearts out and leave home with a great deal and without spending time and money on a return flight to an Electronic Haven elsewhere in Asia.

Laptops of Acer, Asus, Toshiba and MSI seem to be the popular Laptop/Notebook brands here, but there are also some Chinese or cheaper local brands.

For nerds, modders or people just looking for the latest software title for bargain prices: In Rimo you can find the full spectrum of PC products and accessories; be it complete PC’s, Laptops, Netbooks, desktop cases, graphic cards, power supplies, hard drives, printers, coolers, cartridges, speakers, mice, joysticks, memory cards, camera and what else.