Thread: Best place to buy a desktop PC?

My wife wants to buy her niece an entry level desktop PC & printer. Since we still live in the US, she is going to have to send the money to her sister in Penonome so she can buy the computer. It has been several years since we last visited and I don't recall seeing any decent computer stores in the interior while we were there. Her family is not exactly computer savvy, so we are looking for recommendations for a good place for her to go to buy a decent system. They live in Penonome, but they can travel to PC to buy the system if needed. Thanks for any help provided.

Yoytec.

Originally Posted by pingun

Yoytec.

Where is Yoytec located?

This is an excellent question. One to which I don't have an answer although I have tried. Most of the electronic stores here have a poor selection of horribly overpriced, out of date desktops that you would normally find at garage sales and thrift stores in the US. No i3,i5,i7 processors, or decent RAM, etc. I have given up looking and hope my backup laptop doesn't die before I find one. I have heard there is an Hewlett Packard store at Metro Mall that might have something decent but I haven't been there. Getting one from the US would be the best option if you can find an affordable way to get it back here.

Regarding Yoytec, they have a website but if you go to their "store", you will find it is not the typical electronics store but just an outlet to pick up what you have already ordered online. There is nothing on display. What they have online is cheap, no name, overpriced, offbrand stuff that I wouldn't trust. Would you trust someone here to assemble a computer for you? I wouldn't. And good luck taking it back if there was any problem with it...or juega vivo.

For the price they are the least non-competent people around. They are about 20-25 % below the competition and appear to be well stocked.

Originally Posted by cloudboy

Regarding Yoytec, they have a website but if you go to their "store", you will find it is not the typical electronics store but just an outlet to pick up what you have already ordered online. There is nothing on display. What they have online is cheap, no name, overpriced, offbrand stuff that I wouldn't trust. Would you trust someone here to assemble a computer for you? I wouldn't. And good luck taking it back if there was any problem with it...or juega vivo.

I never could find a decent ready made desktop here at a decent price although I am still looking. Laptops are more popular here since they are more similar to the cellphones to which Panas are addicted. I went to this place Computechnology - Offline on Via Espana and it was like I had stepped into a time machine back to the 90s. The only desktops they had were Pentium III models with 40GB(or less) hard drive and 250MB(or less) memory for insane prices. Units that would go for $25 or less at your local thrift store or garage sale were selling for $250-$350. Some of them looked as if they couldn't even run WinXP. They all looked used as if the owner had gotten a good deal on a container load of them from the States. You will be better off buying an up-to-date unit from the US from a place like techforless.com(Colorado) for no sales tax and then shipping it to Panama via PakyaPanama - Mail & Shipping Services. Sad but true. Good luck.

Originally Posted by cloudboy

I never could find a decent ready made desktop here at a decent price although I am still looking. Laptops are more popular here since they are more similar to the cellphones to which Panas are addicted. I went to this place Computechnology - Offline on Via Espana and it was like I had stepped into a time machine back to the 90s. The only desktops they had were Pentium III models with 40GB(or less) hard drive and 250MB(or less) memory for insane prices. Units that would go for $25 or less at your local thrift store or garage sale were selling for $250-$350. Some of them looked as if they couldn't even run WinXP. They all looked used as if the owner had gotten a good deal on a container load of them from the States. You will be better off buying an up-to-date unit from the US from a place like techforless.com(Colorado) for no sales tax and then shipping it to Panama via PakyaPanama - Mail & Shipping Services. Sad but true. Good luck.

The only problem is I need a computer with a Spanish keyboard and Spanish software. I haven't run in to many of those here in sunny Colorado!

Originally Posted by TennVol

The only problem is I need a computer with a Spanish keyboard and Spanish software. I haven't run in to many of those here in sunny Colorado!

That's no problem. Since it is a desktop you want, just buy a Spanish keyboard in Panama. They don't cost much. If you get Win7 Ultimate, you can switch the software language to Spanish. That feature also may be available with Professional or a lesser version.

Originally Posted by cloudboy

That's no problem. Since it is a desktop you want, just buy a Spanish keyboard in Panama. They don't cost much. If you get Win7 Ultimate, you can switch the software language to Spanish. That feature also may be available with Professional or a lesser version.

Never thought of that - excellent idea.

Unfortunately, I just found out the niece "needs" a laptop instead of a desktop due to space concerns in their home. Back to square one...

Yoytec is the best option in Panama that I've seen thus far. It has a decent selection of stuff, and their items are priced at about 10-15% higher than what you'd find on Newegg/Amazon, which is fair considering shipping and the fact that nobody else has a selection like theirs. I've been there a number of times over the past couple of months and have able to buy things with relative ease and mostly without problems. The biggest thing you have to be aware of is that a lot of the items that they have on their website are not actually in stock. If the item says "por pedido" (from what I understand) it means you have to place an order, and they will request a shipment from whichever country they are getting their items, and after it has arrived they will contact you and you pay to get your item. The only problem is that they estimate two weeks but it's actually more like a month to a month and a half before you'll get your order. Just keep that in mind if you order a "por pedido" item and you should be fine.

Also, in response to the guy talking about processors, Yoytec actually has i7s available now. You'll hardly be able to find the newest stuff at any given point in time but they'll eventually become available at Yoytec, which is more than I can say about pretty much every other location I've visited here in Panama.

[edit]

I should add that you won't be able to find all the parts to make your dream gaming rig but you can probably find suitable substitutes.

Originally Posted by Antyman

Yoytec is the best option in Panama that I've seen thus far. It has a decent selection of stuff, and their items are priced at about 10-15% higher than what you'd find on Newegg/Amazon, which is fair considering shipping and the fact that nobody else has a selection like theirs. I've been there a number of times over the past couple of months and have able to buy things with relative ease and mostly without problems. The biggest thing you have to be aware of is that a lot of the items that they have on their website are not actually in stock. If the item says "por pedido" (from what I understand) it means you have to place an order, and they will request a shipment from whichever country they are getting their items, and after it has arrived they will contact you and you pay to get your item. The only problem is that they estimate two weeks but it's actually more like a month to a month and a half before you'll get your order. Just keep that in mind if you order a "por pedido" item and you should be fine.

Also, in response to the guy talking about processors, Yoytec actually has i7s available now. You'll hardly be able to find the newest stuff at any given point in time but they'll eventually become available at Yoytec, which is more than I can say about pretty much every other location I've visited here in Panama.

[edit]

I should add that you won't be able to find all the parts to make your dream gaming rig but you can probably find suitable substitutes.

The problem with Yoytec is that they have no showroom that I know of. You order online and go there to pick it up at a counter. No way to inspect the goods before you buy and no return privileges. You cross your fingers and hope there's no juega vivo and that the goods are not defective or DOA.

Originally Posted by cloudboy

The problem with Yoytec is that they have no showroom that I know of. You order online and go there to pick it up at a counter. No way to inspect the goods before you buy and no return privileges. You cross your fingers and hope there's no juega vivo and that the goods are not defective or DOA.

Yeah I totally understand that, their system feels really shady. They do allow you to check the contents of the boxes before you sign their receipt and take your item away, but that happens after you've already paid for the item. But yeah, there's no way to give your parts a test run.

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