One of the main things I was surprised by on my trip to Brazil was costs of electronics. It's ridiculously expensive...
This is what happens when a sale on LCD's comes up. Remember, even the amazing sale price is probably more expensive that what we in North America pay normally.
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Bring 2 brand new macbook pros and the trips paid for.
But mac laptops are about double the costs down there.
15" 2.66 goes for R$7.699 which is around $4,250 US. Double the cost.
When I went down, I had my macbook. I should have sold it and bought a new one when I got back.
I brought a laptop for and NGO when i was down there
Crazy...
At the same time, Brazil's anti-import policy is a big reason why it is in such better overall economic shape than every other country in South and Central America. The thing is, the way the law is written (not that such things really matter THAT much down there when it comes to the Federal Government), you are allowed to import for which there is no competing industry in Brazil. But you can really only argue this case if you have a lawyer and a lot of money. So let's say I have a concert venue and I need a soundsystem - I can hire a lawyer and avoid a lot of import taxes / prohibitions because the size of the purchase is big enough that going through the hoops is worth it, and because money talks. But if I just want a digital camera, I'm screwed. Furthermore, I don't know of ANY electronics company that will standby a warranty within Brazil, and this is in large part because there are no authorized service centers there. So a chain store can sell you any overpriced product at double what it'd cost in the states and have no obligation to do anything if it's a lemon. There have been quite a few stories on this in the news over the past few years, but until the Federal government reforms their import policy nothing will change.
If you buy something from an Apple store in Brazil and buy applecare from Brazil. They will stand by it.
Though, the cost is crazy... Looking on the apple.com/br site. Apple care for a macbook pro is like almost $700 US. CRAZY
Price for a mac mini or imac is much better at around $300