Compiled by Ari Lowell and Yoni Debel with the help of fellow Jangloers.
Most people said that the price difference between buying a laptop here and buying it in the States is not such a big deal that it's worth it, because the convenience of having local warranty and less hassle with the Hebrew issues like keyboard and operating system is nice.
The thing with the price difference though, which a few people pointed out (and my own modest research confirms), is that even though the price isn't a massive difference (although it could be a
few hundred dollars), there are usually all kinds of deals and specials in the States that you don't have here. For example, I looked up a Dell and they have a holiday special knocking off $500
from the price plus they throw in a free USB key and printer. Add that to being a few hundred dollars cheaper than here in Israel and you have mamash a big difference. This is true especially on Apple computers.
And further, at least one person knocked the warranty issue by pointing out that if you are spending hundreds of dollars less, having to pay for repairs locally evens out, and everyone said that getting Hebrew on your keyboard via stickers, engraving, or an external keyboard and having your operating system enabled for Hebrew is just not a big deal.
So the bottom line is, of course if you travel a lot to the States then definatley buy it there because the warranty troubles are a nonissue and the Hebrew stuff is not such a big deal and easily solved. Otherwise, you can really go either way although it will end up being cheaper if a little bit more hassle getting it abroad.
It's always a good idea to compare prices if you need specifics, after all buying in Israel is easier and you do get the warranty, which only stops being an issue if you save more than a 1000NIS. Also when buying in the states, look for a that comes with an international warranty, some do and it is always a good thing to have.
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