UK or Spanish

While the best deals are to be found in the UK there are many good computer shops to be found in Spain who will build you a computer to your specification and you don't have to go 1000 miles to get it fixed under the guarantee.

It used to be the case that buying from the larger Spanish shops was a mistake, that is not so much the case now.

The main reason being that they only sold Spanish language computers and you had to install a fresh copy of Windows XP to change them to English. With the advent of Windows Vista and Windows 7, it is possible to change the language without a complete re-install of the Windows operating system. Some of the shops are still not aware of this and most of them will not help you to do it. I have installed recently new Packard Bell, Asus and Compaq computers from the large chains and some of them have offered the choice of language at the beginning of the installation. Officially only the Ultimate versions of Vista and 7 can be changed but any decent PC engineer can change any version for you at a minimal cost, allowing you to take advantage of the cheapest prices if you are confident that you can spot a bargain. You will find better help in MIRO in the Habaneras shopping center than you get from Carrefour.

Spanish stores, you are well advised not to believe a word the assistants tell you, they only want to make a sale and will deny everything when you go back. If you have a question then research it for yourself to be sure you get the truth. The same applies to the telecom companies when you are thinking of buying ADSL, challenge everything.

  If you would rather buy from a UK store such as Argos, PC World, Tesco Direct, etc then I would recommend the service provided by www.ukshoppinginspain.com I have used them for large items and the service is excellent. San Luis computers have an improving reputation and I have used several of their €300 towers recently which have given good performance at a sensible price. Argos now have a website for Spain which is selling both laptops and desktop computers and accessories and is priced in euros.

Another option is to import a computer from a UK company who will deliver to Spain. A few of my customers have done this from R L Supplies who have a wide range of new and refurbished notebook and desktop computers available from their website.