Laptop stores in Sweden?

April 7, 2009 7:56 PM

Does anyone know about some online laptop stores based in Sweden? Or do you know of any way to figure out what netbook laptops are on the market in Swedish stores, so I can do the research in advance?

My friend is traveling to Sweden in the next few days, and his laptop died while in Africa. He doesn't have Internet access so he needs me to do the research for buying a new netbook in Sweden.

If someone can give me any information on what the computer market is like over there, like what brands are available and what kinds of stores there are, that would help. If there are Swedish online stores, that would help as well.

Also, both my friend and I are Canadian and don't speak any Swedish.

posted by hoobichu to computers & internet (4 comments total)

Prisjakt is my favorite Swedish price comparison site. You can filter the results based on numerous criteria. "Sök" means "Search".
posted by martinrebas at 11:27 PM on April 7

You can buy netbooks online from Misco, Webhallen or Dustin. All in Swedish, unfortunately, but you should be able to figure it out with the help of tyda.se (a decent Swedish-English dictionary). An alternative is to go to a physical store and ask for help, they will definitely speak English there. Some of the major electronics chains are Siba, Elgiganten, NetOnNet and Media Markt. The selection will probably be limited, though, and the prices might not be very competitive.

I haven't been able to find any general resources for what netbook models are available here. Mefi mail me if I can help you with translation or anything else.
posted by Signy at 12:02 AM on April 8

Another retail option is OnOff, which has the Acer One and a range of Eee PCs, among others.

"Finns i lager" means in-stock. "Finns ej i lager" means not in-stock. "Pris i butik" is the in-store price, on many sites the more visibly quoted price is the internet price.

"Datorer" is computers, "data" is computer, and "bärbara" is laptop in Swedish. Netbooks are generally referred to as MiniPC or "lätt och tunn bärbara" (light and thin). Netbooks are often bundled with a mobile internet contract, if you see a very low price you can guess it is a bundled deal.
posted by McGuillicuddy at 12:47 AM on April 8

Please note that you will get a netbook with a Swedish keyboard, which might be a slight problem.

A bigger problem might be that many, if not most, netbooks are sold with the Swedish version XP Home - with no way of changing the language to English except reinstalling XP from a non-included installation media. (The license key for Swedish XP can apparently be used but might require a phone call to Microsoft to activate).

I don't remember what languages the default Linux installation on my EEE included - I reinstalled quite quickly.

Your friend should be clear about asking for a netbook with the correct version of XP or Linux. Using Swedish XP and not speaking Swedish would not be especially fun...
posted by rpn at 1:16 AM on April 8