I have been asked to write reviews on Asus laptop computers. But I already wrote so many reviews on Asus laptop computers, so today I decided to talk about something more important concerning laptop computers. You can check my Asus laptop reviews on this site. Often the latest models of laptops on the visa pages Notebookitalia delay in bringing to arrive, or they are imported into our country. The foreign is always a stage on which to debut new field in computing, and the temptation to grab the latest technology acquired by foreign countries is strong. Not to mention that a strong euro against the dollar encourages cross-border purchases. But the question is always the same, agrees to buy abroad? Between customs taxes, VAT, shipping and currency exchange spending is higher or lower than buying the same product in Italy? In this article we report some considerations based on our experience.

First we must check if the basic price of our laptop abroad justifies the labor importation. An online currency converter such as Yahoo Finance, always updated and available, is ideal. Consider one of the most probable cases of purchase by the United States. If the laptop costs $ 1000 for example, the fee will be € 641.54 euro (the exchange rate applicable at the time of writing this guide).



Assume that the same notebook in Italy has a price of 1200 € including VAT (if fictional but entirely plausible) the exchange rate is favorable, but we understand whether by adding all the costs, affordability remains or the operation becomes disadvantageous.

We must consider first the shipping costs, which affect the final cost taxed by customs. The dispatch of a notebook by the USA with USPS service (3 days to arrive in Italy, which must be added the time required for delivery within the Italian territory), can cost approximately $ 80, which is approximately 51.36 euros. The total cost, which we call "CT" is the sum of the product price plus shipping costs, in this case: CT = 641.54 + 51.36 = 692.9 €

Once arrived in our country, the package containing the notebook will be intercepted by Italian customs, which will apply a duty calculated on the basis of the Customs Tariff (TARIC). The site of the Customs Agency (AIDA) helps us understand what will be the approximate cost. Click on "Consultation" to access the site.



Depending on the product we buy, the customs charges are different, it is necessary to trace the code for imported goods, in this case a notebook. Clicking on "Nomenclature" -> "TARIC" -> "Index TARIC" we can explore a chart that facilitates the retrieval code. It 'hard enough to extricate terminology used in AID, but with a little patience goes to the following code.

For category: "automatic data processing machines, portable, weighing less than or equal to 10 kg, comprise at least a unitàcentrale processor, a keyboard and a monitor."

After returning to the previous screen, click on "search", we follow the path "Measures" -> "TARIC" -> "For Country" and insert the date code and country where you want to display the information in this case United States of America, and click "OK".

I have been asked to write reviews for Asus laptop U81A. I do not have the possibility to write reviews for Asus laptop U81A, because I do not own this model, but I will review another Asus model. Asus Eee PC 900 is not the successor of the first Eee PC model 701, but a kind of "big brother", identical in everything except for some details, like screen, which runs from 7 "original with a resolution of 800x480 pixels at a diagonal to 9 inches with a resolution of 1024x600 pixels, more comfortable and suitable for Internet browsing.

You can learn more about the new Asus Eee PC 900 review in that we spent. Here we focus instead on strategic issues and marketing related to the notebook from Triple E.



Luke Smith, country manager of Asus Italy, summarizes the context in which the Asus Eee PC has come to life.


In 2007, the turnover of Asus has reached a value of $ 23 billion, an increase of 37% over the previous year. In January 2008, is followed, then a major reorganization, with the dismemberment of Asustek into three parts: Asus Pegatron were added, a branch that deals with the production quality OEM and ODM, and Unihan, which interested in everything that is not PC DMS (Design and Manufacturing Services).


The reorganization was necessary to separate more clearly the direct sales business with the Asus brand that production for third parties. Let us recall that Asus is one of the largest manufacturers of notebook computers worldwide. If you are interested in the topic, I recommend the reading of our earlier news.


Due to a particularly favorable market trend, Asus has had the need to invest heavily to renew and expand, adding a first manufacturing plant from 700,000 square meters, is already saturated, a second plant from well 2.1 million square feet ( The Principality of Monaco made "only" 1.9 million m2).


From this ferment comes also the Asus Eee PC, designed in six months by a team meeting in the BU from Wu (Great room), a room specially designed to be an incubator of ideas.


To ensure speed boot, battery life and reliability, Asus has entrusted to SSDs (Solid State Drive) that can accommodate these needs better than traditional hard disk to magnetic plates.


We all know what followed: the model 701 had a huge success, with 700,000 units sold in the first quarter of 2008 and an estimated 1.34 million units by year end. Now it's the Asus Eee PC 900, available on store shelves Italians from May to June, in white or black.



Maximum Merici (Product Manager for mobile) briefly summarizes the features that differentiate it from the model 701: screen 8.9 "with higher resolution (1024 * 600), the speakers are now located under the chassis and not on the side of screen, 1.3 megapixel webcam.


The extreme portability goal was reached: even Asus Eee PC 900 weighs less than 1kg (9.9 ounces), although, due to the larger display, the 4400mAh battery fails to deliver more than 2:30 h autonomy. The shortage, in fact, not allowed using a bigger battery 5200mAh. The laptop has a storage capacity on solid state drives from 12GB (running Windows XP) or 20GB (with GNU / Linux). The price you place a hundred dollars above the 701 model coming to share € 399.