Question from a reader: technology and electronics in Korea?

EDIT - 24 August 2010 - Added directions to another shopping place, fixed a link, and corrected some information. See the comments for the full story.

A reader writes in:

Hi Chris,

A friend of mine showed me your blog a while and I gotta say I love it! Thanks for taking the time to catalog your days for the person interested in traveling to Korea. My question is about South Korea and electronics. First, how technologically inclined is Seoul and the surrounding cities?

I am planning my move there soon, and electronic devices are very vital to my life(aka, I'm a huge nerd, haha). I have a pretty pricey phone, a custom computer, and a standard iPod, all of which I exhaust daily. Will I have to shell out for a new phone, etc.? Or can I take my babies with me?

Thanks!
[K.]

K.,
To put it mildly, Seoul is built on technology. Wi-Fi exists in more places than you can shake a stick at, cell phone coverage is EVERYWHERE (including on the subway), and things often more futuristic. Most of the world's fanciest gadgets are available, albeit at a higher sticker price if it needs to be imported. If you're elsewhere in Korea, it may be a bit harder to find the variety you'll see in Seoul, but there's still plenty of options available.

In the interest of passing on useful information in a relatively short space, I'll be making liberal use of bullet points to break things down.

Places to shop
  • Yongsan Electronics Market, Seoul. Attached to Yongsan station (line 1) and a number of other stores are seven floors of electronic gadgetry. You'll notice many of the same things over and over again - I still don't know how they all stay in business - but there's plenty of selection in virtually every category of electronics.
  • The other Yongsan-area electronics market - I can't find the name off-hand, but Matt Strum calls it "Sunin Plaza (선인상사)" in the comments. From memory, it gets fewer visitors, isn't as bright and shiny, and is great for bringing cash and negotiating. Get there through the Yongsan Electronics Market - the 3rd floor has a side exit that leads to a covered bridge that crosses a wide set of train tracks.
  • Techno Mart - Gangbyeon station (line 2) has a wide variety of electronics ranging from cameras to computers, from memory cards to Playstations. There's another one connected to Sindorim station if you're on the western side of town (lines 1 or 2, exit 2).
  • Namdaemun Market - across the street from the site of Namdaemun itself is perhaps the best place to buy a camera or camera equipment. Approach via Hoehyeon station (line 4, exit 5) or Seoul Station (line 1 or 4, exit 4).
  • Big-box stores: while they don't offer the biggest selection or best prices, they have a decent amount of accessories. Look for E-mart, Homeplus, or Lotte Mart in almost every significantly populated area of Korea.
Computing and computers
  • The iPad (as of this posting date) is still a purchase that needs to be made outside of Korea. You may find one on Seoul's / Korea's craigslist at a markup from the original price, but you're better off purchasing it before coming to Korea.
  • Desktops: they may be bulky and less portable, but you get a lot more bang for your won. Yongsan's aforementioned electronics market has plenty of places that can build and create a customized desktop system, usually in a couple of hours. It's very helpful to be familiar with computer lingo (if you have no idea whether 2GB of RAM and a GeForce graphics card is a good thing or a bad thing, bring along a friend that can decode some of the technospeak). Having access to a person that can speak Korean will help you understand what you're buying, or if there's a problem. Call the Before Babel Brigade at 02-1588-5644 for translation assistance.
  • Laptops: they're widely available all over Seoul and Korea. Although I picked up a netbook from Yongsan's market, every big-box retail store (e.g. Homeplus, E-mart, Lotte Mart) has a decent selection. Because most laptops are imported, expect to pay a bit more than you might elsewhere.
  • There are ample 'Frisbee' stores to power your Mac or Apple needs. These are not official Apple stores, although they are authorized retailers. Although this is anecdotal, I've learned that they service iPods and honor AppleCare guarantees - even ones supposedly bought elsewhere. Check the Frisbee website for maps to their Hongdae, Myeongdong, Sinchon, Konkuk University, or Gangnam locations in Seoul. Busan and Daejeon stores are also around.
Powering things up
  • If you're bringing a laptop, make sure the adapter (that rectangular box that's part of the power cord) can handle a 220V input - that's double the usual 110V input in the US. It probably can, so you'll just need a adapter to physically fit the male Western plugs into the female Korean plugs.
  • To power your iPod or other USB devices, a device that plugs into the wall and charges USB stuff is available in almost every big-box store. Cost? Anywhere from 10,000 won for a cheap knockoff version that works to 40,000 won for a version bought at a big-box store.
  • If you're bringing stuff from your home country that requires home-country power, be on the lookout for a transformer. This is a small but heavy device that transforms the Korean 220V to another country's standard (e.g. the American's 110V) and plug sizes. My transformer powers an American Nintendo DS when it's time for a recharge.

Cell phones
  • The only concern may be your fancy phone - Western cell phones may not work or may be very expensive in Korea. Stafford says it best in the comments:
    Despite the confusing name Korea uses WCDMA which is 3G GSM. The difference is Korea has ONLY 3G. In the rest of the world when you are outside of a 3G area your phone defaults to 2G. (You don't notice the difference with voice but data is much faster on 3G) Therefore most European, Australian/New Zealand, Asian and North American (AT&T NOT T-Mobile or Sprint) phones using the 2100MhZ frequency will work fine in Korea. Most are not optimised to be used on 3G all the time and will suck your battery to death.
  • You can rent a cell phone that does the basics from the Incheon International Airport, but if you've decided to live in Korea you'll want to obtain a cell phone for yourself. If you want a fancier phone, you'll generally pay full-price (no subsidizing available for foreigners). Work with the Seoul Global Center to help get you set up with something that'll work.
Internet connection
  • My netbook uses WiBro - basically a wireless connection that works anywhere in Seoul - including the subway stations, while on the subways... It's a big time saver, to say the least. Find the local KT (Korea Telecom) office to purchase the WiBro modem and pick a data plan (no long-term contract is required, to my knowledge). Expect to pay about 100,000 won for the small external USB modem and another 20,000 won a month for a data plan.
  • Wi-Fi is essentially ubiquitous in availability around Seoul. When convenience stores promote Wi-Fi, you can feel pretty confident in checking your e-mail anywhere you go. Outside of Seoul, there is a strong correlation between the size of the city and the amount of Wi-Fi available.
  • Wired internet for your apartment: Call up SK Broadband for that, among other related products. Dial 106 to chat with them (no area code needed), but check out this page first before calling.
  • Connecting to the internet via iPhone is fairly smooth and easy, anecdotally speaking. Frisbee stores may be able to sell you an iPhone (anecdotally speaking - anyone have first-hand advice?), but you may face the runaround if you're a foreigner.
Gaming
  • MMORPG's take up a fair portion of quite a few locals' lives. If you've been itching to play Starcraft or Warcraft with some locals, you'll find no shortage of takers. The PC bang are easily the best places to watch, to learn, or to join in. Be aware that the games will only be in Korean, and your fellow gamers (at least, the ones sitting next to you) are highly unlikely to speak enough English to help you learn how to play.
  • More of a Nintendo / Sony / Xbox gamer? Bring your system with you if you like (see the section on powering things up as well), but bear in mind some gaming platforms have a regional coding system similar to DVD's. It's possible to have some gaming systems 'modded' to play games from any region, get around copyright restrictions, etc.
  • The Nintendo DS accepts a third-party cartridge called an R4 chip or an AceKard 2i. Ask around at Yongsan Electronics Market where the video games are sold - because these devices circumvent copyright laws, you won't exactly see them displayed openly. Expect to pay about 40,000 - 50,000 won for the kit - the card itself (what physically fits inside the card slot), a microSD card (a 2GB card will hold plenty of games; a larger one will Even if they're not sold openly, they're played openly - I have yet to see more than a handful of people with DS's playing anything but one of these cartridges. The PSP, Nintendo Wii, and PS3 are all crackable or hackable, but do your own research on those.
Note: Chris in South Korea does not endorse or condone breaking copyright or other intellectual property laws.

Readers: Where do you shop for electronics stuff if you're not in Seoul?

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