That price is dur to you not having the recovery disk set with you, the 
labor and the hard disk..... nithung to do with non Japaneese computer.

Henry

<chillythekid@gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:1129959187.623079.246080@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> The hard drive failed on my satellite a70 and I'd like to replace it.
> Bought in Canada, currently living in Japan; when I took the laptop in
> to a Toshiba repair shop, they quoted me $850 (85,000 yen) to replace
> the HD because it's a foreign model. We laughed and laughed, and then
> he was like, "No seriously." I've been under the hood of a desktop many
> times, but am pretty clueless about laptops. Any advice on:
>
> - Where I can get a replacement drive, bearing in mind that I speak
> very little Japanese? A Japanese online retailer with english would be
> great, if wishful thinking. I live in Mito, which is only a few hours
> out of Tokyo, so Akihabara etc is also an option.
>
> - Any restrictions on what kind of drive I can get? (ie, will any 2.5"
> drive, regardless of size and speed, work?)
>
> - Anything else I should look out for?
>
> Thanks,
> -m.
>