Don't know why you are in Japan but I lived in Italy for a while and the
best thing to do is to get a relative in the states to send you the drive.
That is what I had to do until I got enough confidence to speak the
language and venture into the economy. (We were there because of military
orders)

As far as the HD goes, you should be able to handle anything without a
problem. According to the Toshiba info it came with a 60gig HD so you may
not want to get anything less. It is a 2.5" EIDE drive and they are pretty
standard as far as that goes.

You can check prices on the web, I just bought a 40gig one about 2 months
ago for my HP (is an old computer) and it only cost me $35.00. I saw 60gig
for less than $50.

I think they saw your turist/foreigner sign on you head
when they told you $850.00. For 1/4 of that amount you can just send me
the computer by mail, I'll put the drive in for you and send it back and
I'll still make some money off you....lol....

Good luck.

On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 22:33:07 -0700, chillythekid wrote:

> 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.