importing a laptop?

No they don't. You will have to send it to Bacolod or Cebu and go pick it up. I have heard you may be able to work with them and have them send it through lbc after it arrives in their office but I have never went that route as I always wanted an excuse to get out of Dumaguete for a day or two.

 

Yeah, that can happen if you order through a local supplier. I have never had a Western online supplier say "tough sh*t" if a package didn't make it through. Another reason to buy from legitimate Western online retailers that don't subscribe to the Chinese/kuripot business model.

 

That's a pretty cheap laptop. Unless you are taking very good care of it I wouldn't expect it to be very useful for anything over 2-3 years, and that depends on what you are using it for.

Still just a mid-range laptop, especially for a touch-screen. However, Mid-range computers generally don't go down after just year. Sounds like you either got unlucky or you aren't taking care of your PC. Either way, I think it is unfair to say that this is the norm or some industry wide problem.

I have a HP Spectre x360 13" w/ touchscreen that I paid around $1,200 for about 3 years ago and an Alienware 17 R5 that I paid around $1,700 for about a year ago (time will tell with this one but reviews of the older models tell me it will hold up over time). Both have been excellent laptops and continue to work exactly as they did they day I bought them, and I'm in a pretty hot and dusty environment. A cooling pad and some canned air goes a really long way when it comes to computer maintenance. I know it isn't any better in the Philippines. (Don't clean your ceiling/floor fan for a month and have a look at all that crap that builds up on the blades, the same is happening to the inside of your computer.)

One thing to watch for in the Philippines is if you are using your laptop for anything that uses a bit of processing power (even something as simple as watching a video) you had better make sure you have a d*mn good cooling pad (and a couple floor fans pointing at it if you are gaming). The heat in the Philippines will destroy your computer in very short order.

Another thing to look out for in the Philippines is allowing Filipinos to use your computer. They are horrible PC users. I have yet to work on a Filipino owned computer that wasn't loaded with tons of viruses and all of my ex-gfs unwittingly downloaded viruses to my person computer on a regular basis.