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Hong Kong is still a geek paradise.

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Well, it’s not quite Hong Kong, but you get the drift...

You know how people always say Hong Kong used to be a shopper’s paradise? Who are those crazy people and what kind of outlying island are they living on? Piracy notwithstanding, we’re knee-deep in some of the coolest wares in the world. From parallel import electronics to design-it-yourself computers, retro-doohickeys to super-powered cell phones, we present the best geek goods Hong Kong has to offer.

Fantastic Electronics

Start with the basics – planning on tricking out your home theater system? Get a badass media computer, and then make an appointment to check out Doma (contact Alun, 2851-2096) – but don’t be put off by the unfamiliar brand. The big-screen plasma retailer Frankensteins their TVs, putting together the best possible parts from LG, Samsung and others for an orgasmic piece of hardware at about half the price of bigger brands. But what’s the point of sight without sound? Grab an overcompensating stereo system at Luen Hing Audio & Visual (152 Ap Liu St., Sham Shui Po, 2728-8745, www.lhe.com), which, as one of the sweetest stores around, gives a great selection of local and international products.

Rather shoot ‘em yourself? One of the best places to check out if you’re a cam-fan is over on Stanley Street in Central, where dozens of tiny stores sell snappers and shooters for significantly less than your average Fortress. One of my favorites in the area is the reliable Cheer Power Camera & Audio (5-8 Queen Victoria St., Central, 2877-1511), which offers some of the cheapest prices in the city. Or head to Kowloon and hit up Wing Shing Camera (66 Sai Yeung Choi St., Mongkok, 2396-6881) or Man Shing Camera (106 Tung Choi St., Mongkok, 2396-2996), both known for their dependability and fantastic prices.

Custom-built Computers

Why should you mindlessly take whatever those big computer multinationals offer when you can hook one up yourself, and at a significantly cheaper price? I’ve been going to Bryhan Li at Konset Technology (Shop 257-258, 298 Hennessy Rd., Wan Chai, 2575-8911) for over a decade now. Here are a few PC setups I recommend, with Li’s quoted prices:

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Basic setup:
CPU - AMD Athlon X2 4400+ $700
RAM - 2Gb DDR2-667 $480
HDD - Seagate 320Gb SATA HDD $690
MOTHERBOARD / PSU / CASE (all-in-one) - Asus T3-M2NC51PV $1,270
ASSEMBLY $100
Total $3,240

Home theater console:
CPU - AMD Athlon X2 4400+ $700
RAM - 2Gb DDR2-667 $480
HDD - Seagate 320Gb SATA HDD $690
MOTHERBOARD - Asus M2A-VM motherboard (onboard video) $590
PSU / CASE - Antec Fusion case w/ PSU $1,400
ASSEMBLY $100
Total $3,960

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Great for gaming:
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 $1,410
RAM - 2GB DDR2-800 $950
MOTHERBOARD - Asus P5K-E $1,390
VIDEO CARD (GPU) – Asus HD 2900XT $2950
HDD - Seagate 320Gb SATA HDD $690
PSU - Enermax Liberty 500W $825
CASE - NZXT Lexa $900
ASSEMBLY $100
Total $9,215

Want to knock-off the $100 assembly fee and get a workmanlike sense of satisfaction? Check out www.pcmech.com/byopc for an easy, step-by-step guide to building your own PC.
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