To buy (in India) or not to buy?
It’s been a few years since the Indian Government has allowed citizens travelling abroad to bring in a new laptop duty free if they buy it overseas. So the question is, if you travel abroad or have friends traveling, is it worth it to purchase an Apple notebook abroad?
Below is a small matrix which shows the price difference between the new lines of notebook purchased in the US vs in India. The prices are from the US & Indian Apple website store. Taxes are extra in both cases.
| Model | Speed | US Price | In INR | Indian Price | Difference | % Difference |
| MacBook | 2.0GHz | 1,299.00 | 64,651.23 | 72,910.00 | 8,258.77 |  12.77% |
| MacBook | 2.4GHz | 1,599.00 | 79,582.23 | 88,280.00 | 8,697.77 | 10.93% |
| MacBook White | 2.1GHz | 999.00 | 49,720.23 | 56,580.00 | 6,859.77 | 13.80% |
| MacBook Pro 15″ | 2.4GHz | 1,999.00 | 99,490.23 | 109,410.00 | 9,919.77 | 9.97% |
| MacBook Pro 15″ | 2.53GHz | 2,499.00 | 124,375.23 | 136,310.00 | 11,934.77 | 9.60% |
| MacBook Pro 17″ | 2.5GHz | 2,799.00 | 139,306.23 | 148,800.00 | 9,493.77 | 6.82% |
| MacBook Air | 1.6GHz | 1,799.00 | 89,536.23 | 97,890.00 | 8,353.77 | 9.33% |
| MacBook Air | 1.86GHz | 2,499.00 | 124,375.23 | 136,310.00 | 11,934.77 | 9.60% |
*USD<->INR price is calculated at 49.77, the rate as of October 26, 2008 (source: XE.com)
Update: Since the USD INR exchange rate is a little volatile these days, you can enter the current USD to INR rate below, and click the Update button to recalculate the prices in the table above.