The Journey to Seoul for Computer Parts!

Well, for my first post, I'll tell you about my adventure to Seoul to visit Seonin (sawn-in) Mall. Seonin Mall is basically the place to go if you want to buy computer parts and accessories. It has many shops that sell all sorts of computer odds and ends. You can find computer cases, power supplies, all sorts of graphics cards (well, not the nVidia 7950...but thats another story...) processors, memory, etc. When I walked in, I was like a kid in a candy store, but with a mission. Oh, and don't worry, Cara said I could :-P.

So the easiest way to get there is by taking the metro; however, I knew I'd be buying a hefty case. So I ended up traveling the crazy roads of Korea. Which aren't that bad, once you leave the city areas. I took an expressway North, and it was pretty open the whole way. Despite my mapping the whole trip and determining what landmarks to look for, I ended up getting lost twice. Once on the way to the expressway, and the other I missed my exit because I was gazing at all the big bridges the Koreans have going into Seoul.

After driving around and finally finding parking, I made my way over to the mall. When I walked in, it was exactly what I had hope for. Needless to say, I was a very happy camper...okay, computer geek. There are four floors in the mall, and it has a triangular shape to it. I decided to browse around at all the stores and see what they had before I purchased anything. I was pretty impressed, there was a store for almost every kind of computer part you could ever want.

As I said, there was a reason I came to Seonin Mall with my car, I was going to buy a case, and didn't feel like dragging the case home and through the metro and having everyone stare at my case. Now all the cases I had seen when I walked in were pretty boring and/or too small. After making my way around the mall, I arrived on the first floor (I entered on the second floor) and found the case I wanted. Unfortunately, I found it before I had bought any of my other components. So I went back around to the stores and began to buy the other components.

The first items I bought were two Samsung 320GB 7200 SATA drives. That was a cool experience. The couple I bought it from would actually say the numbers in Korean, and actually let me try and understand, and say the other numbers. Initially I asked for a 사백 (sa baek) GB drive, which is 400GB (sa = 4, baek=100). When they told me the cost, I was like whoa, never mind, so I tried to ask for a 300GB. Well, 3 & 4 in the Sino-Korean numeral system are rather close: 3 is sam (삼) and 4 is sa (사). Confident I knew what I was saying, I asked for a "sa baek GB" thinking I was asking for a 300GB. I was actually asking for a 400GB hard drive again, just after they had just shown me a few 400GB models. They looked at me a little strange and started reaching for the 400GB pile. As they reached for the 400GB stack, I wondered why, and so I went over the numbers in my head. "...il, i, sam, sa, o...oh crap!" So I, quickly corrected myself. " 삼백! " (sam baek!). They laughed and reached and got a 320GB. It ended up being 79,000 per hard drive.

Now, before you freak out, that's 79,000 Won. 1 USD = about 931KRW. So, divide by 1000, and you get the approximate dollar value. There's a quick lesson in Korean/US economics. Probably the last, too.

Now, where was I? Ah yes, Hard Drives. I paid the couple and went out to find my video card. as I walked around, I noticed that everyone had the same brands of Video Cards. So, I looked extra hard for the nVidia 7950. I went from store to store looking for it. And then I saw a box for it! Sweet! hard work pays off! So I went in and asked the man at the desk for it, he replied that they didn't have any in stock. Grr. Gotta keep looking. I went to another store, and this lady asks me in english if she can help me. I think to myself this will be an easier exchange.

"Do you have any nVidia 7950s?" I ask.
"No, we don't." She pauses a bit and continues, "but why do you want that when then future is the 8000 series?" She had a little condescending tone in her voice.
"Because I don't want top of the line, I just want that one." My brow became furrowed as replied. I left that store and never went back. Don't get me wrong, the lady was right, I was asking for a great video card that had reached its EOL (end-of-life), but she could have tried to convince me in another way. Oh well, her loss.

I finally found another store that had two 7950 boxes. I asked the man in the store if I could buy one, and he called his stock room, and replied "Discontinued." Discontinued?! Why do you show a box on the shelf if you're never going to have it again? I asked about the other one, he chuckled (he could tell I wanted that card), and called again. Same answer. Discontinued. Grr. Why do these people tease me with their empty boxes?! Oh well. Such is life. I picked up a 8500GT & 8600GTs for < $90 a piece, so I could at least have some video (and Cara wanted to be able to use 2 screens). Now all I had to do was find the case store I had passed by earlier. That would prove to be the hardest part of my day. I walked the 2-4th floor looking for that case, cause I knew I had seen it. You remember me talking about it above, right? Well, if you've already scrolled up, or remember from what I told you, it was on the first floor. It took me over an hour to find that store again.

But before I found it, I ran across this LCD vendor who had a nice 20.1 inch Square Monitor. Which was cool cause I'm trying to make a Square-Wide-Square monitor arrangement, and when the widescreen is 24", its hard to find anything smaller than 19" that comes close or anything above 19" that isn't widescreened or a small fortune. it was $230, but I needed to make sure I had enough money for all of my case. Which I did. So, after buying my case, I lugged the case and other hardware back to my initially-red-but-now-rather-pink car. I counted my won, and decide to head back. I walk back inside, and right as I enter is the LCD vendor. So I pick one up and head back to the car very happy because I had accomplished what I had come for.

As I left the parking lot, I had to pay the teller "manobaeg won" (만오벡원). I had think to myself... I knew it was 10,000 something.. but what did he say after 'man'? So I asked him again. He could see me thinking, so he helped me out "Ten thousand five hundred!" he says with a smile. "Oh, right, man o baeg won!" He smiles and says yes in korean. (네/ne).

So I break out my already proven valuable Seoul map and navigate my way back to the Olympic Expressway. It was 6:30pm, and wowsas, talk about traffic. Luckily, as a former resident of Los Angeles, it wasn't too big a deal. I just didn't have any music. (K-pop anyone??). Once I left Seoul, traffic was non-existent. And I drove back home having bought my hearts content of computer parts. Well for now at least. ;-).