Usually anything related to Computer Science or Logic with more than 4 stars rating is a must have for me. See, for example, My Wishlist on amazon.com. But I do agree that buying this way is not a nice thing to do if I can get the same books from a local vendor, specially considering the low priced Asian editions.
So, I fired up my browser this weekend and thoroughly went through Liberty Books and Paramount Books. By the way, I have never liked the collection at Liberty Books. On the other hand, I was surprised to see that Paramount Books has cataloged their complete collection on the web.
Now, Paramount Books has rented a house near Tariq Road acting as a big bookstore. I went there yesterday and asked if they could arrange books for me. The guy at the reception was happy to oblige. You can also write to them at info AT paramountbooks dot com dot pk if you want some specific book which they don't have; address the email to Mr. Nabeel. I bought the below mentioned books (the table shows the price of the same book at amazon.com, and no, I didn't buy pirated copies):
| Price at amazon.com | Paramount Books | |
|---|---|---|
| Dynamic Logic (MIT Press) | $59 | Rs. 355 |
| Integration Patterns (Patterns and Practices) (MS Press) | $30 | Rs. 475 |
| Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution (Penguin Books) | $12 | Rs. 395 |
| Unix Application Migration Guide (MS Press) | $50 | Rs. 595 |
Needless to mention that you get 2 days shipping within Pakistan if you buy from Paramount Books. Shipping within Pakistan is free, and of course, you can visit them yourself as well.
On the programming magazines side, its funny that Liberty Books' website says that they deal in MSDN and Dr. Dobbs Journal. I wrote them a few days back but the response was negative. Paramount Books doesn't deal in magazines.
Apart from these, some booksellers (non-IT specific) are covered here and here. Some libraries are covered here.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteCan you tell me, how long amazon take to deliever to pakistan??
Are there charges other than shipping & handling that are calulated at finalizing order?
Regards,
Ahmad
Books cost + shipping and handling---that's all you have to pay; no other charges.
ReplyDeleteThe time and cost for shipping and handling are related. I can't recall exactly but Amazon had different options with varying rates. The fastest I got (and the costliest as well) was 3 weeks.
Can you tell me which credit card do you use.
ReplyDeleteI am using standarad charatered visa debit card and amazon is declining my transcation. I guess there's some issue of CVV code as amazon donot require CVV code.
Please reply soon to above post.
ReplyDeleteWell I have used RBS CC. You should try credit card. Some banks don't allow internet transactions on debit cards.
ReplyDelete