An American PC Display in Mexico (Premium)

We were surprised to discover that Amazon Mexico is often as good as the version we get back home, with seamless one- and two-day deliveries. Indeed, we've bought a wide range of items for our apartment here, including electronics like a 58-inch TV, a pair of JBL Charge 5 speakers, and some podcasting gear I'll be writing up separately, plus normal apartment things like an anti-vibration base for the fridge, wall hangers, pillows, and so on.

Part of Amazon's appeal here is a coincidence of geography. Had we purchased an apartment elsewhere in this country, the experience could have been quite different. But because we're in Mexico City, the biggest city here, it's been reliable and efficient. As with so much else here, it's a little bit embarrassing, this first-world service in a place in which so many are destitute. But it's also emerged as one of the unexpected advantages to us choosing this area.

Helping matters, our apartment is in a building with 24/7 security, and so Amazon's delivery people will drop off packages with them, and then they will call us to let us know they've arrived. In fact, more often than not, they bring it up to us on the 6th floor. We've told them this is unnecessary, but as I've noted many times, the people here are, if anything, overly accommodating.

There are some challenges, of course. It is Mexico, after all.

Though we can use our normal Amazon sign-in to access Amazon Mexico, we have to be careful to switch the default delivery location to our address here because they will deliver things to Pennsylvania otherwise. Some of the items we shop for will come from the United States, which is undesirable because it adds to the shipping costs and time frame, but it's not always clear which items will come from Mexico or the U.S: A small "Importación" flag is the only clue, and my wife and I have inadvertently chosen a U.S.-based item more than once.

Some items, especially electronics, are also much more expensive in Mexico for reasons that elude me. But we got a good deal on the TV and speakers, go figure, and because the speakers happened to be on sale at the time, I paid less for them here than I would have at home. The selection isn't as good, either, of course. And with some items---like a polo shirt I tried to buy recently---I've come up short.

And, horrors of horrors, the Amazon Mexico website (and app) is only in Spanish. But that's worked out: It's a good way to acclimate to the language, and I can always use the Google Translate browser extension when I'm stuck.

Anyway, nearly two years into this Mexico adventure, we've never had any real issues using Amazon Mexico. Until yesterday.

My wife and I both use a More Mobile setup here in Mexico that consists of a laptop, a USB-C or Thunderbolt 4 dock, a laptop stand of some kind, and an external keyboard or mouse. My wife brought a USB-C external display here because she likes to use two displays, and we both switched to 16-inch laptop...