Yeah, going to HK for purchase will save you some 15-20%, buTT......I purchased G-drive in HK two years ago, and as soon as I returned to China and uploaded few things, G-drive died. 

Salesmen in HK will often say that stuff in HK is much better than on mainland. It's all made in China and shipped to HK, so that could be true only if HK imposes rigorous quality check-ups, before product is put on the store shells. I don't think so!

As HK revolt on mainland's political changes was 'hot', I believe mainland's product&assembly factories were (still are..) revenging toward HK, and are shipping crap products there.

A month after G-drive purchase, I was in HK again, and exchanged G-drive in Apple store. Repeat: 'as soon as I returned to mainland, G-drive was out again!'. The product was Apple's top HD item. 

I was out of 'free store exchange' time, and was forced to get G-drive exchange/repair in China. New product I received from Shanghai 'exchange&repair' store works without any problems......'wooden-knock-knock'.... for almost a year already.

I'm convinced, you can get crap products in HK, because of disliking between both, and mainland being producer & HK's supplier for most items on HK shells, except umbrellas and fishing lines......

Tourist tours to HK from mainland are dead, and tours to Macao are fully booked for the same reason.

For a gift, it doesn't matter. And may be easier in the longrun. Chinese version and all that.

If it's for yourself then HK will have a genuine English version if you go to a reputable store. They can also offer support if there is a problem. But you need to go there.

Don't forget that such electronic devices sold in the mainland may come with pre-installed bloatware, "security features" that may limit your browsing and connectivity and worse, backdoors.

The HK market often carries international versions of electronic products.  For example, when I was searching for a printer and workstation on American websites, I couldn't find the corresponding model number on Taobao.  The Chinese products model numbers were different.  In HK, you can often find the same model number as the US.  I'm not sure if there is a real difference in the product, but many companies modify their goods to suit the Chinese market.

its just like the guys before said. Hk products have usually international version while mainland have chinese version pre-installed. 

You have all been very helpful guys, I appreciate it. I think I will wait until I am actually in HK again and buy it direct from the Apple store on Central.

One more thing I would love to hear more about if anyone wants to chime in on the topic-  does that urban rumor of a 'backdoor' being installed on mainland electronic goods have any validity to it?