How to buy a mac in the US?
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- keiTai
Yep,
I am from Europe and now with the strong euro/dollar it's tempting to buy a powerbook pro online.
Anyone have any experience with this??
- ian0
Far as I know the US apple store wont ship anything outside the states, so you have to order it and ship it to an american address and then organise for it to be shipped to you and hope you don't get caught by customs.
Or go to the states and buy it over there yourself.
- < yup. or get it yourself and get rid of packaging and all and try to talk customs into the idea >********
- that it is already yours..********
- < yup. or get it yourself and get rid of packaging and all and try to talk customs into the idea >
- keiTai0
tx ian,
but what about that "get your own little US service". Where you pay an annual amount for a 1 square meter space in a room where you can ship your items to and they will unpack and repack your item.
Heard about this service but can't remember the name.
- Dunno about these services, would it work out cheaper than buying it from european store? And could you trust em with...ian
- a $3000 computer?ian
- ian, found it
http://www.myus.com/…keiTai
- stem0
It sounds so tempting, but would actually be more hassle than it's worth. However, I do see an opportunity for some of our US friends to send you a 'present'...
(say, cost of computer, plus shipping, plus an extra 100 dollars?)
- creative-0
Watch out for the import tax/VAT add on that Her Majesty will add on... http://www.qbn.com/topics/541408…
- Exactly, you could get royally screwed. Could work out cheaper to fly over and buy it yerselfian
- Don't know what the situation is in Amsterdam, but in the UK it'd probably be cheaper to buy it herecreative-
- Those fucking assholes. It has ended up costing them more in man hours than me.Dancer
- the shoes will of travelled 24,000 miles, that's nearly once around the world and I haven't done one step in themDancer
- keiTai0
guys, girls
i found the service i was telling you about http://www.myus.com/
Anyone have any experience with myus??- great service but little pricey! annual fee is 132 USD and they are shipped all items via DHL.hido
- Dancer0
In terms of support, warrenty and Applecare. Would you get it on a Mac bought from the US. Would there be anything else different that a US mac has from the UK? – Oh and the Plug!!
- ribit0
Applecare is global (on Pro laptops at least). Keyboard layout is different..
- How different?Dancer
- Apparently the £ is hidden and the @ is somewhere else as wellDancer
- Two Z keys and the O, M and G keys are next to each to each other.********
- not much..
# vs £, and Ithink a few things move on the right side (if US Apple Store photo to be believed)ribit - haha moff, you're so funny i'll kill you last.paraselene
- creative-0
US keyboard layout. Look at the return key
- rafalski0
1. Don't buy from online Apple Store, even if you live in the US - they're expensive and sales sax applies (at least in CA). Only thing worth buying there are refurbs, which I recommend. They only take US credit cards and ship to US only anyway.
2. Amazon usually has better prices and rebates. You can pay with any EU card and have it shipped for free to an US address. No sales tax afaik.
3. US Keyboard layout is different, actually I prefer that one as it's the same that's used in Poland. US enter key is "_" shaped, UK is "L" shaped. Don't worry about the power plugs, you'll get them cheap on ebay.
4. VAT + VATting service charges will likely be applied if the item is shipped to the EU. USPS is less prone to that than commercial carriers - FedEx, UPS and so on. It might be good to insure it for a small amount, so it doesn't get lost on the way.
5. Have a friend travelling from the US bring it to you on the plane, you can buy them a small iPod as a motivational bonus :) (the laptop is heavy enough to stretch an old friendship).
6. Wait with buying applecare until the unit is about 10 months old. This way if it's i.e. stolen before that you have more dough left in your pocket. US applecare applies to US sold computers only - numbers must fit (unless something has changed). Don't buy applecare from Apple - there are good deals on Amazon!
Applecare works worldwide.
- stupidresponse0
the differences in the keyboards goes beyond the return key: tilde, hash, pipe, shift-3 and 4 are all different. i'm sure i've missed a few. as long as you're not used to QUERTZ or AZERTY, i suppose it should be not too infuriating.
- and get the apple international plug set. everything else just falls offstupidresponse
- these do work: http://i.expansys.co…rafalski
- ********0
friend of mine is leaving for the states soon again, i may ask him into buying some photo-equipment. but it is still tricky. he really will have to get rid of all sorts of packaging and make it look like it's his..
- I am not too hip to tax and import laws but what if he just wraps it? Is there some sort of tax levied against gifts?freeskihp
