Getting A Laptop With The Low U.S. Dollar

An anonymous reader submits "I am heading to the U.S. pretty soon and am keen to take advantage of the low US$ to buy a laptop. The differences in prices are astounding - on dell.com (US) you pay $2049 for a Precision M60 - in the UK this costs 1620.33UKP, or $2999. That is a fair difference! It makes it cheaper for me to fly to the US to buy it and carry it home than it is for me to buy it in the UK. Now, that said, it isn't particularly easy to find a place to buy a laptop from, since most of the places don't ship to the UK (or it takes weeks) and it is difficult to get stuff delivered to your hotel ... any suggestions of how I can get a good laptop in the New York area when I am only there for 4 days?"

Comments

Easy answer

[SeanTobin]

First off, I'm assuming you want a mail order dell laptop. The simplest way to go is to get a mailbox in New York via a company like The Mail Box or a UPS store. They give you a full address that is not a PO box, and they will sign for packages for you. Pre-pay for 1 month. That's step 1.

Step 2 is order your laptop and have it sent to your brand new address. You are going to want expedited shipping here - probably next day shipping because it might take a few days for them to ship it.

Step 3, pick up your cheap laptop when it arrives and consider the difference as... profit!

Re:Easy answer

[jazmataz23]

except that it takes as much as a month to get a laptop shipped from Dell, but nice try...

Re:Easy answer

[SeanTobin]

I ordered 2 laptops from Dell last year. They both shipped the business day after I ordered them.

Re:Easy answer

[wallclimber21]

I just opened a mailbox at a UPS Store. You have to fill in a bunch of documents before they can sign for packages. You also have to provide official ID. I'm not so sure this can easily be arranged without being there.

Re:Easy answer

[sonstone]

I ordered one on the 29th of February and they still haven't shipped it! According to their website it has already been built and tested, but has been sitting in the boxing stage for 2 weeks. I can't get a solid answer from the customer service team about when it is going to be shipped either!!!

Re:Easy answer

[endx7]

except that it takes as much as a month to get a laptop shipped from Dell, but nice try...

On some occasions even longer... A friend of mine's family ordered a Dell, and Dell kept pushing the shipping date further back from the original week. After about 3 months of waiting, and still no Dell, they canceled the order and got a computer from someone else, who shipped them a computer in a few days (which wasn't problemless either, but that's another somewhat happier story).

Granted however, it wasn't a laptop, but sometimes it can take absurdly long for a computer to get to you.

Re:Easy answer

[dallask]

Thats because they are either waiting on a part, or waiting to ship from the laptop plant to the central shipping plant.

it took a week and a half for my 8600 to ship to the shipping plant.

Re:Easy answer

[dstutz]

Not an issue as all drives can change their region up to 5 (I think) times. I helped someone set up a new Dell laptop about a month ago and the region wasn't even set initially. NO movies would play in it till I looked around and set to region 1.

Re:Easy answer

[AlaskanUnderachiever]

All you actually need is a socket with a US pinout. All dell laptop power adapters have been 50/60hz and 110-240v adapters for quite some time now.

I agree totally on the mappings bit. Pain in the ass to use certain keys "

Re:Easy answer

[Bart]

I asked The Man this week, because I wanted to buy an amplifier in US and ship to UK. I was told that they would steal 4.5% + 17.5% and would assess this on what they deemed to be the full cost + shipping & handling.

Re:Easy answer

[SnappleMaster]

Dell has gotten very weird these days.

I ordered a projector from them earlier this year. 10 days later I get an email saying that the projector would ship in about 3 more weeks. Screw that, so I called Dell and cancelled the order (45 minutes on the phone!!) A week later I get an email that the order has shipped. WTF? I have to spend almost another hour on the phone to be told to refused delivery. The projector arrives early, while I am at work. DHL dumps it on my front doorstep, in plain view of the street! WTF? This is a $1500 package and Dell had it shipped without signature required? Jesus, what morons. It took me almost another hour on the frigging phone to get the projector picked up and returned to Dell. I'm still waiting for Dell to mistakenly charge my CC for the projector so I can spend a few more quality hours with their GD out-sourced customer service folks.

I won't be ordering from Dell again unless the price is rock bottom. They've lost me as a regular customer.

Re:Easy answer

[mpr]

The US keyboard isn't an issue at all - just replace it!

I did this for a French ex-colleague of mine who wanted her French Dell keyboard replacing for a UK QWERTY one. It was ordered direct from Dell, arrived next day & was a doddle to fit.

I was actually quite impressed with Dell's service on this one occasion.

Re:Easy answer

[halo8]

IBM any one?

fact.. if you buy and IBM and it breaks down you can get support internationaly. not to mention they have power adapters and such that are supported by warrenty

Dell dosent have this.

Re:Easy answer

[Xugumad]

For expensive items, I believe they give you a note saying you had it with you, when you left your home country. If you can't produce such a note going back, tough luck, you have to pay a small fortune in tax.

Re:Easy answer

[AlecC]

Well, the sort of thing Customs do is get from the manufacturer the serial number ranges that they assign to different countries, so they can tell if a particular machine was manufactured for the US or UK market. They don't do this for everything - but pricey laptops are exactly the sort of think they might consider worth doing.

Re:Easy answer

[jon_eccleston]

How could they tell by a cursory examination whether you had this with you when you left home?

They don't. In the UK at least, the onus is on the traveller to prove you left home with the laptop; a purchase receipt or a valuation are accepted.

In reality, though, I'd like to think that having a UK power adapter and/or some signs of wear on the hardware would be sufficient proof.

Re:Easy answer

[mingot]

But it does happen. Took well over a month for mine to built, sitting on the 'we have all your parts, and we're gonna build it now' stage, according to the website. Call after call was met with shrugs and 'i dunnos'. Well, met with 'i do not know, my friend' until I found a 'tandori free' phone number. Never did find out what was holding it up (one person said the hard drive, another on a different occaision, the display). Finally filed with the BBB and then they got on the case.

The point is that it MAY take a week, but if it takes a month like it can and will on occaision this guy is fucked. He's better off finding a retail outlet.

Re:Easy answer

[cheekyboy]

ive travelled around the world, and never once they gave any tags or even asked. Well , at least europe/asia. They just xray it , and carry on.

Besides how can a clueless, unintelligent, only good enough for a security job person with no other skills possibly have a clue on how much a laptop is worth, they all look the same.

As long as you dont carry 4 of the laptops with you, it sok.

Why??

[ifreakshow]

Not sure why this warrents an ask slashdot when a quick search found this:
Gateway Stores
Circuit City
Dell Direct Stores
Or if your feeling artistic:
Apple Stores

Re:Why??

[Anonymous Coward]

yeah great idea...except there aren't dell direct stores in NEW YORK...which is what the poster wants and where they'll be...

Re:Why??

[Omega1045]

A couple of the Dell Direct stores I have been to only sell the machines. In other words, you do not get the machine then, but later like ordering through the web site or by phone.

Place for a laptop in NYC

[ubeans]

Try J&R near city hall.

Re:Place for a laptop in NYC

[Elvisisdead]

No. I grew up in Houston, and have been to the J&R by city hall. Not even close to Fry's. J&R used to be heavily catalog-based, but had really good stuff at good prices. They were a good source for audiophile gear, etc. that wasn't available locally or from other outfits like Crutchfield.

Re:Place for a laptop in NYC

[Anonymous Coward]

Is J&R anything like Fry's (warehouse environment, large selection, and so on)?

Actually, J&R is like its own mall. There's a computer store, an electronics store, an appliances store, a music store, a video/DVD store, and a bookstore. As for the computer store, it's more like a Circuit City type of environment but with just computers (the electronics and movies being in their respective stores).

The selection isn't as good as Fry's, mainly in that there aren't a lot of dirt cheap items. For example, they have motherboards by ASUS, FIC, Gigabyte, Intel, MSI, and one model by Soyo. Basically, they have major brands. No PCChips or related companies. Another example: most of their CPUs are boxed, not OEM.

They do have a lot of stuff, though. I remember going there for a wireless router recently and not being able to find it among the network stuff because there was so much of it. The computer store takes up several floors. It seems to me that they have about 30 laptop models on display at any one time, so J&R might well be a decent place to look for a laptop.

Apple Store!

[American AC in Paris]

any suggestions of how I can get a good laptop in the New York area when I am only there for 4 days?

Try the Apple Store in Soho. They'll have great laptops.

<tongue_in_cheek>Don't forget to declare your new laptop to customs, though--if you don't, you'll be a damned, dirty tax cheat. Nobody likes a damned, dirty tax cheat.</tongue_in_cheek>

(Oh, bear in mind--you'll be stuck with a US QWERTY keyboard. No Euro key or Pound key, among other things--you'll need to remap and remember...)

Re:Apple Store!

[rampant mac]

"No Euro key or Pound key"

For the Pound key, use option-# (Get it? Option-Pound?).

Apple has supported the euro symbol since the introduction of Mac OS 8.5 in October 1998. See here.

Re:Apple Store!

[diggitzz]

(Oh, bear in mind--you'll be stuck with a US QWERTY keyboard. No Euro key or Pound key, among other things--you'll need to remap and remember...)

Yes, but since you suggested the Apple Store, it's wise to point out that Mac laptops give you really easy keyboard shortcuts for the "special characters" and you can even open a little picture of the keyboard on your screen that shows you which modifier keys do what, as you type! (in case you forget how to get umlauts, for instance)

So, Alt-3 gives you a pound symbol, and Alt-Shift-2 gives you a euro. No remapping required.

Difficult?

[karmaflux]

No, damn-near impossible. No company will ship to a hotel unless they want export controls to prosecute their asses into the ground. There are laws specifically to prevent what you propose doing.

That said, you'll have to find a place to buy a computer face-to-face, then you get to either mail it to yourself or explain it to customs.

Re:Difficult?

[netringer]

No, damn-near impossible. No company will ship to a hotel unless they want export controls to prosecute their asses into the ground. There are laws specifically to prevent what you propose doing.

R-i-g-h-t. And exactly how would the seller know or care that the laptop was being exported? Only the exporter (in this case, the buying end-user customer) has to worry about that.

A few years ago I bought my Canon Digital Elph from buy.com and had it shipped to the New Orleans hotel where I would be staying. The front desk handed me the package when I checked in.

That capability may have changed due to the rampant fraud in the intervening years. Today most sellers will only ship if the address is OK with your credit card, but you could make a call and arrange that.

I tried doing the same trick when I bought some sandals at the last minute and had them shipped to the el-cheapo motel I would be staying. I asked the front desk each day if the package had arrived. No. The seller shipped after I checked out.

The amazing end of the story was that my package was still stored at the motel when stopped to check when I returned the following year. I wasn't even staying at that motel that year.

Re:Difficult?

[Obfuscant]

I've not done a UK resident form, but I know the US forms. If they are similar, you have to declare EVERYTHING (at least the cost) and pay only if X is above a certain amount.

And duty-free shops at JFK mean you don't pay the duty costs that would occur if the object entered the US. You are still liable for duties and customs fees when you take whatever it is into the UK. Duty-free shops are great when buying things that are high-duty in the host country and you are leaving, but not for things that don't have duty costs when bought in that country anyway.

They are particularly useful if you are buying liquor and drink it all on the flight. Then you don't run into import limits on the liquor! Otherwise, there are typically a one or two bottle limit on imports.

You will have to add at least VAT

[mocm]

if not other customs payments. So it is a little more than the $2000, but probably still less than $2999. Or you could smuggle it in, but a large notebook may be hard to hide.

Re:You will have to add at least VAT

[jayhawk88]

Never flown internationally, but here's my question: How would they know?

You show up at the airport after your four days in New York, lugging a laptop and carrying bag. Just like probably 25% of the other passengers flying that day. How do they know you just purchased this laptop last night? Couldn't you just say "Yup, headed home from my business trip" or something? Or do they make you declare everything you have on you before entering the country? Seriously curious here.

Re:You will have to add at least VAT

[vanza]

I don't know how this is handled in the UK, but in Brazil you have to fill out a form and provide the serial # for any equipment other than photo cameras and other small appliances (shavers, etc) that you're taking with you, or risk having to pay duty on your way back.

If you don't have proof of purchase, they have their own price list for the most common things that people carry (which is, obviously, marked-up a lot).

And the customs officers really like to go through the baggage of people arriving from the US.

But, as I said, that's in Brazil...

Re:You will have to add at least VAT

[alphakappa]

Here is how it works. When you enter a country, if they find that you have something that should be declared (most of the time, no one bothers though), then you can either pay duty, or say that it is your personal effect, and you will take it back. If you say so, then you do not have to pay duty, but it will be duly noted on your passport so that when you leave, you'll be asked to show that the item is indeed with you. (Plenty of loopholes in this, don't even ask). When you enter the other country (say you bought the laptop in NY and are entering Heathrow), you might be asked ot pay duty on the laptop, unless you can show that you bought it in the UK, or that it was bought used in the US, and it's value is less than the permitted amount - most countries have a certain amount below which you can import any legal item. In India, you are permitted to bring a brand new laptop - one per person, according to the new regulations (google it) - this is in addition to the minimum permissible value.

Re:You will have to add at least VAT

[Obfuscant]

How would they know?

You are required by law to tell them.

If they even begin to think that you didn't tell them about something you ought to have, they can pull you aside and search you and your baggage. They have zero sense of humour about this kind of thing. They have every reason to want to catch you, since the fines are much higher than the taxes, and they look good catching smugglers. It's their job.

If they ask you, and you lie, you can be easily caught. They will look at the data plate on the laptop and see the country of origin is the US. They will notice how new it looks and ask you to prove when you bought it, or when you brought it into the country and paid the VAT on it (you better have an accompanying entry stamp in your passport). They can also trace the serial number and determine when it was manufactured and sold.

This is why it is a good idea to register any foreign made products prior to leaving your home country. The US has a form for this; I assume the UK has one, too.

I can attest to the lack of humor. I was re-entering Australia after a two-day side-trip over to New Zealand. I had two food items in my bag -- a bag of US chocolate candy that had already cleared Oz quarantine where I had been told it was no problem, and a bag of Oz-produced, Oz-purchased chocolate easter bunnies. I didn't report either one. They have an X-ray machine that detects chocolate. :-( They were not amused.

The person who mentioned "personal item" if the computer is used while overseas is wrong. This exemption is for people who have resided abroad, not just visited. Governments, especially the US, are quite nit-picky about the difference. It is intended for people who have lived overseas and in the normal course of living have bought things like clothing and furniture to use while residing overseas, but want to bring them back home.

Watch out for Taxes

[MerlynEmrys67]

Well you might end up paying sales taxes on top of the purchase price.

Also depending on the value - and your opinion of smuggling of course - you might have to declare the laptop as a foriegn purchase on returning to England. In that case you might have to play duties on the laptop.

I would hate for all of your "profit" to be eaten up in random taxes - so find out what taxes, duties, shipping, etc. you will end up paying. As I recall England has a VAT tax rather than a sales tax - might be where much of the 900 dollar difference lies

Re:Watch out for Taxes

[Rosyna]

The thing I've noticed when people say it costs $XXX in the use and XXX in the UK is that they don't realize that US prices do *not* include tax. All the UK prices do. They never add the US tax to the US price or subtract the UK tax from the UK price.

Re:Watch out for Taxes

[SoTuA]

You just carry your laptop in a laptop case and tell the guy that it's your work laptop.

Be sure to "customize" it a little bit, put a different background than default, put a few prop files around, make it look like it's not factory bare hdd. Sometimes customs makes you boot it, so it better not look like its brand spankin' new (i.e. no "first time" wizards and that).

Re:Watch out for Taxes

[mithras the prophet]

The UK VAT is uniform across the entire country. The US has no national sales tax -- a sales tax (if any) is applied by each state. So the additional tax could be 0% to ~ 8.5%.

Hence it makes sense not to include on a list price or web page. But note that services like Pricegrabber do, if you punch in a shipping postal code, try to calculate and include the applicable sales tax for you

If you declare it

[DR SoB]

It will cost you a crap load of money for customs. If you don't declare it, it would be illegal to "carry" it across your border. If customs questions you, they will want proof of purchase for your laptop, if you can't prove it, and they find out your lying (i.e. checking the serial #), then you will be charged with lying to a customs offical and be fined well over $2000. Make sure you do some research, it's not your buying a $50 sweater and wearing it across.

Find your local Costco

[j-turkey]

I believe that Costco sells Dells now...here's their computers & peripherals page. There are a few of these stores in the NYC area. Go to their site and find a retailer closest to you. It's far easier than doing it mail-order (with your specific case in mind). You'll also (unfortunately) need to get a membership there which will cost you about $75 -- unless you've got a friend in the area with a membership or are really crafty.

Re:Find your local Costco

[chimpo13]

I've been told that Costco has a "member for the day" pass you can get. That'll save the membership fee.

Toshiba

[Cr3d3nd0]

As an ex Dell laptop user and current Toshiba Laptop User, let me recomend you stop off at the nearest electronics dealer and pick up a Toshiba laptop. I've had four laptops from them, and I've never had a single problem with any of them. They are stable, WELL constructed (example, instead of the crappy laptop speakers that Dell includes they have Harmon Kardon speakers, with a built in subwoofer, not exactly audiophile status but a hell of a lot better than most.) My current laptop has a 17' lcd who's native res is 1600x1200x32 Everywhere I go the first thing that people comment on is the quality of my screen. That on top of the fact that there is a minimum of crappy software installed, and a tech support line that is actually helpful puts Toshiba at the top for me.

Export Restrictions?

[Dekaner]

Doesn't Dell ask you to affirm that you will not export the computer from the United States as part of their checkout process?

From Dell's shopping cart:

Export Intent
I WILL NOT export this order outside the United States.
I WILL export this order outside the United States.

The export of any product and software purchased from Dell must be made in accordance with all relevant laws of the United States, including and without limitation, the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. This may require that you obtain a formal export license or make certain declarations to the United States Government regarding product(s) to be exported, their destination or their end-use.

Ship-To Prohibitions: Please be informed that your designated ship to address must reflect the address of the ultimate end-user. Dell will not process any order which specifies an address of a freight forwarder, warehouse, distribution center, airport, hotel or PO box.

US sold laptops probably only warranted in the US

[Anonymous Coward]

One thing you should consider is warranty. I've only worked for Sony so I can't speak for any of the other manufacturers, but any laptop you buy in the US will probably only be warranted in the US.

Which means if it breaks, it's your dime to ship it back to the US. And then on top of that, they are going to wipe your HD before shipping it out of country back to you.

VAT & taxes

[morcheeba]

The $2999 includes a 17.5% VAT ($446), whereas the $2049 price doesn't include 8.625% NY tax ($176). I don't know the UK import laws, but be prepared if they ding you with an import tax (which may be the full VAT) when you come back with your new computer.

J&R

[JohnGrahamCumming]

The best reputable dealer in NYC is J&R Music and Computer World. They have a good selection of laptop computers that you can buy and take away right there; naturally they don't have Dell since Dell sells through the web only.

You can start by taking a look at their selection on their web site here. You'll pay the relevant sales taxes for New York (under 10%) but you'll get a much better deal than the Dell you are looking at.

Of course it's totally you to you whether you declare the thing when you arrive back in the UK and pay the relevant UK taxes.

John.

yep, JandR

[Anonymous Coward]

check www.jandr.com first. the store prices might be a bit higher, but they have a very decent seelction/prices

IBM eBay Store

[niko9]

Follow this link to IBM's Authorized eBay store.

Heavily discounted new laptopts, directly from IBM. Usually 35 bucks for next day air.
They set up this site to clear old stock, old as in 3-6 mos.

There's also the IBM Ebay Global financing eBay (seach the eBay stores section) store, they do all refurbs. That's were I got my X22 almost 2 years ago, still runnning without any problems.

Disclaimer: Thinkpads are my favorite laptops.

Good Luck.

Re:IBM eBay Store

[cel4145]

Also, Tech Depot, associated with Office Depot, carrries a huge selection of IBM Think Pads in stock. Call in your order and verify stock rather than just ordering online just to be sure of availability.

And it it were me, I'd go for a Think Pad before a Dell. My wife left hers on the floor one time too many, despite my warnings to be more careful. Needless to say, she soon broke that habit when I found our 4 year old standing on top of the Think Pad. And because of that titanium case, the computer was unharmed :)

J&R, Best Buy

[Randar the Lava Liza]

Try Best Buy on 23rd & 6th Ave for your generic hp's, compaq's. J&R on Park Row - www.jandr.com is a great source for everything else. J&R will also have deals on close-outs and refurbished models. A friend of mine recently got a Dell laptop there for $600, some 1.5 GHz processor, DVD-ROM, 15" display.

J&R is a good place both for new & refurb units, I'd definitely go there. The other big chains (Best Buy, CompUSA, etc) might be worth a visit, but J&R will price match any local competitors.

If you're also looking for a camera, be sure to hit B&H Photo & Video. They have the most amazing conveyor system for moving things around the store, it's worth it to stop by just to see that!

No they don't

[Biotech9]

All Apple machines use US keyboards anyway. This is why UK customers have email addresses like toomuchmoney"mac.com .
My two powerbooks have Irish keyboards, the Swedish G5s i've used have swedish keyboards, and the '' symbol is where it belongs, over the number 2.

Getting it past customs...

[EnglishTim]

Find out in advance if the power socket on the power suppy is detachable. If it is, buy a UK lead for it before you go out. If it isn't buy a UK power supply for it before you go out. Also bring a US->UK plug converter. Make a CD of any of the kind of software you'd normally have installed, plus a selection of your normal documents/family photos etc that you'd have on your computer.

After you've bought your laptop, install the software and copy over some of your documents. If possible swap the backdrop to a picture of your kids or Mum or something like that. Change the regional settings to match the UK.

Then throw away all the packaging, CDs US power lead etc before you leave the hotel. Just keep the kind of things you'd normally take with you on a trip.

When you go through UK customs, it's not that likely you'll be stopped. If you do get stopped, the UK power supply and the fact that you've got lots of crap installed already will make it look like you just took your laptop with you anyway.

Lovely.

Er. I didn't say that.

Step 4

[DAldredge]

Pay a large chunk of change to Customs...

Re:Step 4

[Hiro Antagonist]

Customs typically doesn't tax unregulated personal-use items up to a certain value (I forget what that value is); this doesn't include cigarettes or booze, but it does include laptops.

Re:Step 4

[legoburner]

The allowance per trip is just GBP 145 according to the London Heathrow website.

Re:Step 4

[DAldredge]

No. Customs can inpound the laptop before it arives at his house. He would have to pay before he could get it back.

Re:Step 4

[LizardKing]

Customs can insist on seeing a receipt for anything you bring back into the country. The easiest way to piss them off and encourage them to use this rule to the full is to play difficult with them.

Chris

Re:Step 4

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, you could do what I did... pop into Fry's and pick up a laptop, plus carrybag. Throw away all the packaging material, scuff up the bag a little, and the laptop (coffee stain on the cover, etc), load lots of software on the laptop. Make it look *used*.

Then walk through customs with the laptop that, as far as they can tell, you left the UK with. Worked for me.... a few years ago, I purchased a Toshiba Satellite 2800-S201 with the 256MB upgrade, and a nice laptop bag. I worked out the cost of buying the same stuff in the UK, and I saved nearly 250.

Posted anonymously, for obvious reasons. :)

Re:Step 4

[macdaddy]

Shipping might be possible. To avoid a custom's tax you might have to indicate that the unit isn't new and is being shipped back from a conference for safety reasons. If you did try to get it out of the country with your flight you should definitely not take it in the box. You should mail the paperwork and CDs to your home from the US and put the laptop in a well-worn laptop case. That way they'll be less likely to assume it's new (like they'd think that much anyhow).

Re:Step 4

[dargaud]

Customs typically doesn't tax unregulated personal-use items up to a certain value

Bzzzt! Wrong! Depends a lot towards which country you ship, and even though it's usually only of pure luck if you don't get taxed. I've live in France, Italy and the US. Every single item I ordered from the US to France or Italy was taxed on arrival, even items marked as gift with 0 value. And several time I had to drive down to the customs office (great, 50km away with full traffic), including simple amazon.com books or even once to pick up a pissing device for women (a 5$ piece of plastic). Granted, I've been unlucky as many friends had no problem.

And the way the taxes are computed is revolting: they 'estimate' the price of the item, tax it 33% and apply a 'work tax' on the previous total. You end up paying about 50% tax.

The 'personal use' rule you talk about is different. I just used it after moving from the US to Europe and shipping all my personal possessions. It took a bit of paperwork: certificate of temporary exportation, attestation of residency change from a consulate and some more. Good luck trying to explain that one to the airport customs officer who's just asking about those 3 laptops and 5 digital cameras in your pack...!

Go with J&R

[Anonymous Coward]

They've been in business for years, and they have great selection and OK prices. Vaio, Toshiba, IBM, HP, Compaq, ought to be able to pick one out you like, pay the man, and carry it out.

J&R or DataZone

[UberGeek28]

any suggestions of how I can get a good laptop in the New York area when I am only there for 4 days?

If you're in NYC, go to J&R Computer World on Park Row (near Ground Zero) or DataZone on Fifth Avenue & 39th street; both have lots of stock and will sell you a machine in a matter of minutes, carry-out. Make sure you know the machines before you go, however, as the salespeople are useless...

Re:Good hotels do this

[Anonymous Coward]

The hotel will do it. The mail-order company won't.

This used to be a big credit card scam: Steal a CC#, have a bunch of stuff shipped to a hotel room, abscond. Rinse and repeat.

J&R

[jsailor]

J and R (www.jandr.com) down on Park Row (N, R train to City Hall, 2,3 train to Park Place) has reasonable prices, wide selection, etc.

Re:Duty?

[bombadillo]

The people in customs aren't nazi's. If they see a laptop they will think nothing of it. Laptops are very common on Airplanes. I have taken many transatlantic flights and except for the pre-flight security check, I have never been questioned about my laptop or my other personal electronics. They have much bigger fish to catch. For example cigarette and exotic animal smugglers. He just needs to keep his mouth shut and walk through. Speaking from experience entry into the UK is very easy compared to the U.S., especally from Gatwick airport.

J&R is the place to go

[Anonymous Coward]

Hit their website jandr.com to see what they're featuring this week. Also a full page ad every day in the NYTimes. Go to a shopping site to find best online price and print out the comparison chart. Take the result into the J&R store (downtown just south of City Hall) and see what the salesman can do for you. Often they have oddball configs that don't compare one-for-one with the online store's config. But if you heave your breast with disappointment and plead poverty, often the J&R floor salesmen can knock quite a bit off the posted price.

Avoid any store anywhere remotely near Times Square (Broadway, 7th Ave) -- refurb crap, gray market and ancient junk at original list price.

CompUSA (at 5th Ave at 38th or 8th Ave at 59th) has a surprisingly broad selection of laptop brands. Not crazy about their prices.

There are scores of box-builder shops around Herald Square that give you a nice price on no-name beige boxes. Never tried them for laptops, but I'd guess they have a range of private-label laptops. Signs mainly in Korean.

A Few Apple Store Hints

[cjsnell]

1) Call the Apple Store ahead of time and make sure that they will have exactly what you want set aside for you when you arrive.

2) Purchase a UK power adapter from a UK Apple dealer before you go. The day before you leave the US for home, ship all the manuals and paperwork back to the UK, along with the US power adapter. Take nothing but the laptop and a UK power adapter in your bag through customs.

3) Call your credit card company beforehand and make sure that they will clear your charge for the purchase.

4) When you get back to the UK, look into buying a UK keyboard for your PowerBook. IIRC, the key faces can be detached and replaced from the notebook fairly easily.

Warning: Warranty.

[Anonymous Coward]

Putting aside the other concerns about customs, duty, and suchlike that other people have posted, you need to consider warranty issues. If you buy something in the US, a lot of companies will insist that you return the item to the US for warranty repairs. Add up shipping both ways, and suddenly that profit seems to be a little bit less enticing.

If you want to take that chance, that's fine -- I'm not trying to stop you. Just pointing out a little "gotcha" that a lot of people tend to overlook in the rush to save money.

As for me -- I'd be sorely tempted to get myself a G5 from the US (except that I can't afford one anyway...)

Not true...

[holygoat]

This only applies if you've owned it for more than 2 years (last time I checked).

Carrying it through yourself you have an allowance (which is more than the shipped import allowance), but it's no more than 200 IIRC.

Customs and tax evasion

[bheading]

The reason why your laptop is so much more expensive in the UK is partly because of rip-off Britain but mainly because the people who imported the laptop in the first place have paid the UK's import duty, VAT and any other taxes as well as shipping costs.

If you import goods into the UK yourself, you are also expected to pay those VAT and tax charges for anything over the value of 250. If you try to avoid it, or lie to customs officials about the nature of the goods you're carrying, they'll not only seize the goods but slap on a hefty fine. For something expensive like a laptop this is a big risk. You can't necessarily get away with saying that it was your property and you brought it with you; they can still seize it while they wait on you to provide proof (receipts or a letter from the retailer) indicating you owned it.

In the UK these customs and excise folks absolutely do not dick about. I read a story about a woman who (probably innocent of the regulations) filled up her car with cheap wine, beer and spirits from France and drove it back across on a ferry (some people are under the misapprehension that there is unrestricted alcohol trade between EU member states - but without a trading license, the booze must be "for personal consumption"). Not only did customs seize the booze, but they also fined her and worst of all - seized the car she was driving at the time.

read about another example

ROFL, you people are certainly not economists

[Anonymous Coward]

The law of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) states that an arbitrage (risk free) profit cannot be made by purchasing a good in a different country. A basket of goods MUST cost the same price in one country, in terms of purchasing power, as in another country. If one country is experiencing inflation while another isn't, then the inflationary currency will fall.

The reason why dell notebooks are more expensive in the UK has NOTHING to do with depreciation of the dollar, it has to do with frictions of the transaction. Right off the bat, an airfare from the US to UK usually is ~$700, so that eats up all but $200 of your "profit". Furthermore, additional barriers such as import duties and fees, plus the fact that he has to buy a plug, elminates the rest of the "profit" and might even put him at a loss.

The only way he will make a "profit" on this venture is if the airfare was paid by somebody else. Then, one of the frictions would be removed and he would gain a $600-700 arbitrage profit from purchasing here.

Again, to say that currency exchange has ANYTHING to do with cheaper goods in one country is stupid. The same good will cost the same in one country as in another if you take into account all costs, NO MATTER WHAT THE EXCHANGE RATE.

About Duty

[alphakappa]

If you are buying a laptop to take home to India, do not worry about duties, since according to new regulations, a single laptop is permitted per passenger. (which means that it won't be written down on your passport).

Re:As a former Best Buy employee...

[batkiwi]

You're missing the point.

He wants to buy it now because his money is in GBP. Right now that 2000$ USD laptop will only cost him 1082 GBP. 1 year ago it would have cost him 1280 GBP. It's 200 GBP cheaper now than a year ago for HIM (NOT for you, with USD as your base).

The cost difference is only part of it. Look at the international money scene: The US dollar is DIEING. HORRIBLY. No one wants the greenback. It will recover (we all hope), but for now it means getting stuff from the US can be REALLY cheap, even cheaper than usualy.

http://finance.yahoo.com/m5?s=USD&t=GBP&a=2000&c =1

http://finance.yahoo.com/m5?s=USD&t=AUD&a=2000&c =1

Imagine if those were stock charts... they'd be firing the board of directors!

Re:OMFG......

[juhaz]

Yeah, it's so goddamn hard to realize there are some taxes when every receipt you get looks like this:

VAT WITHOUT TAXES TAX WITH TAXES
1 22.00% 7.03 1.55 8.85
3 17.00% 5.57 0.99 6.86
Total 12.90 2.54 15.44

Not only they tell us there's a tax, not only they tell the percentage, they show every friggin' cent of the tax paid. And what it would cost without. Pretty well hidden indeed.

So, anyway, do you guys know how to read? After all, if all that's supposed to be something something evil government deliberately wants us not to know...

UK Travel Tips from an old RoadWarrior

[Saltation]

scout for e-deal on internet, deliver to friend's house or to friend's workplace or to own workplace. throw away ALL packaging, POST all receipts home. walk thru customs with it in your handbaggage, wrapped up in something boring and convenient for the frequent traveller. ie, not newspapers or bubblewrap, but teatowels or t-shirts. if they call you on it, claim youve had it for 3 months and you have to lug the b*****d around for work. look unthrilled.
nb: if flying thru germany, ensure you have either a charged battery or sufficient spare time for them to pull you luggage apart plus plug your charger in: as part of their safety tests, not only will you be hoover-sniffed for TNT/semtex, you'll also be required to demonstrate that it's a real laptop by starting it up.
--
for future reference:
Singapore is your best bet as a UK resident: you get the best of:

• US prices
• UK powersupplies and identical wall-plugs
• US & UK commercial attitude
• US PLUS ASIAN product options-- there are many machines which are only produced/sold-into asia. eg my favourite radio the aiwa cd-ld70-- full pushbutton fm convenience in a formfactor approx. 1.5 AAA batteries. not seen by outside SG except for ONCE in the amsterdam duty free shop 2 years ago. And now busted and do you think I can get the manufacturers in the UK to admit such a product exists? Unavailable in the UK despite the jaw-dropped reaction I get from every person who sees it. insert corporate braindeath about here

ps Sorry, forgot to say why: the reason for the customs faff is they'll stick you an extra 17.5% as you walk in the door IF it's "new", which sharply reduces your discount. The remainder of the discount is due to the UK's stalwart protection of monopoly/oligopoly premia, the reason for e.g. Renault historically earning 50% of its profits out of the UK despite making only 10-15% of its sales there by unit.

--
Sal

Writings: saltation.blogspot.com
Wravings: go-blog-go.blogspot.com

more misinformation...

[Cryptnotic]

The information in the drive is actually just a number that says what region the drive is supposed to be. The drive will still read all of the information off of the disc. A software player is supposed to read the variable from the drive and refuse to play an out-of-region disc. All licensed players are required to do this. However, it is true that Linux/BSD/etc players that are totally unlicensed won't care what this variable says.

I've actually used a locked region 1 dvd-rom drive to rip region 2 (Japan) DVD's with no problems. DVD Decryptor doesn't care at all either.

I've done it the other way around...

[SilentJ_PDX]

I came from the states and currently work in the UK. None of the above-mentioned problems are that difficult:

All you actually need is a socket with a US pinout. All dell laptop power adapters have been 50/60hz and 110-240v adapters for quite some time now.

Most everything these days comes with dual-voltage power supplies: I run a projector, computer, two musical keyboards and a laptop - all from the US - off UK mains. Some might say the easiest solution for the laptop power is a travel plug adaptor but for long term use the best idea is a replacement power lead. Most computer stores should have replacement leads that will plug into the power adaptor.

I agree totally on the mappings bit. Pain in the ass to use certain keys "

If you know how to touch type, it's not a problem. I switched my UK keyboard at work to the US layout and there was not even a day's worth of annoyances. I'm sure it's not that different going the other way.

Just did this with an iBook, works great

[Nice2Cats]

I saved about 300 Euros / 500 Dollars a few months ago by buying an iBook in the United States. The voltage is not a problem -- Apple's transformers are 110/220, and if you take off the "corner", you can plug in any normal electronics cable. The DVD drive is not a problem -- it picks up the first regional code you use (I haven't checked about getting rid of the RC altogether yet, though; Apple still enforces it in hard- and (!) software, I'm told, which would be dumb thing to do). The warranty is not a problem, as Apple's standard one-year is worldwide on portables (not, however, on desktop computers). The keyboard is not a problem -- if you can touch-type (and you should be able to), the trick is to never, never think about what you are doing. It's just like climbing a mountain: As long as you don't look down, you're fine.

Customs was not even a theoretical problem in my case, as there are no duties for importing computers to Germany. If you bought your iBook in a U.S. state that doesn't have sales tax [yes, my European children, there are whole states in the U.S. where there is no VAT. Remember this when your politicians try to tell you why your national sales tax has to be raised to 18 percent], you might have to pay a certain amount so they are satisfied you paid at least some sort of tax to somebody. This is the Einfuhrumsatzsteuer and German customs describes the details here. In my case, the Euro was high enough that it was still well worth it.

Other advice: Go on Apple's website (come on, you don't really want a loud, heavy, ugly Dell, do you), find a store in easy distance of where you are going to be, and email or call a few weeks ahead. IBooks are currently assembled in Taiwan, and take five to ten days if you want anything but the standard model (larger harddrive, for example). Remember, too, that America might have the most advanced stock market on the planet, but its bank system still hasn't gotten beyond the stage of sending little slips of paper around by mail: Most Americans have trouble understanding how an EC card even works, and happily go throught an 18th Century ritual called "balancing the check book" once every few days without complaint. You will have to pay cash (don't worry, these amounts in cash are not considered unusual in the U.S.), or better, get yourself a credit card.

German readers will want to take a look at this article about importing iBooks from the consumer test group Stiftung Warentest. Note that there are some minor mistakes in there, however, like the need for an adapter for the plug.

In my case, there was no question that it was worth it: In fact, I could have probably flown there and back just to pick up the computer, and still saved money. And best thing: With 220 volts, my iBook is twice as fast as it was in the States. No, really. The trouble is, it sends my fingerprints to Donald Rumsfeld every time I touch the escape button...

eBay

[amembleton]

myUS.com looks pricy, especially if you don't make many purchases due to the $132 annual subscription!!

The Rio Karma is more expensive here in the UK, so I found someone selling them brand-new on eBay who was prepared to ship to the UK. I bought a brand-new one including shipping for GBP198. They're about GBP269 + shipping here!

J&R Computers - if you're not fixed on Dell

[Go_Ask_Alex]

J&R Computers are located not far from Wall St. near NY City Hall...

http://www.jandr.com/templates/information/direc ti ons.tem

Good selection, great prices. I've been to the store and mail-ordered, always pleased.

Oh yeah, before going there do check out the Apple Store at 103 Prince Street in SoHo (Prince St. just a block or two west of Broadway), just for the pure tourist value (nudge nudge, wink wink).

I'd also recommend buying Euro-style: have the computer plugged in and be satisfied with its performance prior to paying and walking out, and definitely ditto on ensuring transferability of warranty overseas. Being stuck with a lemon with no recourse sucks.

Don't EVER F*ck With Customs

[Recalcitrant Labrado]

I have a friend who is a customs officer. If they take a dislike to you, they can make life very difficult for you immediately by ordering a body cavity search. In addition every time you ever travel by air again, you will get stopped and searched. Furthermore, in Australia, the little immigration man who checks your passport, and idly asks you one or two penetrating questions, scribbles a little code on it. When you pass the card to the customs officer he looks at the code and decides there and then on a spot check. Dumb things include: Going away for four days to New York without a valid reason and coming back with a brand new laptop. Customs guys know the street price of most electronics and the difference between an pentium III and IV. My frined catches most of these dimwits with the simple request to turn out the pockets and open their wallets. That Amex reciept is a dead giveaway. Suspicious

Getting A Laptop With The Low U.S. Dollar

[Anonymous Coward]

Before you commit to this, if you live in London and the model you're after is sold in Tottenham Court Rd , you would be amazed how much you can reduce the price by brisk haggling. (the trick is to determine exactly what you want, ask for a package with something extra e.g extra memory, indicate that you're going to buy it today, and visit three or four shops to get your pricing right - DON'T waste time with demos & stuff - decide before you go and just talk money straight away). Discounts of a couple of hundred quid or even more are entirely possible on top-line gear.

I wouldn't personally buy a Dell. I have seen large piles of defective Dell laptops in a couple of places I have worked and the quality of the machines always made me feel uneasy - nasty cheap little plasticky things. Buy something from IBM, HP/Compaq or Toshiba. IBM by preference because their incredible service & support network is unbeatable - for instance, they put all the service manuals online and they keep spare parts for years and years unlike most companies.

Laptops are not like desktops. Important little things like reliable hinges and catches, properly-designed cases which manage the thermal and mechanical issues properly and so forth are the difference between el-cheapo machines and decent, reliable hardware. My current laptop is an HP. At one point due to a software crash, the machine locked up but the CPU remained powered up. This caused the motherboard to get HOT! but the machine survived, probably because HP engineered sufficient margins of thermal conductivity etc. to handle this. But I saw something similar happen on a Dell and the case literally melted. Then there's the cracked screens because the case is too flimsy to properly support the LCD, the nasty keyboards, the flimsy power adaptor plugs... nah! don't do it.