buying a laptop in the US

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will it save me money over buying one in england? if so, where should i buy it from? what should i get?

(i don't really have much of a clue about all this - it doesn't need to be super-fast as i won't be doing much on it other than TeXing, web browsing and playing mp3s. being lightweight wd be good, playing dvds another bonus...)

― toby (tsg20), Thursday, 17 October 2002 18:54 (twenty-three years ago)

be careful with your pal vs. ntsc "regioning" if you get a dvd-rom ... could end up costing you money!

― fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Thursday, 17 October 2002 18:56 (twenty-three years ago)

A new one ? used one ? Won't they charge you a fat amount of tax for bringing it back to the UK ? of course you could always pretend you had it when you left.
I don't know if it's a good idea, what happens if you get a lemon & have to try and get $$ back, what happens if you need to mail it back for tech support issue?

― daria g, Thursday, 17 October 2002 19:59 (twenty-three years ago)

it's often possible to set the laptop DVD region - up to a certain number of times. i think mine can be reset five times before it stops working.

power supplies are usually capable of handling both US and UK mains

it should save you a lot of money.

hth...

― michael (michael), Thursday, 17 October 2002 20:30 (twenty-three years ago)

two years pass...

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspn_1000?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

is this a good deal? $599!!!

whats this about tax, how can i avoid that? just remove the packaging presumably

― *@*.* (gareth), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 16:42 (twenty years ago)

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cmod.to?seg=HHO&coid=-27932&sel=0&rcid=-26367&ccid=1291021

what about this one?

― *@*.* (gareth), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 16:58 (twenty years ago)

For the record, regions and PAL/NTSC are two entirely different issues. Region lock can usually be overturned on both Mac and PC systems with a firmware hack.

Advice on buying in US to take to the UK - I would imagine this would work a lot easier if you (unfortunately) dump your packaging and then just carry it on-board the plane back the UK like you brought it from the UK to the US in the first place. That's about all I can say. I would definitely say that if you avoid customs and VAT, there's almost no way the exchange rate won't work in favor of buying the US.

― Girolamo Savonarola, Wednesday, 24 November 2004 18:29 (twenty years ago)

ok, so are the 2 i mentioned any good?

― *@*.* (gareth), Thursday, 25 November 2004 13:04 (twenty years ago)

what stores are there in the nyc area, that sell laptops, that are good? i dont want to buy online

― *@*.* (gareth), Thursday, 25 November 2004 13:12 (twenty years ago)

Don't forget to add the sales tax for new york.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 25 November 2004 13:14 (twenty years ago)

hmm, can i get one delivered to a US address, but pay with a uk credit card?

― *@*.* (gareth), Thursday, 25 November 2004 13:22 (twenty years ago)

look into j&r on park row.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 25 November 2004 13:26 (twenty years ago)

I have no idea about PCs anymore; I'm a Mac guy. But yeah, good luck with everything!

― Girolamo Savonarola, Thursday, 25 November 2004 14:24 (twenty years ago)

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