iPAQ

[Zarjazz]

So I want to buy a PDA for Xmas with nice Wireless access so I shop around and see a nice shiny HP iPAQ H5550 Pocket PC for £430 (or there abouts). Not exactly cheap I know but hey what is ...

Anyway, what with the £ / $ exchange rate atm I looked on some US sites and found a HP iPAQ 5555 going for $570 which is a saving of around £50. Now my question is, is there anything stopping me buying the iPAQ from the US compared to the UK model? I presume the power supply (in cradle) / slot cards etc are the same but I thought I'd ask just in case ...

 

[Dr_Weasel]

Remember that youll most likely be done for customs duty which will most likely not actually make this much cheaper.

The only way youll really get away with it is if you go over to the States and buy it and pretended in customs that you took it out with you.

 

[Testin da Cable]

as the good Doctor says, it's the extra duty you (may) have to pay. I'd love to get US kit myself, as the Euro kills the dollar these days, but the last time I tried that (a raid card 500us vs 800eur) I ended up paying up more than I'd have would I have gotten it locally :/

 

[Big G]

I've had the same problem ordering software: spotted it cheaper in the US then got stung by customs and had to pay up. In the end, it was more expensive.

G

 

[Zarjazz]

Oh yeah I forgot about customs. Inconvenient bastards that they are

I think I'll wander off and see how much flights to New York are at this time of year ....

 

[xane]

If you know someone trustworthy who lives in the US, get them to buy it and send it to you as a "gift".

 

[Tom]

You'll also have to source a power supply that runs from 240V 50Hz and not 120V 60Hz.

Who do you work for? Perhaps your company might buy it for you on a trade account, might be cheaper that way.

Also, check out Ebay, although for this price, buy local and check out the goods before you part with your readies.

 

[Xavier]

you'll pay VAT plus 6% excise, and even if you brought it back with on a trip (you unless you had proof you'd already paid duty and tax on it if stopped) you'd be liable to pay up - the 2 pin plug built into the AC adapter is a dead giveaway that it wasn't a UK purchase... I've seen a colleague reamed for tax on a sample unit he was bringing back to the UK to the tune of about £300... yoink! - or they confiscated.

Even gifts are also now liable for tax if over a certain value (£200?) iirc - mostly because people would mail order items with a high discount across the atlantic (such as camera lenses), and ask the senders to dispatch to a 3rd party giftwrapped so as to circumvent mr taxman... so those cheery customs & excise officers have gotten pretty brutal.

As to a power supply, they're all travel friendly on the iPaqs, accepting anything between 100V and 250V, so ignore tom mine roams with me between UK and yankland whenever i travel and all it needs to operate is a socket adapter.

Xav