Electric Goods

[tonijo]

Can anyone advise me whether electric goods you purchase in the US are fine for UK usage?i was hoping to get an IPAD and a few other thing nintendos etc,so would appreciate any help thanks

 

[2Tiggies]

I haven't found anything a UK visitor's adapter won't sort out. I have to confess to playing with things like hair straighteners for the sake of convenience and hacking off the plug and re-wiring it to a UK one so I can lose the adapter. I would not do that with and iPad or DS however

 

[mrshappy]

i bought an ipad last year and all you do is change the plug on the cable and away you go

 

[tonijo]

Is that the same for netbooks/laptops?

 

[wayneg]

I would think the same applies to us taking things over there. If the power supply says 110v~240v then it will work in both countries. If the DC input only says 110V (US standard) and you try put it in a UK socket at 240V it will blow something.
If we try to take something over there that is only 240V their power supply is not enough to work the item, it has to work on both systems.

I am considering having a couple of things delivered to our hotel (or friends) this August
Kodak ZX5 Amazon.co.uk £131, Amazon.com £82
Lumix TZ20 Amazon.co.uk £283 (less £30 cashback) Amazon.com £184

£148 saving on todays prices but on Amazon.com the prices keep dropping, saw the ZX5 for £69 recently.

I would prefer to buy in UK but £150ish is a big saving.

 

[Pegasus928]

We had this problem when DW took her own hair dryer on holiday. Once she plugged it in and tried to use it I swear I could have blown harder

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

We purchased a netbook in December. At the airport we bought a travel plug that USA travellers would buy when coming to the UK and we leave that plugged into the charger so we can just plug straight in to recharge the battery. It works just fine.

We have also purchased a Ninrendo but bought an adaptor once back in the UK.

 

[mrshappy]

when i bought my dell laptop a few years ago all we had to do was pull the usa cable out of the charger and replace it with the uk one

 

[CAROLINE4]

would you be allowed to buy an ipad though? i only ask cause in 2009 we tried to buy an i phone from apple at mall at malenia and without a usa address they wouldnt sell it to us? x

 

[mrshappy]

yes no problem buying the ipads, i got one for me and my son bought one and we had no problems, they even activated in the store so we could use it while we were there

 

[CAROLINE4]

yes no problem buying the ipads, i got one for me and my son bought one and we had no problems, they even activated in the store so we could use it while we were there

thats great news! i know what i want off my hubby for xmas this year while we are there!! maybe its just on phones then?! x

 

[wayneg]

would you be allowed to buy an ipad though? i only ask cause in 2009 we tried to buy an i phone from apple at mall at malenia and without a usa address they wouldnt sell it to us? x

Never heard of anyone being refused before. My Brother flies out especially to buy any new Apple product and be 1st to own (I am always last to own )

 

[2Tiggies]

We had this problem when DW took her own hair dryer on holiday. Once she plugged it in and tried to use it I swear I could have blown harder

Now I am sure she would not have found it funny at the time, but ......

 

[CAROLINE4]

Never heard of anyone being refused before. My Brother flies out especially to buy any new Apple product and be 1st to own (I am always last to own )

Me too Wayne!! yes they point blank refused to sell us it! they said something to do with a deal they had with o2???? we were gutted! might try again this time then if ur brother has no probs! we must have approached a server having a bad day!!

 

[Andrew Bichard]

I am considering having a couple of things delivered to our hotel (or friends) this August
Kodak ZX5 Amazon.co.uk £131, Amazon.com £82
Lumix TZ20 Amazon.co.uk £283 (less £30 cashback) Amazon.com £184

£148 saving on todays prices but on Amazon.com the prices keep dropping, saw the ZX5 for £69 recently.

I would prefer to buy in UK but £150ish is a big saving.

A warning.

Many years ago, when I was a student, a friend bought a top of the range SLR in Hong Kong. He walked through UK Customs without being challenged.
Three years later and having taken his camera with him to the continent several times, he was stopped by customs at Dover who spotted the Hong Kong serial number and invited him to show a receipt for customs duty paid. He had to pay the duty and a fine to get the camera back.

I would suggest not taking the cameras out of the UK again, once you get them home.

Also, bear in mind that as a precaution agaist use of stolen credit cards, Amazon may refuse to deliver to an address other than the billing address for the card.

Andrew

 

[cliveywolves]

My friend bought an Ipad back from the US a few months cot him about £300 never had a problem....

 

[orangetiggs]

If you have any problems with an apple product just take it back to apple here and they will look at it, we got iPods from apple in Orlando and dh one went wrong and apple fixed it

 

[wayneg]

A warning.

Many years ago, when I was a student, a friend bought a top of the range SLR in Hong Kong. He walked through UK Customs without being challenged.
Three years later and having taken his camera with him to the continent several times, he was stopped by customs at Dover who spotted the Hong Kong serial number and invited him to show a receipt for customs duty paid. He had to pay the duty and a fine to get the camera back.

I would suggest not taking the cameras out of the UK again, once you get them home.

Also, bear in mind that as a precaution agaist use of stolen credit cards, Amazon may refuse to deliver to an address other than the billing address for the card.

Andrew

If he had not paid import duty on a top of the range SLR then he should expect to get caught and pay a fine. I am guessing the allowance was a lot less for the year you are talking about(£145 up until recently) now at £390pp we would have no problem on the 2 items I am considering buying.

Never bought via Amazon.com but no problems with Amazon.co.uk for different addresses. used them at least 20 times, every time to my business address not card address. Would hope no problems on .com, can only try.

 

[orangetiggs]

I have purchased from amazon.com while in Disney and had no problems it being delivered to hotel if that helps

 

[kazdav]

Lumix TZ20 Amazon.co.uk £283 (less £30 cashback) Amazon.com £184

I just got one of these, unfortunately it has not made me a better photographer.