[FAQ] - Importing an iBook or a Powerbook or an iPod from USA

[Giaguara]

Currently so many people are asking this, especially when $ / £ / € exchange rates are good for the Europeans that it probably is worth a FAQ.


Apple laptops and iPods work with both American (110 V) and European (200-240 V) electricity without needing an electricity converter.
The plug that they come with are those used in the country they are sold. The plugs are interchangeable with other Mac products - so you can use the plug of your other Apple laptop or your iPod id you don't need it. You can also purchase the Apple adapter kit, but probably a better value purchase can be an adapter from any kind of plug to any country plug. Airlines sell those in intercontinental flights (BA has one for 10 £, Air France for I think 15 € etc). Or just get a visitor > UK (or Europe) plug from any electric store.

In US the purchases get a sales tax, which in major cities is about 10 %, it is never included in the price that you see in any store.
To avoid sales tax, you can buy your thing online or with mail order, from a store that does not have a physical store in the state where you are and where your credit card is issued. Apple Store adds the tax to every state, even with online purchase. If you stay a few days, you can use the internet order. www.macmall.com is one big seller, www.jandr.com is anotherr (this has the store in NY, so if you plan to go shopping for the laptop in NY, to avoid sales tax, stay in a hotel in New Jersey and have it shipped there, or just walk to an Apple Store and get it.

You probably can get the sales tax back, if you have original unopened package with you at customs when leaving country.
But you risk being spotted in your home country, and they can add (these in UK) an import tax (5 %) and VAT (17 % in UK).

If you want to avoid that, but keep the packagin of the laptop, you can use e.g. UPS or USPS ground shipping. It isn't the fastest, but it's quite cheap, and the packaging can always be practical when you one day sell the laptop.

One essential thing is warranty. EU customers get 24 months of warranty, US only 12. If you buy your laptop or iPod in US, you get 12 months even if you are European. If you plan to keep your laptop for over 12 months, you want to get Apple Care with it. It can be purchased any time within 12 months of purchase, but it is as well more value got in US.

DVD region code is not set on new laptops. If you buy it new, it will ask you to set it to region [x] the first time you insert a movie dvd that is coded to anything but region 0 [universal that works everywhere]. You can change the region code 5 times, after which it will be set permanently. If you have a big selection of foreign movies, or movies from more than 1 region, purchasing a multi-region / world dvd player is a better idea for you.
In UK you can buy those dvd players in many stores, http://www.amazon.co.uk has offers for them starting at under 30 £, in US you can get them e.g. http://www.dvdoverseas.com, a model with NTSC/PAL conversion is the best. If all your dvds are e.g. from Europe and thus region 2 (or US and region 1), you don't have to think about it, it is just for the movie lovers who have a more international movie taste than movie industry likes.

DVD Regions

0 Universal, works with any player
1 USA [NTSC], Canada
2 Japan [NTSC], Europe [PAL], Middle-East, South Africa
3 South Korea, Hongkong, Taiwan
4 New Zeland, Australia, Mexico, South America
5 Former Soviet Union, Africa, Indian Sub-Continent
6 China

List of Apple Stores currently to check where are the closest to where you want to go:

http://www.apple.com/retail/

Delaware (DE) state does not have a sales tax, so a 1999 $ model costs you 1999 $.

[Zammy-Sam]

Wonderful, Gia! We (Europeans) love you!

[andychrist]

We Americans love you too!

[Giaguara]

If you come to IL for mac shopping, let me know.

[Hype.it]

Actually, if you really like to buy Powerbook and PowerMacs may i suggest Hong Kong. It's completely Tax free here.

Currently as i type the exchange rate for UK£ to HK$ is £1 = $14.3

The typical cost for a PowerBook 15 with SuperDrive is HK$14999

[gdekadt]

When I had ebay purchases from outside the EU sent to me in the UK I was charged VAT and Import Duty (and sometimes handling fees) by the carrier (Royal Mail/TNT/DHL). Of course there would be a work around if the value is not declared and the item is not insured. But then you are dealing with someone who doesn't do things by the book - they could send you non-functioning goods and then legitimately wash their hands of any complaint...

[WinWord10]

Originally Posted by Hype.it

Actually, if you really like to buy Powerbook and PowerMacs may i suggest Hong Kong. It's completely Tax free here.

Currently as i type the exchange rate for UK£ to HK$ is £1 = $14.3

The typical cost for a PowerBook 15 with SuperDrive is HK$14999

I did the math and you'd save about £150 by buying the laptop in Hong Kong as opposed to the UK, but then there's the issue of having a Chinese keyboard. Europeans purchasing in the US will at least have a western keyboard, although dollar and cent symbols will be in place of the euro and pound ones. I believe some other differences symbol and layout-wise exist as well. Nothing major though. The keys can be replaced with localized ones, but not for free, and after considering all this it might be easier to just buy the laptop in your home country. For iPods though all that really matters is the interface, which can easily be changed. As an added incentive, US and Asian iPods can get much louder than European-sold models, which limit the maximum volume in order to comply with safety requirements for handheld devices in France.

[Giaguara]

What is the HK keyboard on Macs like? The Japanese is quite US/Euro like, so you have the normal keys and in order to type anythign in Japanese, you have to be able to both read and write .. so if you don't know Japanese, the Japanese keyboard does not confuse you. I coult try to investigate the HK keyboard, but the only HK person I know is a Dell user .. so far.