Buying Apple hardware in the US

paul_31

paul_31

paul_31

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Hi guys,

I'm off to the US in the summer (North Carolina and then NY & Vegas a couple months later) and I am thinking of getting myself a MBP while over there (maybe even pick up an iPad if I can have a play with one in a shop and get caught up with gadget excitement :p )

Couple of questions -

Will there be any differences in what's in the box other than a US plug?
Will I loose the warranty on any products?
Where would be the best place to buy? - i.e. electronics shop in a mall / apple shop?
Would I see much price difference between the the states (taxes etc)?

Most importantly - would you do and it and why / why not?

Thanks guys,
Paul
 
Will there be any differences in what's in the box other than a US plug?

The keyboard layout will be different (£ sign and slim enter key). Apart from that it is all the same.

Will I loose the warranty on any products?

The warranty is worldwide and is linked to the serial so no you will not lose any warranty.

Where would be the best place to buy? - i.e. electronics shop in a mall / apple shop?

Apple prices are usually the same wherever you buy. I found some mall shops were actually more expensive, but when I mentioned this they would drop the price to the same as the apple shop.

Would I see much price difference between the the states (taxes etc)?

There will be price differences. New York for example has lower sales tax. You may want to check where you are going and see where it will be cheapest.


However, if you are able to get higher educational discount in the UK the difference between the prices between the UK and US is pretty small and I would buy in the UK, for the plug and keyboard.
 
hyper_piper45 said:
Will I loose the warranty on any products?

The warranty is worldwide and is linked to the serial so no you will not lose any warranty.

[
Click to expand...

Well then how is it apple in the uk point blank refused to repair my iphone stating that "the american model uses slightly different components from the uk model" (most likely BS i know) and id have to contact apple in america. Even apple in the us said that apple uk would have to deal with it. Tried a few times before i just got a third party company to repair it and that cost over a ton. :mad:
 
When i bought my wife and I new macbooks last year I fully intended to get them in the states when I was there, however it actually worked out cheaper to get them from NO COMPETITORS in terminal 5... saved us over £80 on her model and over £90 on mine
 
IPAD! :D

2vwi80i.jpg
 
hyper_piper45 said:
Will there be any differences in what's in the box other than a US plug?

The keyboard layout will be different (£ sign and slim enter key). Apart from that it is all the same.

Will I loose the warranty on any products?

The warranty is worldwide and is linked to the serial so no you will not lose any warranty.

Where would be the best place to buy? - i.e. electronics shop in a mall / apple shop?

Apple prices are usually the same wherever you buy. I found some mall shops were actually more expensive, but when I mentioned this they would drop the price to the same as the apple shop.

Would I see much price difference between the the states (taxes etc)?

There will be price differences. New York for example has lower sales tax. You may want to check where you are going and see where it will be cheapest.


However, if you are able to get higher educational discount in the UK the difference between the prices between the UK and US is pretty small and I would buy in the UK, for the plug and keyboard.
Click to expand...

This is spot on.

I bought my (2.4Ghz Santa Rosa) MacBook Pro in the New York Apple Store back when £1=$2. And bought the Apple Care there too.
Only differences were the keyboard layout and a US plug - but I bought the 'World Travel Kit' thing and that had all the plug adapters I'll ever need with it.

It's three years old this summer and over the time it's had a replacement keyboard (they had to order in the US one so that took a few days longer than it would have if it were a UK model), trackpad, topcase, battery (yes, they replaced the battery on a 2.5 year old laptop bought in another country FOC), power adapter. All done through my local Premium Reseller / Authorized Repair Centre.
When doing the keyboard they noticed that it's a US one and said "we'll have to replace the keyboard like for like so will have to order it in" but that's it - no issues what-so-ever about it being bought in the USA.

:cool:
 
Have you thought about picking one up at the airport? Depending on what airport you're using, the NO COMPETITORS there will usually allow you to phone your order in ahead of time and you'll obviously save yourself 17.5%.

At least you get a UK warranty/keyboard/power adaptor that way.
 
arknor said:
IPAD! :D
Click to expand...

No need to turn this into an iPad bashing thread, I'm not saying it's the best thing since sliced bread but I am open and want to have a play with one before deciding. It looks good as a family / lounge web browser to sit on the sofa etc which is what I could see using it for. But I'll keep my opinion open until I get to actually see one.

Thanks for the other replies guys, I'll have a look at sales tax differences and check out PC World at Heathrow on my way out.

Do you know approx how much the HED discount is? I've got a couple of friends still at uni who I could ask nicely to buy for me.

Thanks.
 
Gerard said:
Well then how is it apple in the uk point blank refused to repair my iphone stating that "the american model uses slightly different components from the uk model" (most likely BS i know) and id have to contact apple in america. Even apple in the us said that apple uk would have to deal with it. Tried a few times before i just got a third party company to repair it and that cost over a ton. :mad:
Click to expand...

iphones are the exception to the rule. Their warranty is region specific. I am not aware of any other product from apple where this is the case.
 
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