US/Japanese iMac's not voltage compatible with rest of the ...

[MacBytes]

Category: Apple Hardware
Link: US/Japanese iMac\'s not voltage compatible with rest of the world (http://www.macbytes.com/link.php?sid=20041206172850)
Posted on MacBytes.com (http://www.macbytes.com)

Approved by Mudbug

[24C]

Sort of hoped this wasn't true, but here it is! Is this penny pinching or deliberate localisation?

[jkhanson]

Just two weeks ago, I was enthusiastically telling my mother-in-law, who lives in Hong Kong but was visiting us in the U.S., about the virtues of the new iMac. She was very interested and almost bought one here to take back with her. Glad she didn't do that!

[StarbucksSam]

I'm going with deliberate localization theories. I read about someone who got their new iMac screwed up by doing this - what a shame. Hmm..

[nagromme]

So Apple didn't publicize that the power supply is no longer universal. Did they promote the fact that the G4 iMac WAS universal?

It's the kind of thing I'd want to make sure of before buying a new model from overseas.

[feeze]

I do agree with the deliberate localisation aspect as their portable computers are designed to be used in any country in the world (all you need to do is buy the appropiate adapter for your powerbrick), but afterall that's what portibles are designed for. Desktops on the otherhand are not designed for this purpose. I don't know if this is done due to cost and effiency or in order to stop US stores flooding local markets.

What I want to know though, is it a case of people are buying American iMacs and just plugging in local power cables? If so, that is just stupid and of course it's going to burn (for example, here in Aus. voltage is 240V, whereas in the US it is 120V) I would imagine though if they bought an adapter that went between the wall and the US power cable then it should work (I think, after all shouldn't the adapter ramp down the voltage to 120V, I've never used one)

Anyway, I still think it's foolish for one reason the article didn't mention. WARRANTY. What happens if it breaks under warranty, does that mean you would have to send it back to the US. That alone is enough to turn me off buying electronics outside Australia. (My father had this very issue with a CD-ROM, in the end it would of been cheaper to buy it locally)

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Edit: Stupid me, I didn't realise there was a page two to the article. My bad, so it's just ignore everything I said above :eek:

[svenr]

... I would imagine though if they bought an adapter that went between the wall and the US power cable then it should work. ...
The article specifically said that this works.
... Anyway, I still think it's foolish for one reason the article didn't mention. WARRANTY.
The article DID mention warranty.

Maybe you should've spent the time writing this long post actually reading the whole article first.

[macnulty]

Here's a thought, maybe there wasn't space for dual voltage.

[Frump]

Here's a thought, maybe there wasn't space for dual voltage.

Here's another thought, read the article!

All versions except the U.S. and Japan are dual voltage.

Frump.

[wrldwzrd89]

My first suspicion is that Apple did this to prevent the US iMac G5s from flooding the international market, since everyone wants to buy one (because they're cheaper). Why Apple did this to the Japanese models too is a mystery, but maybe it's because the Japanese use the same voltage as the USA - I don't remember if the article mentioned this or not, since I read it a while ago.

[iMeowbot]

Here's another thought, read the article!

All versions except the U.S. and Japan are dual voltage.

Frump.
Yes, but dual voltage supplies generate more heat when they are running from the lower voltage. I'll bet that the 240V iMacs have to kick their fans up higher when they're put on a 120V source.