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Graduating, moving to Germany, and buying an iMac

W

w00tmaster

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 21, 2004
165
0
All within 3 months. I am going to be graduating from Penn State in the middle of May with a degree in computer engineering(and minors in math and Japanese), and I am moving to Germany for 2 years to start work for a contractor for the US military on the 1st of June. Obviously a lot on my plate(gotta make sure I still pass all those classes!)
I want to buy an iMac, but I am wondering if a) they will upgrade the iMac before May so I can get my educational discount and b) I don't have to pay the sales tax in Germany, do you think it may be worthwhile just to buy it over there?

Thanks all!
 
Applespider

Applespider

macrumors G4
Jan 20, 2004
10,939
1
looking through rose-tinted spectacles...
One thing to bear in mind that if you buy a US iMac, it won't autoswitch its power. You'll need a convertor rather than just a Europlug. There are posts on here where people managed to 'blow up' their iMac - and last time I was at the Genius Bar, they were doing a 'goodwill' exchange of a US iMac since the guy swore blind that the US Apple Store had told it that it would be just fine.

IIRC, the Euro iMacs do have powerswitches so if you plan on using it in both countries and not selling it in Germany before you move home, it may be an idea to get one here. Without the German sales tax, it might not be such a bad idea (plus you avoid the hassle of having to ship it over)
 
N

ncoffey

macrumors regular
Feb 18, 2005
106
0
Yeah because of the power supply issues and because Tiger will likely be coming out in June or so I'd say just wait till you get there.
 
I

iPlm

macrumors regular
Dec 17, 2004
104
0
Sofia
In Germany prices aren't like in the US... Even without the tax Apple products are still more expensive. So if you want to get it cheaper, don't buy it from Europe :) About the the power issues, it would be cheaper to buy the convertor.
 
B

baummer

macrumors 65816
Jan 18, 2005
1,235
292
Southern California
Buy it in the US. Why? You'll save a lot of money. The current value of the dollar is very weak; which means exchange rates from USD to Euros is more advantageous if it is Euro to USD. In plain English: it will cost you more in Europe than it would in the US.
 
vollspacken

vollspacken

macrumors 65816
Oct 17, 2002
1,130
0
Boogie-Down Berlintown
first, welcome to our beautiful country :D

now, why don't you get a maxed out 15" Powerbook instead? you will only have to change the little plug on the powerbrick and everything will work fine...

vSpacken
 
W

w00tmaster

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 21, 2004
165
0
vollspacken said:
first, welcome to our beautiful country :D

now, why don't you get a maxed out 15" Powerbook instead? you will only have to change the little plug on the powerbrick and everything will work fine...

vSpacken
Click to expand...

Danke!
I already have a g4 iBook, I was looking for something g5 to play with, and since we won't be seeing g5 powerbooks in the near future, I think I would like to stick with the iMac. But I will be sure to get some power adapters for it when I finally get settled in.
 
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