iPod American iPods in Europe

[nfonteijn]

iPods in Europe usually have the same pricetag as in the USA "in amount", not in worth. For example: in Belgium an iPod Nano 8Gb costs €259, in the USA the same iPod costs $249. iPods are a lot cheaper in the USA since 1 dollar is worth about 0.73 eurocents.
So I was thinking on buying a new iPod on Amazon and let it ship to Belgium. That would save me at least $100. I'm just wondering if there's a difference between European iPod models and American iPods? They charge via USB so that shouldn't be a problem. Could there be another problem?

 

[beer.coffee]

Warranty claims maybe?

 

[iMeowbot]

The only real difference you may care about is if you get a charging adapter with it, the blades will be wrong. But you can borrow the proper local ones from any other recent Apple adapter. You may also want to check into warranty issues carefully, that you will still be covered.

 

[beelzeben]

Could there be another problem?

Belgian customs? I don't know what the laws are there, but in England for instance, the local customs folks would impose a tax on the import so you may end up paying the same price as if you had bought it in Belgium.

 

[nfonteijn]

I bought a lot of things on Amazon recently just because it's so cheap and I never had a problem so far. The iPod would be the first electronic device, so I don't know? Maybe there's a law on importing electronic devices?

 

[ftaok]

One other thing is that the US iPod might be louder than the European iPods. I think the EU (or maybe it's just a few Euro countries) has some sort of law that limits the audio output to 100 dB.

This was an issue about 3 years ago (when the original Shuffles came out). I think the US iPods were about 2 dB louder.

 

[nfonteijn]

I can handle 2 dB I guess

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Warranty claims maybe?

iPods and laptops have a worldwide warranty on them I believe, so that shouldn't be a problem.

nfonteijn – it's important to remember that the listed US price doesn't include sales tax, which varies from State to State. Apple's European websites on the other hand include tax in their costs so do bear this in mind when you're making your calculations.

 

[intempo808]

Yes... there is a bi difference in the maximum volume. I was speaking to a bloke at an Apple Store... and he said the American iPod's have a higher maximum volume than the ones that Europe gets. The maximum decibel rsestrictions are in place in Europe for a reason... but... if you don't mind having bleeding ears.. then buy one for

 

[Applespider]

There are also some restrictions. Amazon won't ship some stuff to other countries... not sure if this applies to iPods.

 

[lofight]

i'm from belgium too and i would like too do this too but now that i've heard all these things with warranty, tax things and so , i think i won't do it..