Australian buying options

[Bigheadache]

No kidding. I bought some 168 pin 128MB EDO DIMMs for an old PowerMac 7600/120 from Other World Computing in the US. The DIMMs were US$16 each, and it cost about $40 to get them shipped out to Australia via UPS (ordered them on Sunday, they arrived at my doorstep on Friday). An advertisement in the back pages of Macworld Australia magazine from a Mac memory supplier had comparable 168 pin 128MB EDO DIMMs listed for AU $150 each. There are some massive margins being made, presumably at the expense of people who don't know their technology very well, or those who can't be bothered to shop around.

Just about everything Apple related in Australia is a rip off (compared to the US). Alot of the Apple apologists here will crap on about sales tax differences and localisation costs (must cost about $1000+ to localise a top end G5 or powerbook) etc but accounting for those differences, it still amounts to a rort.

 

[oingoboingo]

Just about everything Apple related in Australia is a rip off (compared to the US). Alot of the Apple apologists here will crap on about sales tax differences and localisation costs (must cost about $1000+ to localise a top end G5 or powerbook) etc but accounting for those differences, it still amounts to a rort.

Agreed. A recent case: I bought my 256MB Radeon 9800 SE card from Other World Computing at a cost of approximately AU $500 including 4-day international delivery and customs duty. The same card is advertised at Apple dealers in Australia for over AU $900.

The lesson: there's some huge margins to be made in the Apple accessories market in Australia off people who don't shop around or who aren't comfortable buying from overseas.

 

[elephant76]

sorry all, I can't work out how to post a new post....damn amateur!!!!

anyhow i have just ordered a 15inch PB with 128mb vram and 1gb ram.
what accessories do people find the 'best buy' for a laptop? 😀
i am already planning on an i-curve stand, and an STM glove.
any other red hot ideas, that people find have become an essential item, or a piece of junk??
apologies again for my incompetence.

 

[dubbz]

Their RAM is top-notch, and they guarantee it will work in your particular system if you follow through their online selector and choose according to your machine.

To add to this...

Even if you don't buy RAM directly from them, the online selector can be useful since you eventually end up with a part number. Just match that one with the one in you local online store, and you should be set.

Kingston also have a similar thing, which I used when I upgraded my PB memory.