Buying in Hong Kong - warranty issue?

[superleccy]

Hi

A friend of mine here in the UK wants to buy a MBP. He will be visiting Hong Kong later in the year, and intends to buy it there "'cos it's cheaper".

Aside from having to pay import duty / VAT on return to UK customs, are there any other issues he should be aware of? Eg...

• If he doesn't get AppleCare, will the 1 year warranty be valid in the UK?
• If he does get AppleCare, will that be valid in the UK? Should be buy that in UK or HK?
• Will there be any significant difference from the UK specification (keyboard, software, power supply, etc)?

Cheers
SL

 

[odaiwai]

The keyboards will be different, although not by much. Power supplies are all UK standard here in HK, and the power supply is actually a multi-voltage unit and works pretty much everywhere. HK uses British Standard plugs, so no worries there.

Most of the shops sell Gelaskins, so get your friend to buy one of them to customize the laptop, dispose of the box and pretend he's had it for years to avoid paying customs on re-entry to UK.

Prices are generally about the same as the pre-tax USA prices as the HKD is pegged to the USD.

The PC market is very competive here, so get your friend to pick up a bunch of external drives for backups.

 

[Applespider]

I'm going to Hong Kong in late March and am thinking about whether to buy a camera (and perhaps a Macbook or phone) out there.

Any clues on where the best places to buy are and anything I should be wary of - eg. where there are likely to be more fakes than real things? I've heard that there are places where you can exchange warranty documents etc?

And any idea on how much cheaper the prices are likely to be than the UK?

 

[Hankster]

Hong Kong. Great city and place to visit!

 

[SaSaSushi]

Hi

A friend of mine here in the UK wants to buy a MBP. He will be visiting Hong Kong later in the year, and intends to buy it there "'cos it's cheaper".

Aside from having to pay import duty / VAT on return to UK customs, are there any other issues he should be aware of? Eg...

• If he doesn't get AppleCare, will the 1 year warranty be valid in the UK?

Yes.

• If he does get AppleCare, will that be valid in the UK? Should be buy that in UK or HK?

Yes again.

Applecare is global coverage. In fact, I purchased the Applecare for my Japan-bought iMac from L.A. Computer in the states.

 

[superleccy]

Thank you all.

SL