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Buying Powerbook and Ipod mini from abroad

K

kos

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 14, 2004
20
0
When i travel back to hong kong for around 10 days (around july will they be updated by then?) i want to purchase a powerbook 12in SD with a harddrive upgraded and possibly a mini ipod. I added the goods on the site and it said roughly 5 days build does this mean it will take five day to arrive or should i get someone to order it in advance.

Or another way would be to travel to the apple shop does anyone know if there is a apple shop in Hong Kong with the prices similar to the ones on the site.

I want to purchase apple care for the powerbook so when i bring it back to UK will it be under full warrenty or will i need to buy the applecare from apple uk.
 
no one knows exactly then the updates will happen but july is a far way off so its likely that it will be

hong kong doesnt have an apple flagship store, but japan does

be generous with their shipping, 10 working days is what i normally give

apple care for portables is international
 
Careful: a PowerBook from Hong Kong will have a Hong Kong keyboard, probably with Chinese symbols on it ±English. That may be something to bear in mind.
 
thanks for the reply i never though of that, but i dont think the chinese characters will bother me too much. Does anyone have and photos comparing an uk layout to chinese one?
 
May be off-topic but here goes... (1st post in this forum, but looking to come over to the very dark side from a long history of PC's ...)

Re the Japan shop... are they likely to be any cheaper??? We routinely get students coming to us from Japan, and the powerbook I am looking at is almost NZ$7,000 here. Can buy new from USA for about US$2,700 it seems (G4 1.33 17")

Where is the best place to buy these new or 2nd hand??

Cheers

Originally posted by virividox
no one knows exactly then the updates will happen but july is a far way off so its likely that it will be

hong kong doesnt have an apple flagship store, but japan does

be generous with their shipping, 10 working days is what i normally give

apple care for portables is international
Click to expand...
 
I will save around £500 plus applecare so that more savings, since the pound is high and theres no tax :)
 
Firstly, where are you taking it back to? Most countries will charge you import duties, and you may find it works out just as expensive. You can work around this by taking the laptop out of its box, carrying it in a case etc, this has been discussed many times on these forums.

If you want a built to order machine, don't rely on 5 days, or even 10. Get someone to order it well in advance. Also, you will need an address there anyway to have it delivered to, so just pay for it and order it well in advance, then you won't be disappointed with a delay.

Do look into the tax and import duties you may have to pay though, it COULD, not saying will just could, work out more expensive that way.

Good luck!

Marc
 
I sent apple hk an email and they said that all the product where english :) manual software and keyboard
 
if your coming back to the uk you have to pay 17.5% + import duty on goods you bring back. There is then a fee of around £300 for bringing the item back into the country for customs to process it.
If the item was bought as a present for you by someone who has usually spent a year there (varies depending on the country) ie; you don't pay for it then you can avoid paying any tax/duty at this end I believe but you have to prove you didn't purchase it.
 
US prices are cheaper than anywhere else. I figured it was almost cheaper to fly to the US and pick up a 15" PB than buy one in Australia...really its about 40% over priced, or about $1000 AUD, $750 USD more on a straight conversion.
 
I recently emigrated to HK and instead of lugging my old PC around I decided I would get an Powerbook once I settled down in HK.

I can assure you that the prices in HK are definitely cheaper than practically anywhere else in the world. The price differential is not so great if you're from the US (the HKD is pegged to the USD) but if you're arriving from elsewhere e.g. Australia, EU etc there are some savings to be had. Also prices for peripheral devices e.g. external hard drives, USB hubs, wireless routers etc are much cheaper here as well.

The best place to go to buy your Apple gear is at a place caused Windsor House in Causeway Bay. On the 10th floor of Windsor House there are a number of shops stocking Apple hardware and software and other peripherals. In particular I've found one Apple reseller that offers substantial discounts on hardware. The name of the store is Cablex. You can find their details and details for other resellers at www.appleclub.com.hk/buy.

Also no need to worry re: keyboard layout and OS language. It's all in English. Also the Apple warranty provided is not limited to HK.

In terms of the duty thing. If you discard the box and packaging and just carry it with you like any other laptop you can probably get away without declaring it. They can't charge you duty if they can't tell if it's new.

Hope that helps
 
thanks for that info, i think i will just buy of applehk website, powerbook 12in sd, ipod mini, wireless mouse and applecare.

Is there a shop in timesquare i received a email but unsure if it actually an apple shop.
 
As far as I'm away there isn't an Apple store/reseller at Times Square.

I still recommend you go to Windsor House and check out some prices. Windsor House is about a 5 minute walk from Times Square.

When I picked up my 12'er superdrive I added another 512mb, airport card and applecare at Cablex I found that I saved about HKD3000 compared to what I would have had to pay on the Apple site.

You can put the savings to buying your mini-Ipod
 
I found the website i most likly buy from this shop using the bundle promotion. http://www.cablex.com.hk

I estimate it will cost no more thans $19,000 HK, ill take around $20,000 hk but unsure how much you can take in cash without declaring it where would i find that out?
 
Originally posted by Teronke
I recently emigrated to HK and instead of lugging my old PC around I decided I would get an Powerbook once I settled down in HK.

I can assure you that the prices in HK are definitely cheaper than practically anywhere else in the world. The price differential is not so great if you're from the US (the HKD is pegged to the USD) but if you're arriving from elsewhere e.g. Australia, EU etc there are some savings to be had. Also prices for peripheral devices e.g. external hard drives, USB hubs, wireless routers etc are much cheaper here as well.
Click to expand...

So what's a PB 15 Super base model cost in US dollars (or even Australian dollars)?
 
Based on the AUD to HKD exchange rate today a 15' Superdrive would cost about AUD3400. But that the official price charged at the Apple Store.

You can definitely save another AUD200 plus by going to one of the Apple resellers.

Whereas if you take today's USD to HKD exchange rate the price is roughly the same. Although you would still a save about USD200 by going to a reseller.

The difference in savings achieved arise because the HKD is pegged to the USD and the value of the peg hasn't changed for some time despite the significant depreciation of the USD to other currencies.
 
Originally posted by Teronke
Based on the AUD to HKD exchange rate today a 15' Superdrive would cost about AUD3400. But that the official price charged at the Apple Store.

You can definitely save another AUD200 plus by going to one of the Apple resellers.

Whereas if you take today's USD to HKD exchange rate the price is roughly the same. Although you would still a save about USD200 by going to a reseller.

The difference in savings achieved arise because the HKD is pegged to the USD and the value of the peg hasn't changed for some time despite the significant depreciation of the USD to other currencies.
Click to expand...

Well a 15" PB Super would cost me 4675.00 AUD (1275.00 AUD more than you say) and retails for 4799.00 AUD from Apple.

Now the Aussie dollar is almost up to 80 US cents I have faint hope that Apple Australia will relent and provide us with prices more reflective of the dollars strength. I think I am going to have to wait until new models come out until Apple do this...
 
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