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American iMac

Beatnik on 2008-07-26T23:29:20

I've decided to buy myself an iMac for my birthday. Biggest problem: budget. I figured out that the difference in US dollars to a European version is about 500 euros. I've already figured out a way to get it into the country.. What I haven't checked fully yet is wither or not it can run on local power. AFAIK they use 110volts in the states, we use 230volts. The guy at the Apple store assured me it shouldn't be a problem. Some forums say the same thing. All I'll need is a cable. Any other issues I should be worried about? Anyone else did something similar before?

Shouldn't be a problem

mir on 2008-07-27T07:34:27

I haven't seen a power supplies that wouldn't accept 100-240V in years. You might need a local keyboard (hopefully a little less than €500).

Things to look out for

bart on 2008-07-27T10:36:43

Technically: since a number of years, all electronic devices use switched power supplies only (quickly alternating between "on" and "off" state, easily thousands of times per second; what you get out it the average voltage) that suffer very little power loss (heat). That is what makes it possible to build power supplies so small these days; and what makes them very tolerant in variation in input voltage. So, that should indeed not be a problem.

The other thing is that legally, you are supposed to pay VAT (21%?) at the border. You probably won't escape it. It's what makes up a large part for the price difference between the USA and Europe.

Recently at work I heard that computer shops here can offer hardware at a significantly lower price if they do their through the Netherlands, for whatever reason — I don't know if that goes for Apple software too. It might be worth checking out, as you then will not have to pay additional VAT.

Re:Things to look out for

bart on 2008-07-27T10:52:05

Oops: s/if they do their through the Netherlands/if they do their import through the Netherlands/

Re:Things to look out for

Beatnik on 2008-07-28T10:14:39

So what if they're technically "in the country" already and I don't have to "import" them? :)

Re:Things to look out for

bart on 2008-07-30T17:58:09

Well, then you can skip customs.