….. Doable?

I’m talking 27in iMac here, not a piffling little iPad……

The savings are decent, £374 potentially, and Mrs PP might be able to get someone coming over from the US to bring it with them, but hand luggage it aint!!!!

And will a US model work fine in the UK, electrikkity and software-wise?

I’m not so sure, myself.

Well you’d be supposed to pay import duty on it, and it would presumably have a 110 volt power supply but I assume you can get a step down transformer. Can’t see software being an issue.

You’d be better off just finding a friendly student/teacher/uni worker to buy one with higher eduction discount for you though, then you can get cheap Applecare too.

I’m not so sure either.

If there’s anything you want a decent warranty and local support for it’s a computer…

they have weak electricity over their too.

The PSU will be multi voltage

A laptop, with packaging dumped – fine.

27″ iMac? In original box? Customs really aren’t doing their job if they let that through.

You’d be better off just finding a friendly student/teacher/uni worker

Yeah, I know about this, how does it work and how much do they save? Next door neighbour is a teacher as is Mrs PPs cousin’s husband! (I think)

I assume they have to order it???

If you were playing it totally kosher, there shouldn’t be any import duty on PCs just VAT

27″ iMac? In original box? Customs really aren’t doing their job if they let that through.

Yeah. That’s what I think too. It’s Mrs PPs idea, and she’s done it before for me (with a Garmin, a bit smaller!) and whilst it SOUNDS good I can’t see it being worth the hassle. I’d rather just walk into an Apple store and hand over some plastic….. then faint! 😉

Edit: PSU is 110-240V

Yeah, I know about this, how does it work and how much do they save? Next door neighbour is a teacher as is Mrs PPs cousin’s husband! (I think)

I assume they have to order it???

IIRC the discount is about 15%, plus I got a free ipod, and 3 year applecare for about £50. They need to order it from their school/uni network online, or go to the store with relevant ID.

HE discount was worth about £200 on my base 27″. Buying that way gets you a 3 year hardware warranty (not full AppleCare inc telephone support, etc). As said, the back-to-school offer is on so you get £60 of apple credit for apps, music, etc. You just have to be a student so befriend one or take a short course at the local college.

Buying in the US attracts local sales tax (about 7% in NYC, iirc). Not sure on power supply but I suspect desktops may not auto-switch like the laptops do. And in terms of practicalities, it would have to be checked into the hold and your travel insurance is unlikely to cover a £1200+ computer getting broken in the hold. Shipping it with insurance will be pricey and guaranteed to attract VAT when it arrives. And little chance of customs missing a huge Apple branded box.

Best option aside from the edu discount route is Dixons at the airport. Can pick up on your way home or get it delivered. Can check what the current discount is on iMacs when I fly on Monday if you like?

Ideaa shelved. Thanks for the info, chaps.

Apparently, Oracle (Mrs PP works for them) get a discount too, £84 off the iMac I want (from £1399) and £10 off a 32gig wifi iPad! (????)

I think I may have to go and grab myself a teacher!

Best option aside from the edu discount route is Dixons at the airport. Can pick up on your way home or get it delivered. Can check what the current discount is on iMacs when I fly on Monday if you like?

Ohh please! Would you mind? We’re off to Spain for New Year so I could get one then….

email in profile 🙂

Hmm. Unless there’s a bigger discount if you log on through a Uni network, the educational discount is the same price as Mrs PP can get on for from work….

normally you can’t access edu discount prices off campus?

yep teacher prices are not the same as students as i found out with mrs tr …

wanted an ipad 64g wifi – sent her to school with my order – got the call – price is the same.how ever an imac or a macbook were both significantly cheaper

so i flew out of aberdeen today with work got it from dixons travel on an oilshow week special with 100 quid off ….

as cheap as the states – my mate was gonna pick one up for me next month – although as he was out there for a month i wouldnt see it till december 🙁

a student on campus will get cheaper

Hmm. Unless there’s a bigger discount if you log on through a Uni network

There is.

I think the Higher Education discount is larger than the ‘standard’ education discount. My macbook discount was about 20% when my wife worked at a Uni (no more I’m afraid) and of course you get the 3 year warranty thrown in (and I’m glad given that it has failed in the first few months).

I think the Higher Education discount is larger than the ‘standard’ education discount.

IIRC the normal education discount is about 8% and the higher ed discount is about 15% (plus extras).

How about going though a uni proxy?

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/proxy/explorer.shtml

just thinking out loud really 🙂

the warranty is far cheaper with higher education-about 50 quid

how about you

Buy a Refurbished

Evidence suggests they’re tested more than still shrinkwapped goods

I’m on a refurbished 21″ imac @ 18 months later I’m well please

You could get it through topcashback.com too for a couple of % extra off (though it’s a long wait for that % to get paid out)

I’ve travelled twice with an iMac, once in a tenba case, and having learnt the lesson the second in a pelican 1690 case. Never … Ever again!

For the savings benefits, it’s absolutely not worth it, not only will u herniate yourself dragging it round the airport, but u’ll spend the entire flight worrying about how many pieces it will arrive in. Then u’ll have a Keyboard with no £££ key on it, and a battle if anything goes wrong with it …

And go to the crucial site for ur memory, £75 for a 16gb package !!!!

There’s four memory slots in an iMac, and it comes with two populated – I went for 2x4GB ones (now down to £40 on Crucial) for a total of 12. Paying that much again for an extra 4GB (leaving two perfectly good 2GB modules sitting in a drawer) didn’t make much sense to me.

And will a US model work fine in the UK, electrikkity and software-wise?

Yes:

1) “Line voltage: 100-240V AC”, http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html
2) Software is all the same.

If there’s anything you want a decent warranty and local support for it’s a computer.

Apple warranty is worldwide. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2394436?start=0&tstart=0

Buying in the US attracts local sales tax (about 7% in NYC, iirc).

True, unless you buy it in a place which has no sales tax or you buy it online from a seller that doesn’t have a presence in the delivery address state, in which case there will be no sales tax.

Having said all that – between the extra 13kg of baggage (excess?), the nickability, the VAT and the hassle, I’m not sure it adds up, even considering how tight-fisted I am. Education discount through a friendly student or refurbed (check three times a day!) may be the way to go.

The £1399 model is £1231.20 via the education store from a uni network.