Buying Computers Abroad

[buntymcmuff]

If I bought a laptop in the US and brought it back to the UK, would I have to pay import duty on it and how much would that be?
Also, would anyone know if I bought a Mac iBook, would it work in the UK if it was bought in the US.

Thanks

[vehelpfulguy]

Hang on, it is not as easy as that.

Keyboards are different in each country (will it have a pound sign for example). Special characters are in diferent places on different keyboards.

The software on it like Windows, Office will be US based rather than English (spell checkers etc)

The modem may be for US and not work in UK.

Warranties will not be honoured if it goes wrong.

Power Supplies will be US plugs.

And if you are caught bringing it in you will have to pay duty on it.

[Catso]

You'd be able to change the software, but you would have the wrong hardware, as vhg says, above.

And the charger would be for 110v, which might not work on 230v.

Technically, you would have to pay duty, but you are speaking as though you mean to buy one while over there and bring it back. So there is a reasonable chance, providing tyou weren't daft about it, of passing through customs unmolested. But you would be breaking the law by so doing, and you must be prepared to pay the duty, if you got stopped.

There would probably be import duty (ranges from 0 to 20%-ish, depending on the product) and then VAT on top of that.

[fo3nix]

If you're after a mac consumer laptop (it's now the macbook, not the iBook), then your only real concerns are the power supply and of course any duty you may have to pay.

A cheaper option if you're after an Apple laptop is to know someone who's at university. They can get a special student discount, which can result in a large price reduction.

[buntymcmuff]

Thank you for all your help - I decided that this wasn't the best option and have bought one legitimately through the UK Apple Store and I'm very happy with it.

Thanks!