Ordering PC parts from America for the UK

[Remo-Shiva]

Hi All,

Does anyone do this at all? I want the new X800 XT and I'm thinking of
getting it from an American website, is this wise? The card is cheaper on a
lot of the websites I've seen, I've called overclockers.co.uk and they said
the price is going to be £352 and its going to be released the beginning of
next month, my PC is without a graphics card so I would like one soon, I
have looked seriously into buying the X800 Pro and modding it but I don't
have the bottle to do it, in case I f it up, which is entirely possible when
you look at my track record for modding stuff, I royally f'd up my xbox
:-(((

Anyhoo, are there any differences between the American and UK version of the
cards?, common sense tells me there isn't but I could be wrong. And does
anyone know what websites I could order one from who will distribute to the
UK?

Thanks in advance for replies
Shiva

 

[Andrew]

Does anyone do this at all? I want the new X800 XT and I'm thinking of
getting it from an American website, is this wise?

Just remember you will probably be charged the UK sales tax by the
courier/postman which will nullify most of the savings.

 

[Rick]

Anyhoo, are there any differences between the American and UK version of the
cards?, common sense tells me there isn't but I could be wrong. And does

<snip>

Anyhoo!... Anyhoo?? Are you sure you're not a Canadian hiding in the UK?
Speaking of Canada, take a look at this website, the link I'm showing is in
Canadian dollars...
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=11900&vpn=100-435211&manufacture=
ATI

It should be just as easy to get it from Canada as it would from the USA.

Cya, Rick

 

[logized]

Just remember you will probably be charged the UK sales tax by the
courier/postman which will nullify most of the savings.
--
Andrew. To email unscramble (e-mail address removed) & remove spamtrap.
Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards,
please don't top post. Trim messages to quote only relevant text.
Check groups.google.com before asking a question.

Andrew,
Depending on the item being imported, you may have to pay
import duty (dont know how many % it is for graphics cards), then VAT is
added, then the Postoffice add a small admin charge and you have to collect
the item from your PO sorting office! (to pay the fee) - see this helpful
page - http://www.sloanefox.freeserve.co.uk/importukduty.htm

Dave

 

[Ben Pope]

Hi All,

Does anyone do this at all? I want the new X800 XT and I'm thinking of
getting it from an American website, is this wise? The card is cheaper on
a lot of the websites I've seen, I've called overclockers.co.uk and they
said the price is going to be £352 and its going to be released the
beginning of next month, my PC is without a graphics card so I would like
one soon, I have looked seriously into buying the X800 Pro and modding it
but I don't have the bottle to do it, in case I f it up, which is
entirely possible when you look at my track record for modding stuff, I
royally f'd up my xbox :-(((

Anyhoo, are there any differences between the American and UK version of
the cards?, common sense tells me there isn't but I could be wrong. And
does anyone know what websites I could order one from who will distribute
to the UK?

Given the exchange rate, it's good thinking. Be sure to factor in import
duty... I've seen it arrive nearly 3 months later on other goods (from Hong
Kong).

I'm also wondering if the TVOut will be different, i.e., NTSC rather than
PAL. Don't have a TV hooked up at the mo and don't recall.

Ben

 

[Ben Pope]

I'm also wondering if the TVOut will be different, i.e., NTSC rather than
PAL. Don't have a TV hooked up at the mo and don't recall.

I seem to recall that there are ATI branded cards available in the UK -
since ATI don;t make cards for anywhere other than North America, I'd put
your chances of them being the same as pretty high.

Ben

 

[Les]

Andrew,
Depending on the item being imported, you may have to pay
import duty (dont know how many % it is for graphics cards), then VAT is
added, then the Postoffice add a small admin charge and you have to collect
the item from your PO sorting office! (to pay the fee) - see this helpful
page - http://www.sloanefox.freeserve.co.uk/importukduty.htm

Dave

What TARIC code covers video cards?

 

[logized]

What TARIC code covers video cards?

Les,
After a bit of searching, I found the import duty classification
guide which lists graphics cards as 8471800000 and the TARIC code lookup
says it is 0% duty.
The guide document is here -
http://www.uktradeinfo.co.uk/classguides/Computers_and_Software_Guide_April_2004.pdf
There is other useful info in there too - such as codes for digital cameras
and camcorders etc.

Dave

 

[Andrew]

After a bit of searching, I found the import duty classification
guide which lists graphics cards as 8471800000 and the TARIC code lookup
says it is 0% duty.

That list is for businesses who don't have to pay VAT, it is not for
Joe Public.

 

[Les]

That list is for businesses who don't have to pay VAT, it is not for
Joe Public.

Why does that make a difference to Import duty? Aren't VAT and Import Duty
two seperate issues?
--
Les
AMD64 3200+
2x512 MB corsair platinum 3500
Gigabyte GA-K8VNXP
Herc 9700 Pro
SB Audigy

 

[Julian Richards]

Why does that make a difference to Import duty? Aren't VAT and Import Duty
two seperate issues?

I think that I was charged VAT on a pair of Robot Wars speed
controllers posted from the US. The units were not available in the UK
at the time.

One way around this is to have the sender mark them up as a gift (a
common ebay trick).
--

Julian Richards
computer "at" richardsuk.f9.co.uk

XP Home
L7S7A2 motherboard
Powercolor 9800 SE 8 pipelines 438/364 with Omega drivers
1 GB RAM
10 GB + 80 GB HDs
CD+DVD/CDRW drives

 

[Andrew]

One way around this is to have the sender mark them up as a gift (a
common ebay trick).

Which most companies won't do, and gifts over a certain cost aren't
exempt from VAT either.

 

[Julian Richards]

Which most companies won't do, and gifts over a certain cost aren't
exempt from VAT either.

Ebayers do it and fake the true costs. How widespread the practice is,
I don't know.

--

Julian Richards
computer "at" richardsuk.f9.co.uk

XP Home
L7S7A2 motherboard
Powercolor 9800 SE 8 pipelines 438/364 with Omega drivers
1 GB RAM
10 GB + 80 GB HDs
CD+DVD/CDRW drives

 

[patrickp]

Given the exchange rate, it's good thinking. Be sure to factor in import
duty... I've seen it arrive nearly 3 months later on other goods (from Hong
Kong).

I'm also wondering if the TVOut will be different, i.e., NTSC rather than
PAL. Don't have a TV hooked up at the mo and don't recall.

Ben

AFAIK TV Out is often switchable on Ati videocards; however, AIW cards
are usually either NTSC or PAL/SECAM, so are region specific. VIVO
cards will usually handle all input formats.

Unfortunately, Ati themselves make very few, if any, VIVO versions of
their faster cards now - I think the 9000 or 9200 is the highest range
that have that feature. Many OEMs make faster VIVOs, but then it's
pot luck as to whether their capture chips will work with Ati's MMC
software - usually, I think, not. It really makes you appreciate the
much maligned MMC TV player when you're left looking for alternatives
- it's possible that some of them perform Ok with NTSC, but, in PAL,
the picture qualities seem to range from poor to appalling. The few
that do work Ok with PAL video have terrible interfaces. ;-(

patrickp

(e-mail address removed) - take five to email me