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Buying from the States

Soldato
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After AMD drops its prices soon, my grandma will be going to America to visit her friend. I am currently looking at getting a X2 4600 shipped to her house for when my grandma arrives, at this point I think they will be around the £160 mark. Are CPU prices much different in the states than over here?

What are the potential drawbacks of buying a CPU from the states? If it breaks, what will the return policy be?

Oh... I'm not worried about customs (I know they don't like 'funny looking chips') as I doubt they'll stop an 80 year old woman :D
 
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I got my mobile A64 4000 shipped from Los Angeles for £170 - all-in, ie. including postage and packing, and insurance. The same CPU was listed at one UK online retailer for £220, not including delivery or insurance.
 
Soldato
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Gashman said:
i thought when you got something shipped over from US they bummed you with import tax and other ludacris rubbish, or am i wrongly informed?

Sometimes they do, but i am hoping to aviod this by using a little old lady to put it in her case. :eek: :)
 
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trojan698 said:
If it's marked as a gift, they cant enforce import taxes.
They are Her Majesty's Customs and Excise. They're now in with the Inland Revenue. The two most powerful organisations in the country merged. There isn't much they can't do.

I've read that members of the SAS are sometimes given false ID as customs officials when working in the UK because that will allow them to go nearly anywhere, do nearly anything and avoid nearly all scrutiny, all in a quiet, discreet, unchallenged way. I think that's plausible.



There are limits to what can be imported as a tax-exempt gift. I don't recall what they are off the top of my head, but I have a rough memory of a value limit of £50 for the "gift".
 
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trojan698 said:
If it's marked as a gift, they cant enforce import taxes.
That's for items which are being imported via post or courier, not items you bring in personally. In addition, simply marking the item as a gift doesn't mean they "can't enforce" taxes as they can decide you're lying and charge you for whatever they feel the value of the item is.

When bringing items in there's a set limit of value beyond which you are charged VAT and possibly duty. I think this is around the £145 mark but don't quote me. As soon as the value exceeds this you're liable for taxes on the whole amount, not just the part above the limit.
 
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My family live in the US, ive had my sis bring bits back when she goes to see them.

She orders them from Newegg, then when they arrive she just puts them in the case with a letter, Saying they are gifts and she has contacted the Custom dept which said it was ok to have them in the case.

Which she did also, done this 2wice now. First time i brought a 3800X2,OCZ DDR600 ram and some other little bits. Told customs they were gifts they said just add a letter to the case with the bits and thats it. As they open the case when its checked in to check for dangerous items.

At the end of the day as above said they can sting u for tax but the odds are your be ok. If your that worried dich the boxes and if the pull her she can say she brought them 2nd had and are worth half the real cost.

Good luck.
 
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4Qman said:
My family live in the US, ive had my sis bring bits back when she goes to see them.

She orders them from Newegg, then when they arrive she just puts them in the case with a letter, Saying they are gifts and she has contacted the Custom dept which said it was ok to have them in the case.

Which she did also, done this 2wice now. First time i brought a 3800X2,OCZ DDR600 ram and some other little bits. Told customs they were gifts they said just add a letter to the case with the bits and thats it. As they open the case when its checked in to check for dangerous items.

At the end of the day as above said they can sting u for tax but the odds are your be ok. If your that worried dich the boxes and if the pull her she can say she brought them 2nd had and are worth half the real cost.

Good luck.

What do you mean add a letter?
 
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cymatty said:
Ok next question, would i notice a lot of difference between a a64 3200@ 2.6, and a X2 4600? :)

I would say go for the 4400+ over a 4600+ as the 4400+ has more L2 cache (1mb as opposed to 512kb) and will probably clock better but yes your system should feel nippier and it will be especially fast once you get it clocked
 
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sgoaty said:
I would say go for the 4400+ over a 4600+ as the 4400+ has more L2 cache (1mb as opposed to 512kb) and will probably clock better but yes your system should feel nippier and it will be especially fast once you get it clocked

Well i am looking at the 4600 as it will be greatly reduced in price where as the 4400 will not be.

4600 = $301
4400 = $470

http://images.dailytech.com/nimage/1779_large_full_pricing.png

So to me the 4600 seems to be the better bet? :)
 
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