Consoles from the states?

PitRejection2359

Hi all,

I have a friend who is heading to the states on business for a couple of days at the end of this week. I was thinking I may ask him to get me a new console while he is over there, like an XBOX 360, or PS2 (I think the PS3s are just a little to expensive & hard to get still).
Just a couple of things I thought I would ask here:

1) Does anyone know the cheapest shops in the states to buy these consoles (in a store not online, as he is only there for a couple of days) - just to save me hunting for ages if someone already konws it!

2) If he does get stung for the tax (which he will hopefully try and avoid!), is there any way to get out of it by saying its a gift (for me), and if he does have to pay (which I will have to pay him for) what percentage is it likely too be - just [EMAIL="VAT@17.5%"]VAT@17.5%[/EMAIL] ? Just so that I can work out if it will actually be cheaper or not if he has to pay it!

3) He is flying to/from Gatwick - woud it be cheaper/easier just to ask him to get one in the duty/tax free shops there?

4) I dont really know whether there will be issues with UK/US regioned consoles - are there any that dont have region protection, or some that are easier to overcome than others?

Any other help & comments much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Dan_Thunder

A couple of things to bear in mind:

1) - 95% of the games you can buy in the UK won't be playable on a US machine, you'll pretty much have to import every game you want to buy.

2) - The DVD functionality/HD-DVD for the 360 add on will both be set for region 1 which, again, means that any films from UK shops won't be playable.

Personally, for the amount of difference in terms of cost I'd stick with a UK machine, at least then you'll be able to return it easily enough if it breaks!

DjSatansfury

HD-DVD doesnt have region coding as of yet, so point number 2) is moot

Trixxie

You can do a price-check on the USA version of Pricerunner. Circuitcity is one large store which has loads of branches and good prices. You can do a store locator search on their website to see if there is one close to where your friend is going to be.

I don't know about region issues for the consoles you are interested in - I was looking at PSPs and there was no problem with the games, The only region problem with the PSP was with the UMD films although I reckoned you could probably pick up Region 1 films on eBay quite cheaply. Perhaps this might also be the case with games for US consoles ... I just don't know!

HTH
Trixxie

PitRejection2359

thanks for your inputs - I'll have a look on the US pricerunner and see what I turn up. I'll also have to find out if there are differences between the US & UK consoles. Cheers!

PitRejection2359

Well the cheapest xbox360 on price runner is $360, which is about £180. But if you factor in the down sides (like if i get clanged for VAT, have problems with it, the fcat that the console is different to the uk version, and that it will be 115V not 240V) mean that I will probably just wait till after xmas to get one, or get one when the PS3 comes out - surely prices will drop then! Cheers for your help!

tjsmangina

i would certainly ask him to pick you up a hd dvd add on or maybe 2 as they will be like rocking horse droppings over here and chances are you could keep one and sell the other no problem.maybe worth getting a wii aswell imho

retepetsir

Also worth noting is that the XBox 360 HD DVD drive is region free, so as long as the unit is compatible from 110-240V, just use an english plug and you'll be fine.

PitRejection2359

cheers for that - anyone konw how much are they going to cost in the UK - just so I can compare?

tjsmangina

i think £135 BUT like i said there is a severe shortage over here and peoples pre orders are already getting dropped.not to mention the price of the dollar is close to $2 a pound.oh and all you need for the US hd dvd add on is a normal figure of 8 power lead ,no need for a stepdown as it auto switches between 110V and 240 V.