IPODS - Japan or Australia

[wik]

Morning all. Has anyone bought an IPOD in Japan or Australia ? Are they cheaper than here ?
Do they sell them in duty free ?

[chrishillcoat]

Careful about the voltage - from that POV, the Aussie iPod would be better. Not sure about duty-free...

[Marki]

I have a mate in England who imports them from the far east ,,, there is a cable you have to change and thats it.

I have been offered deals on them myself but its by the pallet type of deals out of the far east

[milfordkong]

Definitly not cheaper in OZ although Japan maybe.

I was in Hong Kong in May though and they were definitly CONSIDERABLY cheaper out there.

Yes they do sell them in duty free as well, although if I were you i'd check out the new Sony ipod rival, the NW-HD1, having owned an ipod for almost a year the battery life has steadily declined to a ridiculous level for something that cost me 300 quid. It's supposed to have 8 hours but now lasts 3 and a half to 4 max. The Sony one has a supposed life of 30 hours, plus the sony build quality and the fact that people won't see those white earphones and knife you in your belly for your fashion statement toy! (that's never happened to me but I believe it's an issue in some places)

[forever_driving]

The iPods I saw in Japan last month were about 10% more expensive than the UK, so I would forget about getting them from there too... strange because the iPowerBooks seemed much cheaper.

Anyway, I agree with milfordkong, Hong Kong is probably your best bet for a good deal.

[Marki]

OK i just checked with him , he sells the 40gb for around 210-GBP

And the Mini 4gb for around 130-GBP

Is this cheap i have no idea ?

[milfordkong]

yeh pretty good prices, my Girlfriend bought a mini ipod on tottenham court road a couple of days after they were released for 180, think they're still around that now.

The 20gb retail at around 210 so a 40gb for that is a good deal for sure.

[Marki]

He sells to the big retail stores or distributors , knowing him hes making good money on them .


I will check with my boys in Singapore how much i can buy them for

[TheLemming]

milfordkong said:

If I were you i'd check out the new Sony ipod rival, the NW-HD1, having owned an ipod for almost a year the battery life has steadily declined to a ridiculous level for something that cost me 300 quid. It's supposed to have 8 hours but now lasts 3 and a half to 4 max. The Sony one has a supposed life of 30 hours, plus the sony build quality.

I last charged my NW-HD1 at the start of November. Still happily going strong. I swear I've had more than 30 hours out of it already...

[wik]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

This NW-HD1 sounds intriguing. Can you get an attachment for it that turns it into a radio transmitter ( illegal I know ) as with the IPOD ?

I'm going to have a hunt around on the web now.

[TheLemming]

wik said:

Thanks for the replies everyone. This NW-HD1 sounds intriguing. Can you get an attachment for it that turns it into a radio transmitter ( illegal I know ) as with the IPOD ? I'm going to have a hunt around on the web now.

Its a great standalone unit, the only downsides being the need to use its own bespoke software for transferring music (which is slightly irritating), doesnt support MP3 (need to convert the file to a bespoke Sony format, but then again you only need to do it once...) and the lack of toys for it.

Even the inline-remote isnt currently available in the UK.

So its swings and roundabouts...

It does have a "line out" option, so im currently looking for a stereo that will support that.

[Hardcore2000]

the iriver h340 is the best ipod type unit on the market, especialy with USB on the Go

[SiH]

My other half bought a miniIPOD from Australia in duty free on the way home. It was a pink one (apparently they're difficult to get here?) and it was reasonably cheaper than back here. No probs with voltage and all that was necessary was to buy an Aus to UK plug socket converter for a few quid. No real issues to be worries about and is currently working well. SiH

[Ian_s]

i picked up some minis in usa for £123 with the exchange rate at 1.84