to import or not to import, that is the question

[Val101]

Hi all

I’ve been searching for a good camcorder now for what seems like forever, I have finally decided on a Sony HDR-SR8, now when I visited my local Sony Centre their price was an astounding £1100.

So I have been searching the net for a better deal. I have come across several websites and sellers on eb*y that import electrical items from Hong Kong. The cheapest I could find the same Sony camcorder for was £659.99 + £42.00 shipping that’s a total of £701.99. Now if you add the dreaded VAT at 17.5% the new total now comes to £824.84, that’s a saving of just over £275 when compared to the price from Sony Centre.

Now some of these sellers are indicating that if the product you are buying is a gift you may be able to save on VAT, so you could make an even bigger saving when compared to buying the same item from the UK. According to one seller I contacted, the manuals, software, charger, etc are all in English or suitable for the UK.

So the question now is should I import or not, has anyone here imported any similar item. I know of lots of people who imported Playstation 3’s when they were released in the far east and they had no problems at all.

I’m also after a digital camera, a Panasonic TZ3, prices in the UK are around £215-250, the price if I import is around £170.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Many thanks

[senu]

Most Sony Centres are very poor VFM whose staff feel that anyone refusing to pay a premium for the Sony name has just had a lobotomy
The same camcorder from My local Sony centre cost £150-200 less at next door Jessop and Dixons ( 30 yards away) respectively.
Having said that ,the down side of importing is that even if VAT ect dont feature) on of after sales and warrantee issues. Im rather more in favour of online purchases from etailers with a UK presence or representation

Also declaring a purchase as a gift is technically illegal and may be worse than saying nothing if nobody asks

[rhubarbe]

What I have noticed recently is a move by HK and chinese sellers declaring goods as components with a value of $20. Nice, in that you pay no VAT but I do wonder what would happen if Mr Excise Man came a knocking. OTOH, it's not you that declared it falsely.

[glesgaguyav]

Through experience I would advise not to buy from dealers oustide the UK.
When it comes to repairs/ warranty, the manufactures don't want to know, generally the warranty only applies in the country of purchase.
Of course you could keep your fingers crossed and hope that you don't need a warranty, in this case make sure that the camera is UK/PAL compatible.

Many Non UK dealers advertise the Cameras as suitable for the UK, which means that they are capable of outputting a PAL signal but they may not record in the standard PAL 25fps format, this can be a problem if you should update in the future and buy a UK cam, your raw/edited footage may not be compatible with the new equipment.
OK, so many new TV/recorders are capable of handling both formats but it can cuase problems

I recently phurchased the Sanyo HD2 a great little fun camcorder, it outputs PAL signals and HD but records at 30fps, this means that I cannot easily include the footage with my convesional 25fps PAL camcorders

[rhubarbe]

Originally Posted by glesgaguyav

Many Non UK dealers advertise the Cameras as suitable for the UK, which means that they are capable of outputting a PAL signal but they may not record in the standard PAL 25fps format, this can be a problem if you should update in the future and buy a UK cam, your raw/edited footage may not be compatible with the new equipment.
OK, so many new TV/recorders are capable of handling both formats but it can cuase problems

OK, this is true for mini DV and for HDV cams but not for HDD or memory card cams.

I am umming and ahhing about buying a Pana HDC-SD7 as an import from Japan. It's only going to be available in Japan and so it's only going to be NTSC, but since it's HD and I would be playing the clips on an HTPC through an HDTV that accepts both formats, the only outstanding issue would be the warranty.

[thefair1973]

I've just bought a Sony HDR-SR7 from the US. OK, it's NTSC, but as I'll be using a HTPC to play it on my plasma, that's not an issue. To buy this from the Sony Centre, £1049. To buy it from eb*y it cost me £610 including P&P. Result.

There are sites that will sell you these camcorders from HK and ensure you don't pay VAT, although they are priced higher than ones they sell on eb*y.

[rhubarbe]

I'd be very interested to know what happens to the playback on your NTSC SR7 if you film under either fluorescent light indoors, or under sodium street lighting outdoors at night.

Does it flicker on your TV if you have the HTPC set to 60Hz and your plasma set to auto NTSC/PAL.

Very interested. I'd be.

[Chris Muriel]

Good point - can be damned annoying if you get a 10 Hz beat frequency flicker.

Chris Muriel, Manchester

[rhubarbe]

I wish he'd come back and tell us.