[hulkhogan]

a few questions if i may...

i'm flying out to the middle east in a few weeks time and i'm thinking of getting an iphone... i'm on o2 at the moment so unlocking isnt an issue and i can do other stuff when i get back from the trip...

firstly am i right in thinking the duty free with be 15% less than the apple store price of £440.40? or is it less 15%vat+10% import duty?

i plan to use it in the middle east straight away esp the internet - that will be fine or will it require logging onto a pc etc for settings etc?

the 3gs for some reason isnt out in saudi yet but may be available through unofficial apple partner stores, if i buy from abroad will the warranty be universal or only applicable to that area of the world?

i've read the official supplier of apple phones in saudi arabia sells them already unlocked etc so there shouldnt be a problem running an o2 sim from it when i get back to the uk?

[kdc]

I think from other peoples experiences the warranties arent universal so you may encounter problems trying to take it back to an apple store if you have any problems.

The phone will need activating by being connected to a computer running itunes, this I dont think you can get round unless they are willing to do it in store for you; which o2 and apple stores will do.

hope that helps but I'm sure someone more knowledgable will be along shortly...

[shahlg42000]

Going to Saudi my self and was thinking that.

Going for Hajj.

Was going to buy it at 440- 15% and then bring it with me in my bag as my own phone.

Shah

[RobM]

You'll need to purchase Apple Care if you want warranty with it, so factor the cost of that into your purchase and see if it still comes out cheaper. Otherwise it's a lot of money to spend with no protection against manufacturing faults, which Apple are in no way immune from!

And take your O2 SIM with you to test, as if they aren't officially supplied by Apple or a local network they could be locked to any iPhone supplying network in any country, so even your O2 SIM will be useless to you.

[hulkhogan]

yeah its the amount of investment thats putting me off from buying abroad even though it may well be a fair bit cheaper. i'd like the warranty if nothing - for the peace of mind.

do students get discounts on iphones from the apple shop?

[Hinchley Grinch]

As far as I know, the iPhone isn't sold at Duty Free