Buying a dvd recorder from the USA

[nklamb]

I have recently been looking at DVD recorders from the USA on ebay.

A fantastic condition DMR-HS2 recently went for £228!!

Even taking into account a shipping charge of £38 this is an outstanding bargain.

The only reason I didn't buy it was because I was not sure if the US model would record and playback PAL signals from my Sky+ box.

I realise the NTSC TV tuner may not be of any use, but I am not bothered as I would just be using it for archiving my sky+ recordings.

Any advice on this or any other US recorders that work with PAL would be appreciated.

 

[kenfowler3966]

No its not, the mains voltage is wrong and it will be ntsc only, region 1, and the tuner will not receive UK signals. It won't even have a scart connector as it is a european connection, not used in the US.

 

[nklamb]

I realise that the unit has no scarts, but s- video/component video is fine by me.

Some units are dual voltage 110/240 so that is taken care of, the only thing i was not sure about was the recording of PAL signals.

I am sure that someone else posted that some of the Phillips machines will record whatever is sent to them, but I would want to make certain before going any further.

 

[Kevo]

Is it worth it?

What about the customs duty that you'll incur?

And for what? A DVD recorder that is coming down in price all the time here in the UK and one that you won't get full use out of.

And from a complete stranger on US Ebay

Mad

 

[nklamb]

Yeah right, 500 sheets from Richer Sounds makes much more economic sense to £228 from a trader with a feedback rating of 1079 on ebay

I've bought digital cameras, camcorders, sd cards, etc galore on ebay, (including significant quantities from the US) and always saved at least 25% (taking into account customs duties) on the best internet retailers in the UK.

The ones who are mad are those that pay through the nose for the crap service they get at Dixons, Currys et al.

 

[Senninha]

Originally posted by nklamb
Yeah right, 500 sheets from Richer Sounds makes much more economic sense to £228 from a trader with a feedback rating of 1079 on ebay

I've bought digital cameras, camcorders, sd cards, etc galore on ebay, (including significant quantities from the US) and always saved at least 25% (taking into account customs duties) on the best internet retailers in the UK.

The ones who are mad are those that pay through the nose for the crap service they get at Dixons, Currys et al.

Too right - with current exchange rates it makes sense to but MANY things from the US. Even if you don't end up getting stung for duty and tax the exchange rate movements of late still puts things well in your favour - as well as the much lower prices to start off with.

Try looking at the price of the new Mini Ipod on Ebay-US - then compare with the UK retail price when it's coming over here

 

[Confucius]

NK, I think you should definately bid for the HS2 from the US, the saving more than makes up for any functional shortfalls.