Getting a C machine in US or Australia....

[lardman]

I\'m after a C machine, either a C860 or if the price makes up for the difference a C750.

The problem is that I live in England. Shirtpocket looks damn expensive to me and we have to pay import tax on all of the other stuff imports too, however I\'ve got relatives in the US and Australia and they\'ll be meeting and coming back to the UK.

So my questions are:

What\'s the cheapest place to get one from in the US (including tax - do you have to pay that, does it depend on the state? If so it\'s Florida)?

and if anyone knows whether you have to pay tax to get stuff in OZ (SA) then that would also be useful (and easier in terms of timing for me).

Thanks,


Simon

[Anonymous]

Japan-direct.com seems to be cheaper than Dynamism although I haven\'t checked out Shirtpocket as they\'re in the UK and I\'m not. I beleive the reason Japan-direct\'s products are cheaper is that they provide you with instructions on how to convert the unit into English rather than doing it for you. They also do not offer a warranty like Dynamism does so if your product is bad you won\'t have a way of getting it fixed unless you know someone in Japan who can take it to a service center for you. Currently the C860 is $699 and they add an electrical adapter for USA folk which is $38. You can remove the adapter easily from the total but you\'ll still need one in the end. The C750 is $599. As for tax, we generally do not pay it. The only time we are required to pay tax is if the state that the company exists in requires Internet sales tax and then only those people who live in the same state are required to pay it. Also, it appears that Japan-direct.com will ship to the UK so you might want to check that out.

[jrsjkd]

try Brando.  Very fast, professional, and the best price i found.  My 860 was 735.00US shipped and had it in my hand in 3 days.

good luck

[lardman]

Thanks guys, Japan direct looks reasonably cheap especially as they\'ll ship directly to England as you say, but I still wonder about whether I\'ll be stung for tax if I do that.

Thanks for the suggestions, it\'ll give me something to think about over the weekend.


Si

[dtruchan]

I got my 860 from Japan Direct.  I ordered it Sunday night and had it  Friday afternoon, no duties or taxes.  

In the faq they say:

When the shipment arrives you could have to pay for all customs duties and taxes. Customs duties vary by country. Marking the package as gift, which we can do if your package is a gift and you so request, usually speeds up delivery and eliminates the possibility of this charge.  

[n8a]

Marking the package as gift, which we can do if your package is a gift and you so request, usually speeds up delivery and eliminates the possibility of this charge.  

And it is a gift, is it not?  \"Happy birthday to me, happy birthday TO me...\"

Another possible option that some people have used and spoken well of is http://hightech-co.jp/ .  Unfortunately, the site is fully Japanese and the prices are in Yen, but if you fight through that it ends up costing about $580 for a C860, plus the wire transfer fee that your bank charges you.  That\'s the option that I\'m investigating now...

[lardman]

I\'ve got one (c750 - couldn\'t justify anything else) on order from Japan-direct, but I\'ve yet to receive an email confiming that it\'s been shipped (it\'s been 4 days and I\'m getting impatient :-))


Si

[Anonymous]

I have a question about marking the package as gift. In my country there is 22% VAT. If I buy Zaurus SL-C700 from Conics and tell them to mark the package as gift will I still have to pay VAT?

[padishah_emperor]

I\'ve ordered an 860 from ShirtPocket, and didn\'t mind paying the extra.

If it arrives with any faults, or develops one, I can send it back to them.  If you buy it from Japan, I\'m not sure what kind of support you can get, I expect none.

ShirtPocket do offer some.

\"and we have to pay import tax on all of the other stuff imports too\"

I\'m not sure I know what you mean, at ShirtPocket what you see is what you pay, no other fees/taxes are paid, it\'s built into the cost.  I\'ve paid 8.95 or something for P&P to York.

It will still cost a fair bit, no matter what way you do it, is it not better to buy it with peace of mind?

BTW I am not working for ShirtPocket.

[lardman]

Arrived today!!

[Anonymous]

hey lardman i myself thinking of getting a c750 could you tell me how it fairs against the 5500 in your opinion?

[nilch]

good luck lardman, and lots of fun.

I have been on the 5000D bandwagon for so long and was missing out on the fun and activity for the C7xx series so ultimatley I got a C750 too (couldnt justify a C860 with the happy news of a baby soon).

so its time for you to update your sig line.
:-)

as for the guest post - the C series beats the 5500 series out of the water in terms of visual delight. I also choose the C750 for the black cover and boy that sleek look  is great. Compared to my SL5000D, there seems to be loads of memory now (though I know that will fill up soon) - not having to use /home on SD makes the C750 seem so much faster for me now.
The screen (full VGA) is a deligh to work on for long periods. The keyboard simply rocks. I can actually sit it up on the table in laptop mode and type with two fingers (slender fingers I guess) or use as a thumbtypeboard too.

But even the 5xxx series keyboard was pretty functional - but this is more easier - easier to find keys and more alike to the natural keyboard than the 5xxx keyboard.

Particularly I find working on word docs and excel is so much easier and actually useful. I could NOT really use Hancomword on the 5xxx series - the screen didnt do justice to the large formatted word docs.

The browsing experience is painless now. Email on the go of course rocks (as it did on 5xxx series).
 Just started using the C750 so am sure I will get more plus points as we go along.

(thanks to sub - a member on this board for selling his C750 to me)