Moving to London for work from Miami, FL - Gadgets to bring?

[element6]

NNH said:

I also moved from the US to London. Almost all my electronics were dual voltage, so I just needed plug adaptors. My laser printer and a very few other 110V only items live next to a 240:110V transformer I got at Maplin.

One potential issue is that US HD TVs may expect a 60Hz signal through the HDMI cable. My TV was relatively new so I bought a 60:50 converter on Ebay.

Thanks, good stuff to know! I plan on bringing my NTSC Xbox 360 and PS3.. but the Xbox is RGH'd and the PS3 is running CFW.. so although I may need a 50hz to 60hz adapter, I can run EU games no problem. Not gonna bother bringing anything as big as a TV. They just cost so little lately to bother.

[element6]

Mr Pointy said:

Bose noise cancelling headsets always sell well on ebay & seem to be cheaper in the US, depending on local taxes.

Avoid anything with a keyboard as it will be US layout, not UK (for selling on, that is).

Thank you.. Good point. Getting rid of my logitech g19 before I leave. It will be missed

[element6]

Looking at the price of iPads it seems like I might be best off mixing about 40 iPads in with my clothing or something. I'd make about a 100GBP profit off of each if I got them into the country without being taxed for them somehow.. lol

Guess that's my next research project

Edited by element6 on Tuesday 6th January 06:55

[jinkster]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6-AGtjsylw

London?

[NNH]

element6 said:

NNH said:

I also moved from the US to London. Almost all my electronics were dual voltage, so I just needed plug adaptors. My laser printer and a very few other 110V only items live next to a 240:110V transformer I got at Maplin.

One potential issue is that US HD TVs may expect a 60Hz signal through the HDMI cable. My TV was relatively new so I bought a 60:50 converter on Ebay.

Thanks, good stuff to know! I plan on bringing my NTSC Xbox 360 and PS3.. but the Xbox is RGH'd and the PS3 is running CFW.. so although I may need a 50hz to 60hz adapter, I can run EU games no problem. Not gonna bother bringing anything as big as a TV. They just cost so little lately to bother.

If you're using HDMI cables then all European TVs should be able to accept 60Haz without a problem (OTOH good luck if you're determined to use NTSC coax...). It's only pumping a European signal into a US TV that caused any issues.

[bingybongy]

Are you for real?

First day at work...
Meet Hank it's his first day
Hi, I'm Hank anyone want to buy an iPad I bought 40 over to make a profit out of my new workmates.

I think you are about to become very popular.

Anyway I call bullst on all of this.

[wolves_wanderer]

bingybongy said:

Are you for real?

First day at work...
Meet Hank it's his first day
Hi, I'm Hank anyone want to buy an iPad I bought 40 over to make a profit out of my new workmates.

I think you are about to become very popular.

Anyway I call bullst on all of this.

Wow, 2 pointlessly narky posts. Did you and OP break up on bad terms or something?

[King Herald]

element6 said:

NNH said:

I also moved from the US to London. Almost all my electronics were dual voltage, so I just needed plug adaptors. My laser printer and a very few other 110V only items live next to a 240:110V transformer I got at Maplin.

One potential issue is that US HD TVs may expect a 60Hz signal through the HDMI cable. My TV was relatively new so I bought a 60:50 converter on Ebay.

Thanks, good stuff to know! I plan on bringing my NTSC Xbox 360 and PS3.. but the Xbox is RGH'd and the PS3 is running CFW.. so although I may need a 50hz to 60hz adapter, I can run EU games no problem. Not gonna bother bringing anything as big as a TV. They just cost so little lately to bother.

A hertz converter? Really? You bought one? I don't think so.

When we took our UK TV and Xbox to the Philippines (220v 60hz) it all plugged into the wall with no problems, and worked perfectly. Philippines is 60 hz. Cable TV worked too. We bought a Philippines PS4 last month, and that works perfectly on our 50hz UK TV too.

Xbox and PS4 run on a transformer, as does Wii, so there is no hz involved in the system. The only appliance we had any issues with, in out whole household, was the washing machine. The motor simply did no work properly.

[andy-xr]

Just bring Twinkies, there's nothing else you have there that there isnt already here.

If you want to bring a working, reliable public transport infrastructure then that would be good too

[sjg]

element6 said:

Looking at the price of iPads it seems like I might be best off mixing about 40 iPads in with my clothing or something. I'd make about a 100GBP profit off of each if I got them into the country without being taxed for them somehow.. lol

Guess that's my next research project

Edited by element6 on Tuesday 6th January 06:55

There's not that big a difference in price, assuming you have to pay some sort of local sales tax on them in the US (not included in the headline price) - ours include 20% VAT.

Get caught above the £390 limit and you pay import duty at 2.5%, then the 20% VAT on top. Take advantage for a couple of things for yourself (and just bring them used in your hand luggage) but a suitcase full of boxed iPads will attract attention from HMRC.

There's really very little technology-wise that we can't get in the UK, or that is massively cheaper these days.

[zcacogp]

andy-xr said:

If you want to bring a working, reliable public transport infrastructure then that would be good too

Yes, I'll sign up for one of those. And perhaps several million acres of open space, some seriously cheap housing and maybe a couple of billion gallons of nice, cheap, US petrol (high-octane stuff, natch). You could sell that on for a very tidy profit over here.


Oli.

[Oakey]

sjg said:

There's not that big a difference in price, assuming you have to pay some sort of local sales tax on them in the US (not included in the headline price) - ours include 20% VAT.

Get caught above the £390 limit and you pay import duty at 2.5%, then the 20% VAT on top. Take advantage for a couple of things for yourself (and just bring them used in your hand luggage) but a suitcase full of boxed iPads will attract attention from HMRC.

There's really very little technology-wise that we can't get in the UK, or that is massively cheaper these days.

Plus what could possibly go wrong? I mean, it's not like bags ever go missing!

[megaphone]

andy-xr said:

If you want to bring a working, reliable public transport infrastructure then that would be good too

I think the OP will be very impressed with London's public transport, far better than anything they have in Miami.

[justanother5tar]

Oakey said:

From Miami to London? Wow, who did you ps off and how?

That.

[andy-xr]

megaphone said:

andy-xr said:

If you want to bring a working, reliable public transport infrastructure then that would be good too

I think the OP will be very impressed with London's public transport, far better than anything they have in Miami.

Oh. OK then, just Twinkies

And maybe cheap cigarettes. Everything else we already have

[Webber3]

Go Pro cameras and quad copter gear is much cheaper in the US, especially Fat Shark remote video goggles. I also noticed that outdoor gear is way cheaper too. This Biolite USB camp stove http://www.basspro.com/BioLite-CampStove/product/1... is $129 versus £129 here. Jetboil stuff is also cheap.

The only problem you'd have is when selling it. If you use eBay UK & Paypal you'll struggle to make any profit after fees.

[wildoliver]

An Edelbrock 500 carb and manifold and post it to me lol!

[tim0409]

sjg said:

element6 said:

Looking at the price of iPads it seems like I might be best off mixing about 40 iPads in with my clothing or something. I'd make about a 100GBP profit off of each if I got them into the country without being taxed for them somehow.. lol

Guess that's my next research project

Edited by element6 on Tuesday 6th January 06:55

There's not that big a difference in price, assuming you have to pay some sort of local sales tax on them in the US (not included in the headline price) - ours include 20% VAT.

Get caught above the £390 limit and you pay import duty at 2.5%, then the 20% VAT on top. Take advantage for a couple of things for yourself (and just bring them used in your hand luggage) but a suitcase full of boxed iPads will attract attention from HMRC.

There's really very little technology-wise that we can't get in the UK, or that is massively cheaper these days.

Agreed - a US iPad Air 2 costs $499 + $30 sales tax then 1.52 exchange rate = £348

UK Ipad Air 2 is £399 so a difference of £51 but that assumes you will get somebody to pay the full price (unlikely)

Edited by tim0409 on Thursday 8th January 23:33

[Hilts]

element6 said:

I only meant that there must be certain things sold here in the US that have a high demand in the UK but either cost too much there or are not sold there in the first place.

There's a desperate shortage of AR-15 assault rifles in London.

And Glocks, any calibre.

You could make a killing.

[NNH]

King Herald said:

element6 said:

NNH said:

I also moved from the US to London. Almost all my electronics were dual voltage, so I just needed plug adaptors. My laser printer and a very few other 110V only items live next to a 240:110V transformer I got at Maplin.

One potential issue is that US HD TVs may expect a 60Hz signal through the HDMI cable. My TV was relatively new so I bought a 60:50 converter on Ebay.

Thanks, good stuff to know! I plan on bringing my NTSC Xbox 360 and PS3.. but the Xbox is RGH'd and the PS3 is running CFW.. so although I may need a 50hz to 60hz adapter, I can run EU games no problem. Not gonna bother bringing anything as big as a TV. They just cost so little lately to bother.

A hertz converter? Really? You bought one? I don't think so.

When we took our UK TV and Xbox to the Philippines (220v 60hz) it all plugged into the wall with no problems, and worked perfectly. Philippines is 60 hz. Cable TV worked too. We bought a Philippines PS4 last month, and that works perfectly on our 50hz UK TV too.

Xbox and PS4 run on a transformer, as does Wii, so there is no hz involved in the system. The only appliance we had any issues with, in out whole household, was the washing machine. The motor simply did no work properly.

This is obviously the thread for people to make snarky comments without knowing what they're talking about.

Since I actually made the same move as the OP, instead of from the UK to a completely different country, let me spell this out: the signal (highlighted above for your visual assistance) may not be recognised by a US TV. This is exactly what happened when I plugged a UK-market PVR into my US-market TV. So I bought a converter from India, rather like this one. It turns out that quite a lot of Indian IT engineers went back home from the US with all the electronic equipment they could ship, so there is a flourishing market in signal converters there!

Still, you've confirmed a UK TV will happily accept both 50Hz and 60HZ inputs, so the OP's US consoles will work just fine here on a British TV. I can also confirm that my US PS3 works on my new UK TV.