Any Australian thinkpad owners?

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rjm1135 · #1 Post by **rjm1135** » Thu May 27, 2004 9:11 pm

Hi,

[START RANT]

Finally, the new T42s are listed on the Australian IBM website. Great - however it's all downhill from there.

There are no Pentium M 745 1.8 GHz machines listed and a sales rep said at this stage there were no plans to - maybe in the future. So our top 3 priced T42s (with T41p shown for comparison) are as follows:

T42 (23738YM) - 2373JXU equiv - AU$3899.01
T41p (2373GEM) - 2373GEU equiv - AU$4499.00
T42p (2373KTM) - 2373KTU equiv - AU$6499.00
T42p (2373KXM) - 2373KXU equiv - AU$6699.00

So there is no T42 around about the price of a T41p with decent specs.

It pains me to read these forums:
T42 Express Models - not here (would love 2379DYU)
Discount for VISA, AMEX, etc - not here (as far as I know)

Australian thinkpad owners, is there something I'm missing!!!

[END RANT]

Rob.

#2 Post by **JaneL** » Thu May 27, 2004 9:14 pm

You might want to check with bill@thinkpads.com I believe he will ship to many locations.

rjm1135 · #3 Post by **rjm1135** » Thu May 27, 2004 9:21 pm

nonny wrote:You might want to check with bill@thinkpads.com I believe he will ship to many locations.

I've obviously thought about it but I wonder what, if any, implications that has - warranty, wireless standards, power adapter, sales tax/import duties. I don't know if these are valid concerns or not.

If I lived in the States I'd buy from Bill in a heartbeat - I just think there would be less hassle buying locally.

Cheers,
Rob.

G-Man · #4 Post by **G-Man** » Thu May 27, 2004 10:11 pm

Warranty: Worldwide
Power adapter: Worldwide, you just need a power cord.
Wireless standards: It’s the same everywhere: a, b, or g.
Import duty: Even if you pay it, you will still have a much better price than IBM Australia has.

Regards,
G-Man

rjm1135 · #5 Post by **rjm1135** » Sat May 29, 2004 4:47 am

OK, so hunting through the HMM and tabook and IBM websites it seems that (in terms of components) an Australian T42 is the same as a US T42 - I was mainly concerned about the modem (I thought they could vary by country) but the part numbers look the same.

I see that the 2373 and 2379 models qualify for international warranty so that should be OK.

Will check with customs on Monday but will still be ahead after paying import duty and GST. I'm not quite sure what happens if I had to return the laptop (within 30 days), what happens to the GST I've paid - do I get it back? Customs should be able to tell me this.

So, has anyone from Australia bought from Bill? Or even bought overseas and had to get local support? Good experience, Bad experience? I'd be interested to hear. Also interested to hear other input.

Cheers,
Rob.

greg025 · #6 Post by **greg025** » Sun May 30, 2004 10:32 pm

Hi Rob,

I lived in the USA for 6 years (been home for two).

I have bought various components from Bill and would recommend him wholeheartedly.

My existing A22P (bought in the USA) recently had to go in for a service when it stopped seeing any RAM and I had no issues whatsoever with warranty. IBM sent a courier to pick the machine up and then couriered it back - all at their cost.

Let me know if there is anything else you wish to know.

Cheers,

Greg Harris

rjm1135 · #7 Post by **rjm1135** » Sun May 30, 2004 11:26 pm

Greg - Thanks for the reply.

Have you had any issues running the US bought ThinkPad here in Aus.? Does eveyhting work? - modem, etc. Any special purchases reuiqred? I really wouldn't expect any problems but it's good to get feedback from someone who's been there, done that.

From reading the forums, I would have no problem buying from Bill - it would just be so much easier if IBM Australia offered a better range of machines.

Cheers,
Rob.

twitch · #8 Post by **twitch** » Mon May 31, 2004 9:20 pm

I'm in Cairns.

Ive had 4+ thinkpads imported from the US.

There is no import duty on notebooks, just 10% GST + processing fee(~$50).

I had to get a DVD drive replacement on one of them - IBM couriered 1 out the same day - absolutely no problems with the warranty.

If you can put up with shipping+clearance times then i highly recommend buying from Bill. Use Fedex or DHL if you want to speed up the clearance process. USPS etc. snail mail a notice that a parcel is being held for processing, then you have to fill out complex forms and post them a cheque/MO. Fedex do all the processing on the phone and accept credit cards.

greg025 · #9 Post by **greg025** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 1:49 am

Rob, no problems whatsoever.

Now you just need to find a friend who is travelling to the USA or an American friend who is coming to visit Australia. That way you can avoid the whole GST thing.

Cheers,

Greg

rjm1135 · #10 Post by **rjm1135** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 5:50 pm

Thanks to everyone who's posted replies. It has helped ease my mind about purchasing overseas. Maybe it's time to email Bill.

Greg - I'm actually going to salary package/sacrifice through work so I will get the GST component back anyway - sweet.

If anyone has any other experiences or opinons, I would welcome the feedback.

Cheers,
Rob.

DaveO · #11 Post by **DaveO** » Sat Sep 11, 2004 9:03 pm

[quote="greg025"]Rob, no problems whatsoever.

Now you just need to find a friend who is travelling to the USA or an American friend who is coming to visit Australia. That way you can avoid the whole GST thing.
>
>

I'm in Sydney and I've won a few Thinkpads in the US from ebay as well as other goods.
I've found that they "always" get caught by GST if you ship with FEDEX and UPS. But, I hope I don't ruin a good thing here, I've "never" had goods stopped using USPS AIR and Global Express. That's my experience anyway, YMMV

As far as IBM warranty is concerned, no problems, treated as if it was bought here in Oz.

DaveO

greg025 · #12 Post by **greg025** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 7:24 pm

Dave,

interesting point about shipping companies - I'd never considered using other alternatives as one of my best friends works for FedEx in San Diego. I wonder whether the difference in shipping cost would outweigh the GST...

Cheers,

Greg

arion · #13 Post by **arion** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 2:12 pm

I am in Australia as well and I want to get an IBM ThinkPad T42 2379R9U from the US. But not sure where to get it from I have started a thread here as well.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=5647

I assume I need to replace the power pack that comes with the ThinkPad.

greg025 · #14 Post by **greg025** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 9:38 pm

No need to change anything. The power supply is International and will run on whatever you plug it into.

You will need either to buy a plug convertor between US and Aus formats (normally about AU$20).

Cheers,

Greg

WilsonF · #15 Post by **WilsonF** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:48 pm

I second that. I live in the USA have taken US Thinkpads to Oz more than twenty times. If you get a local plug adapter, everything works fine.

arion · #16 Post by **arion** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:38 pm

Can you be more specific on the cord / connector that is needed ?

Do you mean all I have to do is replace the cord that one end plugs into the mains power (240V) and the other end into the power pack ?

If so that is just plain cool

DaveO · #17 Post by **DaveO** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 5:19 am

Yep, 3 options...... either get a simple adapter, or just rewire a local plug, or get another AC lead, Dick Smith has both types ( 2 or 3 prong) too easy.....

Any Australian thinkpad owners?

Any Australian thinkpad owners?

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