brewer@clio.las.uiuc.edu (05/16/88)
Hello, I have got a question for all you netlanders. My father wants to take a Mac to England with him, for about 8 months. He has heard that there are possible problems (i.e. customs, power supply, etc). If you know of any problems and/or their solutions, please respond. Robert Brewer brewer@clio.las.uiuc.edu {ihnp4 | convex | pur-ee}!uiucuxc!clio!brewer
flash@ee.qmc.ac.uk (Flash Sheridan) (06/01/88)
In article <17000101@clio> brewer@clio.las.uiuc.edu writes: > >a Mac to England with him, for about 8 months. He has heard that there are >possible problems (i.e. customs, power supply, etc). If you know of any > I've had no problem with customs. Put the Mac in an over-the-shoulder carrying case , look cool, and wear a tie. If it's a Mac+ you'll need a 240 to 110 V transformer and a plug adapter (or a new power cord.) The adapter you _must_ buy in the US {For some ridiculous reason, you can never buy an adapter to use in the country you're in, only for machines made in the the country you're in.} You can buy the power cord in the UK (about #10?) I'd buy the transformer in the US; most UK products are over-priced: there's no Sherman Anti-Trust Act. From: flash@ee.qmc.ac.uk (Flash Sheridan) Reply-To: sheridan@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk or_perhaps_Reply_to: flash@cs.qmc.ac.uk
norman@sdics.ucsd.EDU (Donald A. Norman) (06/03/88)
There is one severe problem with customs in getting a macintosh (or any computer) into the U.K. You are supposed to post a bond to guarantee that you will take it out again -- the bond is on the order of magnitude of 500 pounds. I found that the machine worked just fine once I got it there - that and the imagewriter. Yes, I bought a transformer (in England) -- make sure it is a real transformer, not a cheap, solid state converter. The problem is the plugs: best solution: buy an outlet strip in the U.S. (I took one with various protections): then you can plug the Mac and imagewriter into the outlet strip, cut the plug off the outlet strip and wire that into the transformer. When you leave, just leave the outlet strip behind. BUT: customs. I vowed I would never do it again. That I would lease a machine in England. (That was before the dollar slid in value -- maybe today I couldn't afford to do that). I never paid the bond, but was hounded by customs my entire stay and for 2 months after I returned. Some friends simply carried their machines through customs at the airport and were never stopped, so they escaped. Some were stopped and had to pay, on the spot. My machine was shipped by mail, which is how I got it, but was also how customs learned about it, and they came after me starting a month after I got the machine. There are bonding companies in the US where if you pay then $100 or so, they post a guarantee to UK customs for the bond. This is probably the best route to go, if you can find out who they are. I have no leads, except that MacWorld ran an article about 1 - 2 years ago giving the name on one of them. don norman Donald A. Norman Institute for Cognitive Science C-015 University of California, San Diego La Jolla, California 92093 INTERNET: danorman@ucsd.edu INTERNET: norman@ics.ucsd.edu BITNET: danorman@ucsd.bitnet ARPA: norman@nprdc.arpa UNIX:{decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!sdcsvax!ics!norman