Buying Ami stuff in Germany for the UK

[dandelion]

Hi all,

I've been increasingly looking abroad for my Amiga bits and bobs, encouraged by the good exchange rate from pounds to euros and the wider availability of big-box ami stuff. My question is, when it comes to buying actual computers and monitors, what do I need to bare in mind?

a) As far as i'm aware Germany (my favoured european amiga depot)uses PAL. Am I right?
b) What about electricity supplies? Does Germany use 240v or would I need some dreadful converter setup? Not bothered about having a shaving socket adaptor between the 3pin UK plug and the German plug.
c) Language issues - it would be a bit annoying to have German hardwired into the system, especially as I don't speak a word. I know that 3.+ has Locale for greater international support, but do earlier versions have different roms for different languages?

I thinks that about it. Any information about this greatly appreciated, also about postage issues, success stories, horror stories, tips etc.

Cheers,

God Bless Amy

[amigakit]

What big box stuff do you need?

As far as I know, anything that is actually available should be available from www.amigakit.co.uk

Get in touch and let me know what you need and I'll see if I can source it :-)

[odin]

a)Yup.
b)Yup, just your regular 230V there.
c)I don't think so.

All in all I've bought a few things and sold a few things via EBay to and from Germany. Haven't had any problems really. I usually pay by direct banktransfer (because that's free inside the EMU (or perhaps even inside the whole of EU?)).

-edit-
:lol: @Amigakit

[Cyberus]

amigakit wrote:
What big box stuff do you need?

As far as I know, anything that is actually available should be available from www.amigakit.co.uk

:lol:

So therefore everything else your competitors sell is imaginary?

[Savan]

@dandelion

Bought loads of stuff from Germany (printer inks mostly due to very low prices) with zero problems. I do recommend you contact the place first to see if they speak/understand  English (most do) then it should be plain sailing but pay with a protected payment method.

Yes 240v, some items i got came with a 2 pin plug but the adapter for 3 pin was only a couple of euros added to the price. Avoid buying heavy items unless the total cost justifies it.

[amigakit]

The statement means that if an item is still available in the Amiga market, it will be stocked.   The intention is that www.amigakit.com is a one-stop-shop.

Quite often when browsing the 'net, weblinks to Amiga products are older links and the items have ceased production and hence are no longer available.  That is why there is a stock indicator next to every production description on the AmigaKit.com site.

Of course if a customer is after something and its not on the site, I will look at adding that to the stock inventory.

[dandelion]

Thanks for the advice, sounds quite good re German Amigas, sorry Deutchland, but I might be depriving you of some of your Amiga population! I can assure you they'll like their new home though, and i'll break them in to the British way of life gently. I was mostly talking about second hand stuff though, for new stuff I do check out Amigakit as a matter of course.

Cheers all,

[odin]

@savan:

Nobody's forcing you to buy stuff from resellers you think are expensive... You're a bit over the line there if you ask me.

[leofoe]

One thing to bear in mind is the keyboard layout. The German layout is very annoying.

[nasty]

You're a bit over the line there if you ask me.

Damn straight, every post I've read of your savan you've had a {bleep} at someone or something. If you dont like the prices then

A) start your own amiga shop and sell everything cheap e.g
BPPC 240/060,256meg £50, A4000 £20 a1200 £10  just dont expect to make any money.

B)shut up! and buy a PC

if it was'nt for people/places like amiga.org,amigakit,elbox,hyperon I would of gave up on the amiga scene ages ago. I personally think amigakit is a god send for us UKers :-) Just because you think things are to expensive, doesnt make it so!

well thats my 2 pennys!

[Savan]

B) shut up! and buy a PC

Did that and got Amiga Forever and Amithlon from the donkey   :-D

[odin]

leofoe wrote:
One thing to bear in mind is the keyboard layout. The German layout is very annoying.

Then again, keyboards are not that difficult to swap.

Note to self; stop feeding the trolls.

[xeron]

@Savan

If you want to buy from a generic PC company and pay less, go for it. Don't expect any help getting things working on your Amiga.

If you're technically savvy like me, thats fine. But the fact that there is an Amiga shop selling stuff and offering Amiga specific support in 2006 is frankly amazing.

AmigaKit provide excellent customer support, as shown time and time again on forums with satisfied customers. They are also developing their own software to make networking easier on the Amiga, in order to add even more value to the Amiga network gear they sell.

In fact, the PCMCIA network card I bought from them came with an Amiga-specific printed manual, Amiga drivers on 8cm CD and floppy disk, EasyNet software, and the reassurance that the card would 100% definately be Amiga compatible. I considered that to be worth the extra cost over an eBay purchase, for example.

It is much harder for a smaller company to sell cheaply than for large companies with more buying power. I suggest you try and compete with ebuyer or similar yourself before spouting vitriolic bile towards amigakit. See how long you stay in business.

OK, so AmigaKit don't have the buying power to offer prices as low as ebuyer or scan, but they're doing what they can to make up for it by offering excellent and personal customer care, Amiga specific support, printed manuals, and drivers. I think that makes them worthy of support.

Edit: And the picture you just posted is so pathetic. What are you? 6 years old? Grow up.

[xeron]

Then again, keyboards are not that difficult to swap.

I bought a german CDTV keyboard for my A1200 project (its a black case, you see). I just set the keymap to english and touch type.

[rockape]

Hi,

Quote

Odin

"All in all I've bought a few things and sold a few things via EBay to and from Germany. Haven't had any problems really. I usually pay by direct banktransfer (because that's free inside the EMU (or perhaps even inside the whole of EU?))."


Nope it certainly isn't in the UK.

I tried to send £14 in Euros to Germany last year by Bank Transfer and was quoted the following charges.

Abbey Bank £25

HSBC £12

Barclays Bank £12

Lloyds TSB £12

I also showed the banks the following quote from the EU directive and was told that ALL British banks levy a charge, even though it apparently breaks EU law

"19.12.2001    EN    Official Journal of the European Communities    C 363/1 I

(Information)

COUNCIL COMMON POSITION (EC) No 41/2001 adopted by the Council on 7 December 2001

with a view to adopting Regulation (EC) No . . ./2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council on cross-border payments in euro (2001/C 363/01)

(6) The fact that the level of charges for cross-border payments continues to remain higher than the level of charges for internal payments is hampering cross-border trade and therefore constitutes an obstacle to the proper functioning of the internal market. This is also likely to affect confidence in the euro.

Therefore, in order to facilitate the functioning of the internal market, it is necessary to ensure that charges for cross-border payments in euro are the same as charges for payments made in euro within a Member State, which will also bolster confidence in the euro."


I ended up sending the cash (in Euros) inside a box of chocolates, risky but it worked.


Also, on a note ref Amigakit, I've bought from Matthew many times, his support is exceptional.


Regards, Michael

aka rockape