Considering import from Germany, what problems might I run into?

hare05

I'm looking at a German market build of a HP laptop and I want to import it.

What would this mean in terms of warranty, returns, etc?

Would I be able to change the system language to English or would I need a new copy of Win7 / new key?

Most likely the keyboard is German layout. Is that much different in overall design (not key placement, I never bother looking at the KB so after a switch to English KB layout I'm sorted)?

Anything else I might have missed?

Thanks

dsrckiyisvddht

I hate that German keyboard. It's the worst I have ever used. Im sure if its a proper branded laptop then warranty should be ok. Do you know if they have a repair place located in Ireland? You will also need a different power cord as I did when I got a comp for Germany.

Edit: Just saw it's a HP so scrap that about wondering if they had a Irish location

William Powell

No promises it will work for you but a friend imported a computer from Germany with German lang ver of Win7 and I found that the same Windows 7 key worked when we wiped it and put English version on. But you will need a copy of the English version of Windows 7 as that won't come with the laptop.

dsrckiyisvddht

If you look here
[HTML]http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/compare/default.aspx[/HTML]

You can see that extra languages are only officially supported in the Ultimate version. Maybe you could specify when ordering that you want an English version.

William Powell

I wasn't talking about language support, just the key that came with one machine with a German version of Windows 7 also worked with an English Version of Windows 7. So I'm suggesting a full reinstall might work with a English version of Windows 7, I don't think its that difficult to get a copy of a Windows 7 disk?

dazzday

It is possible to legally reinstall the english OS and use the german key via ABR.

What model are you looking at?

hare05

Envy 14, German model. (As the Irish one was butt-raped)

What about warranties? HP has a base here in Ireland, but would the warranty transfer internationally? If it was damaged irreversibly, would HP replace it with the identical model or the Irish one?

Maybe I'm better off asking HP, but all companies tend to be fairly vague on what they cover until after purchase...

Oh yeah, and does anyone know any sites that supply replacement parts (keyboards) for HP laptops? Won't find any Envy ones for a while, but I'd like to know where to look.

dazzday

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.cyberport.de/notebook/notebooks/notebook-berater/1C24-521/hp-envy-14-0028de---i5-560m-4gb-640gb-36-8cm-14-hd-hd5650-n-bt-w7hp64.html&act=url

Has the only just released i5-560M :cool:

IIRC correctly as its being imported in the EU you only pay the German VAT. Also if the irish laws are similar to the UK laws, laptops are exempt from any import duties.

In terms of warranty, its a debatable subject. Different manufactuers have different policies for international warranties. Seems HP UK may honor the warranty on parts and repairs if it does not include radience screen problems. Best off asking here

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/499592-envy-14-uk-thread-31.html

hare05

dazzday wrote: »

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.cyberport.de/notebook/notebooks/notebook-berater/1C24-521/hp-envy-14-0028de---i5-560m-4gb-640gb-36-8cm-14-hd-hd5650-n-bt-w7hp64.html&act=url

Has the only just released i5-560M :cool:

IIRC correctly as its being imported in the EU you only pay the German VAT. Also if the irish laws are similar to the UK laws, laptops are exempt from any import duties.

In terms of warranty, its a debatable subject. Different manufactuers have different policies for international warranties. Seems HP UK may honor the warranty on parts and repairs if it does not include radience screen problems. Best off asking here

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/499592-envy-14-uk-thread-31.html

Damn lol, was hoping not to leave a link to it until I had the order processed Gotta move quick now :pac:

Thanks for the help!

dazzday

Good price in fairness for a pretty laptop with an awesome screen. If you can get the 2year warranty going you are in business.

Personally, underclocked GPU and sub par battery life (reports put it under 4 hours under normal use) puts me off a bit.
3820TG for nearly €500 less is my baby, throw in an SSD and you have change left for a HTC.

hare05

dazzday wrote: »

Good price in fairness for a pretty laptop with an awesome screen. If you can get the 2year warranty going you are in business.

Personally, underclocked GPU and sub par battery life (reports put it under 4 hours under normal use) puts me off a bit.
3820TG for nearly €500 less is my baby, throw in an SSD and you have change left for a HTC.

Already have the HTC lol.

4 hours of battery is more than I need, the 5650 DDR3 (I know there's a DDR5 available, but no one seems to use it. At all) is all the graphical power I need for LAN parties with a few friends, the screen is better than a macbook in every conceivable way.

I'm not looking at an SSD, but I will be tossing a Momentus XT in there :P

As for the Timeline X, it was my second choice after the Envy (purely due to the screen and solid casing). Can't find anywhere to get the HD5650 version of the Timeline 4820tg (14"), and going 13" is too small for me.

Envy basically hits the sweet spot on all counts in my opinion. It's 'above par' in every respect, top of the line in some, and the perfect form factor for college.

My last laptop was a Dell Studio 15, with a **** screen, an i7 that bled the battery in 40 mins and melted the mobo 3 times, an under performing graphics card and generally annoying pop-up software that had to be on for the media keys to work, so as you can see, Envy wins all round!