Buying a TV in Singapore

knipex

Long story short. Im in Singapore for 18 months with work and need to get a TV.

The origonal plan had been to buy a cheapo unit to use here and then just leave it after me when i came home. However VAT (or GST as they call it here) is only 7% plus there are some decent sales on and I have seen some serious value.

I am considering getting a decent set here and just bringing it home with me (company will be paying for shipping).

However I have been getting some some conflicting advice. Some people tell me that it will work fine at home (will be connected to a sky box) others tell me it won't. Even the shops are giving me conflicting adive (with one guy offering to sell me a "special converter that he sells after work" to make it work at home).



Any advice ???

lar77

There is no reason why a TV bought there would not work here once connected to a sky or upc digital box i.e. not using the TV's built in decoder. Once using an outside decoder box the TV is basically just a monitor.

Not sure about voltage though, do they use the same as here? A lot of modern electronics can cope with different voltages but would be worth checking out.

You might have issues trying to get the new free to air Saorview irish digital tv (think it's an Mpeg 4 turner needed?) but if you want that you can get an external decoder too.

mad muffin

Don't they use a UK plug in Singapore? You should be fine if you are using an external box, like Sky.

Stinicker

It should work fine as Singapore is 220v and uses the UK/Irish standard plug, Wikipedia says that they are DVB-T and broadcast on UHF so chances are if if the follows this then it would no different to an Irish telly when you'd ship it, and if not the HDMI would allow you to use an Irish STB, Sky or Saorview with it anyway. Only thing is if you import a container or whatever Irish customs will probably charge VAT and maybe duty on it and everything else.

I was in Singapore last year for a few days enroute to Australia and there is this place called Sim Lim Square which is a multi storey mall dedicated to computers, technology, cameras, tvs; you name it! I stayed up the street in the Ibis Hotel and it was a pretty cool place to have a browse around.

rolion

despite the bonus of making a saving...make sure that the shipping covers insurance as well.and i mean ,full insurance ! a plasma sent over here and when you open the box to find only pieces,is not what you want !!
also,make sure you put some money on the side for local taxes and vat...

mad muffin

Do you have to pay taxes and vat on a tv that will be over 12 months old?