soulbarn

Hi - I was hoping to buy a Bluetooth/WiFi equipped TH55 when I visit London this week and next. Any recommendations on a good, discount shop where I can get one? I'm going to be staying near Kensington.

Also, any buying advice or "gotchas?"

thanks,

Dan

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Dan

Yaja123

Micro Anvika on Tottenham Court Road (tube/underground station of same name on Central Line) is your best option. They are highly regarded/established but they are very unlikely to budge on the listed price of £300....

...other shops on the same road may offer small discounts and they are fairly harmless bunch - just make sure you are getting a new sealed TH-55.

ajayuk

hi

the high street shop dixons has it for £299. Also available at John Lewis in Oxford Street for the same price but with a 2 year warranty instead of the normal 1 year!

Don't forget you can claim back the VAT (which is at 17.5%) at the airport if you are a visitor. just ask for details in the shops.

regards
ajay

micky316

If you can wait till your return to the airport I got mine at Dixons Stansted airport for £255

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made in the uk

soulbarn

Thanks - did you mean you bought it at the Duty Free shop for that price? Do the 300 pound prices include the VAT, then?

thanks!

- Dan

PS, if you happen to find a TH55 (US Version) on an American Airlines jet bound for Brazil, it's mine....sigh....

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Dan

micky316

yes the duty free shop did have loads !!!!!! I think they are in short supply in the local shops though? The £300 is the price including vat.the airport price was vat free(255 x 1.175=299) good luck and dont forget your wellies!
mick

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made in the uk

Unregistered

Got Mine at ASK on Tottenham court rd. They didn't know much about the thing, but were happy to take my money, and are an official Sony dealer.

Unregistered

Sorry, forgot to say that ASK are ask-ing £279 for the TH-55.

Yaja123

i brought it from PC World, but would have brought from John Lewis if i knew about 2 yr warranty - helps when you come to sell on eBay at some point in the future if you have long warranty left

ajayuk

here what i propose:

1] get the th55 at £300 (inc of vat) from John Lewis in Oxford Street (2 yr warranty is cool)

2] ask them to give you a VAT reclaim form for exports so that you can claim back the VAT at the airport when flying out of uk. i think they'll need your passport to fill the form.

3] the shop will be able to tell you how much money you will get back.
17.5% of £300= £52.5
you might not get the full £52.5 as someone/somewhere gets something for the paper work. but my guess is you'll get about £40.

4] present the form with your th55 at the VAT counter at the airport. usually they offer to pay back in cash or put the money back on the card you've used for the purchase. cash is the faster option.

5] hence you get th55 for £260 with 2 yrs warranty!

6] if you think the vat reclaim is too much of a hassle and that the 2 year warranty is not such a bonus, you can buy the th55 at dixons in the airport for tax free price at £255 as an earlier poster mentioned.

8] however, at heathrow, the dixon duty free shop is only in the departure area (atleast this is the case for terminal 3).

9] my advice is that once you are in london, go in a local dixons shop and ask them to find out if there's any th55 in stock in the terminal you are flying out from. and reserve one for you to pick up on your way out.

10] personally i would buy it in john lewis (or some other local shops) and claim back the vat at the airport. beware that the small shops don't usually do vat reclaims. so ask before you buy.

hope all this helps.

ajay

soulbarn

It does help - thanks, Ajay, and everyone else who replied. I will be buying it at John Lewis, I think, but I'll look at my options once I arrive. The British model and the American model are the same, I assume, except the British unit has BT and WiFi, as opposed to solely the WiFi on the US version....?

again, this is what makes ClieSource so great - community!

- dan

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Dan

Unregistered

I'll warn you - John Lewis is excellen, when they have stock. Most of the time I've wanted to get something electronic from them, they have not had it, including last Sunday, when I got my TH55.

geekymamaw

why can't you just order UK version online? This site: http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=TH55
appears to offer it with fed ex shipping of 24lb. It cost more this way . Is it worth it?

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soulbarn

I could have ordered it online, but why pay for shipping? I bought the unit at DIxon's - it cost £299 and when I leave the country, I get my documentation verified at customs, and within a few weeks, my VAT is refunded.. That's 17% off, so at current exchange rates, comes out to about £250. Dixon's credits the VAT refund back to my credit card when they receive documentation (I didn't choose the buy at airport option because I need the machine, and also because the unit is somewhat rare - I checked at several shops, including the ones above, and it was out of stock at many; I didn't want to take the chance of losing out at the airport.) In any case, there's a service charge from Dixon's for processing the VAT refund of £10. So my total price was about $460; assuming I paid retail and sales tax for the unit in California (total price of $399, plus about $33 tax, total of $432, that's a very good price for the benefit of getting Blutooth with the UK model.

However, there is a potential warranty issue, as Sony may or may not service the device, according to Dixon's. I haven't read the full warranty statement, so I don't know.

Still, my CLIEs have proven to be reliable.

- thanks for all everyone's help -

Dan

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Dan