Buying a MBP in a foreign country ..

Greetings to everyone on this forum. I have decided to get a macbook pro for my next laptop. But I have a few questions related to macs. I live in Denmark, and unfortunately macs are very expensive here, around 850 $ more for a mbp (vs buying it in the US).. fortunately I'm going to New York in my vacation (july) and if the rumors saying that the montevina update will be in june, this could turn out to be a very lucky incident.

Well, my first question is about localization.. I don't really care about the US keyboard, I used to have a keyboard with US layout for my stationary pc and it didn't bother me. And when you can set the keyboard to be danish (support the danish letters) it's all great.. But what about OS language? I know my old win xp installdisc contained several languages, including English and Danish, but my vista installdisc only had Danish.. How many languages (if any beside English) does a mbp bought in the US come with?

My second question is about student's discount.. I know apple gives discount for students, but does a student have to study in the country in which he / she wants to obtain the discount when buying an apple product? In short, will I be able to get my student's discount if I bought my mbp in the NY applestore, even though I study in Denmark?

I'm pretty sure there is one more thing, but I forgot it while typing the first two... I'll just reply here when it comes up..

Thanks in advance,
Calundann

I bought mine here in Denmark from the Apple Store, it was 8000 kroner which is about 1690 USD. The cheapest MBP is 14000 kroner which is about 2915 USD!

The thing is, I'm not sure you can import electronics from USA to the EU, without paying some sort of tax, which is very expensive.

andersmj said:

The thing is, I'm not sure you can import electronics from USA to the EU, without paying some sort of tax, which is very expensive.

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Exactly. It can end up costing the same or perhaps even more money in the end.

Oh yeah, we have toll on wares from outside the EU.. 28 % But it would still be cheaper anyways:

2000 $ * 1,28 = 2560 $
2560 $ = 12100 DKK (with today's exchangerates). That is still a 1600 DKK difference, or 340 $. If I will be able to get my student's discount it will be even cheaper.. The question is if I will be able to get that ...?

Calundann said:

If I will be able to get my student's discount it will be even cheaper.. The question is if I will be able to get that ...?

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Any comment on this?

And how many languages, if any besides English, does the OS include when bought in the US?

I don't know if it's like this in Billund Airport, but in Kastrup Airport (Copenhagen) it is. You can choose to go through customs two routes. One is if you have something to declare and then you must pay toll for the goods. The other route is if you don't have any goods to declare cause then of course there's nothing to pay toll for. You may have luck slipping through in the latter route, but if you get picked and they ask you to open your bag (with the Mac), you must pay a fine + toll. (but get to keep the item of course)

Yeah I live in copenhagen, so of course I'll be using kastrup airport And I plan on paying the toll, of course

I know nothing about this, but what if you are simply returning home with the computer you left with? I've traveled internationally with my notebook without customs ever questioning it.

Definitely also an option.. but we have three dansih letters; æ + å + ø, which of course won't be on the keyboard .. they may ask why I don't have a dansih computer, but of course, I could have bought it used from a guy who imported it .. But not very legal, is it?

Calundann said:

Definitely also an option.. but we have three dansih letters; æ + å + ø, which of course won't be on the keyboard .. they may ask why I don't have a dansih computer, but of course, I could have bought it used from a guy who imported it .. But not very legal, is it?

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Again, I know nothing about this, but you mentioned that your desktop uses a US keyboard, so it wouldn't be the first US keyboard in Denmark. I'm not encouraging you to pursue this option--I was just curious.

I find that the typical U.S. American mentality is often that the rest of the world doesn't exist, so we don't really know a lot about this type of thing.

Jaygray said:

I find that the typical U.S. American mentality is often that the rest of the world doesn't exist

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What a genius quote, pure gold

Well, I would still like to know how many languages the OS supports when bought in the US. Also if I will be available to get my students discount, though I don't study in the US? Somebody has to know this! Can't someone check in system preferences and see if there are more languages available than English (on a mac bought in the US), and in that case, which?

thanks

Systems Preferences > International lists Dansk as an available option. I think it would be easier for Apple to include all languages on one DVD then to produce separate versions for international use.

Honestly, I don't think the people at the Apple stores really care where you go to school. Before I purchased, I spent about 2 hours in the store learning about the MB and MBP. In the end, they asked if I was ready to purchase. I was honest and said that I wasn't a student, but if I purchased online, I could get the student discount without showing an ID, and that I wanted the extra 10%. The guy said, "no problem", and that he would talk to his manager and see what could be done.

That combined with the fact that the online site gives out 10% without asking for any proof of studentship makes me think the policy isn't that strict.

I think I also read on this forum, that if you are purchasing $300+ at the Apple store, they will sometimes give in a little if they like you.

That is great to hear! Did you get your discount then?

Honestly, I still bought online. They could do 10% off in the store, however, Discover Card was (and still is) running a promotion where you get an additional 5% back if you buy online.

I bought from the Apple for Education site and got 10% off. I followed the link there from the Discover site and got another 5% cash back off the discounted price.

I did the same again last month and bought a Time Capsule off the Apple site for $279 plus the extra 5% cash back from Discover.

In my American ignorance, I'm honestly not sure if they have Discover Card in Denmark. (It's a credit card like Visa, MasterCard, etc.)

Unfortunately we haven't got the Discover card, though my private bank has a Mastercard which has a built-in insurance on electronics that expands the basic warrenty to five years ..

But thanks for your help, it is really appreciated!

Oh, by the way, how does the Applestore work? The retailer? Have they got their mb / mbps in stock or do they have to order them from some central distributor? As I'm only staying for 10 days I may not have time to wait for them to order it to their store ..

It's a neat experience. Since you are serious about buying, plan on spending a couple hours there. The employees all love to show off the features of Apple. They are not on commission, so they aren't pushy, but they are paid to "entertain" you and answer your questions for as long as you choose to stay.

They will have a half a dozen of each of every single product Apple makes (MB, MBA, MBP, iPhone, every style of iPod, etc.). You can play with any of them for as long as you like.

They have standard configurations of most systems in stock. However, I'm not sure about adding a larger HD, more RAM, etc. You may need to stick with the standard configurations. I don't know how long custom configurations take.

Great.. If they don't upgrade the HDD in the rumored June-update I'd like to upgrade it myself to a HDD that runs at 7200 rpm. But I can definitely live without considering how cheap it is anyways (comparing to Danish prices). I'll just figure it out when I eventually get to that point.. Thanks again for your answers

I am a German student and staying in LA right now. I bought my MBP about a month ago. Officially you have to be a US student. But I showed my international student ID (the German would probably have done it as well) and it was not an issue. They have the standard configurations in stock.

Regarding the customs, I might take the non declaring way. I was never checked on any intercontinental flight. Good luck to you though

Can't look the languages up right now, since I have a PC at work...