US Macbook Pro in Denmark

Hi

I am an American living in Denmark. After 20+ years on a PC my wife and I have decided to get a Macbook Pro.

What we are having trouble deciding is if we should buy here or have my Mom (who's coming over this summer) bring one over. There is a lot of money to be saved by buying in the US but I have a couple questions before I complete my check out on Amazon.

The obvious problem (for us) is the keyboard layout. We would be missing the 3 letters that aren't in the english alphabet (Æ, Ø, and Å). I read in another forum that it is possible to remap the keyboard to other languages. Can anyone tell me if Danish is available in the newest US OS.

Another thing I was wondering on the same subject is if you can remap individual keys (permanently on the OS level) so that we could just place the æ,ø and å letters on keys that we rarely use instead of changing the whole lower right hand side of the keyboard (because the physical key layout is slightly different over here).

I was also wondering if there would be any problems installing a Danish version of the new OS on a US Mac (can't imagine why there should be, but better safe than sorry).

It may seem like a lot of trouble but even after paying for a danish version of the OS we can save 500 dollars compared to the price in Denmark. And if the things mentioned above aren't a problem then it's not a big deal, BUT, if we can't remap the keys and write the danish OS over the US (at some point) then we would rather (bitterly) shell out the extra 500.

Either way I'm sure I'll be in here with more questions (since I'm still a lot faster at writing in English than Danish)

Those three keys are available using the option key (opt-' , opt-o, opt-a(shift for cap) respectively). Even without remapping. Looks to me like Danish is available on the US model under Languages as well.

Great! Thanks for the info. I guess it's a done deal then.

I was just reading "A Guide to OS X Software for Switchers". I think this going to be a little strange for me in the beginning (may be an under statement) since I've got Windows so embeded in my brain! I'm really looking forward to it!

Rob801,

I am a Danish American living in Copenhagen. I can only recommend that you get your Mac from the US; the prices alone justify this.

I too have just purchased a Mac in the US and use it here in Denmark. You can add any keyboard language. So, the keys ; ' [ will become æ ø å (I do this on my PC too).

I personally wouldn't add or change the keyboard physically, especially if you can type blind. I can't imagine this would be 500 USD worth! And you can't change the keyboard after purchase, like on a Thinkpad or other PCs.

When you install the OS you can choose Danish as the menu language; great feature. Although I stick the US version.

Hope that helps. The warranty is valid in Denmark even though you purchase it in the US.

Thanks Trolle!

We weren't planning on changing the keyboard. We'd have to change the whole uni-body (since the key size/layout is slightly different then the US Macbooks), and then we might as well buy it here. My wife can type blind and I have those three keys memorized so it won't be a problem.

We're both comfortable with both languages so I guess we'll decide English or Danish when we start it up (is possible to change the menu language at a later time, or is it locked after the initial set up?). It's nice that we don't have to spend 1000dkk on a new OS.

It's nice to know that the warranty is valid. I also checked with my insurance co. (Top Danmark) were we have a "Electronics/appliance" Insurance and they cover it (for four years) even though it's bought ouside of the EU . So no need to buy Apple Care.

Is it possible to add Danish spell check? It's probably one of the main reasons we were considering buying the Danish OS.

Thanks again for the help!

PS. Sorry if some of this has been asked before, but I'm in the process of relocating my network and my PC isn't on it yet...so I'm doing this from my PS3 (which is OK but not the most convenient method for searching the net).

I'm not sure if you can change the language set up after installation. I would venture a guess that you can though. If not, you can just reinstall the OS.

Spell check is not necessarily in the OS. Is it in Windows? It may be in your programs though, such as MS Office for Mac. According to my research it doesn't matter where you buy your MS Office for Mac as it has all the spell check languages incorporated; this differs from the Windows version where you can purchase additional languages. For example, the Danish version of Office for Windows has Danish, English and German (I think), while the US version of Office for Windows has Engish, Spanish and another language. Do a search here for the language since I asked the same question a while back.

If having a sticker on 3 keys is worth $500 than buy it in DK; but I always buy my electronic equipment in the US. If you were creative you got your mom to buy the Mac in Denmark, fill out the tax free forms, and you've just saved 25% of the purchase price.

Remember your Danish insurance, Top Danmark, will not provide you tech support while Apple Care will. Plus, will your insurance cover hardware failures? Or, is it theft or breakage only?

You can switch application and OS language on the fly in OS X, just reorder the language preferences and apps that are available in danish will start up as such.

The system-wide spell check is also available in Danish. But I'd personally recommend you set it to "multilingual". That's the way I use it and it's very handy as it will automatically recognize both german and english, without the need for me to manually switch every time.

If having a sticker on 3 keys is worth $500 than buy it in DK; but I always buy my electronic equipment in the US. If you were creative you got your mom to buy the Mac in Denmark, fill out the tax free forms, and you've just saved 25% of the purchase price.

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It's not. What I meant was that if we were going to change the keyboard (we're not) that it would be so expensive that it wouldn't justify the savings in the US...and we could just buy it here.

But none of that matters because I ordered the MB986LL/A (2.8 ghz/500gb HDD/512mb graphic mem.) for 12350 dkk vs 16500 that it cost here!

I think I've looked into the Tax free forms many years ago, but there was something about having to show the goods in the airport or something that made it too complicated (EDIT) just found this:

2. Get your Tax Refund when leaving Copenhagen or the EU. Just show your purchases, receipts and passport to customs officials and have your TaxFree Cheques stamped.

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So she would have to show them the Mac on her way out of the country.

This is the easiest way for me because I can pay on Amazon with my card and have it sent to my Moms address (something I have done many times ).

As far as Apple care goes, I have never in my 44 years had to call a support line (unless it had to do with a malfunction or defect). If I have a problem I can usually get by by searching the net for help. I think I read somewhere that you can buy Apple care any time within the first year of purchase...so we can always add it if necessary. It also looks like we are well coverd by Top Danmark (the following is in Danish...what my insurance covers)

1 Funktionsfejl
Funktionsfejl i apparatet, hvis mekaniske eller
elektriske svigt gør, at du ikke kan bruge apparatet
til dets oprindelige formål.

2 Pludselige skader
Pludselige skader, dvs. skader, der sker uventet
og pludseligt på et tidspunkt og ikke over et
tidsrum.

3 Pixelfejl
Pixelfejl på enhver type af fladskærme, hvis det
ligger uden for producentens eller importørens
retningslinier for acceptable pixelfejl.

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Anyway...now we just have to wait for my Mom to get here (next week) .