Juanita

Hi there,
I'm deciding what to/what not to ship at the moment. What do people think re TV's. I have a digital TV that I was planning to ship - will it work in Oz? Or, are there ways of making your TV work (like run it through the video, buy a special adapter, get cable TV etc)

Hints tips most welcome!

Juanita

Coulterk

Yes TV will work and depending on the make and age, it may or may not need an additional box. A lot of European TVs will not be able to receive the OZ sound frequencies, and as such you would not be able to get normal TV through the ariel - i.e. you get a picture OK, but no sound. OZ is going the same way as the UK with digital TV, so a lot of people are buying set top boxes here anyway. Or there is foxtel, which will do the same. Both set top box and foxtel will output the TV signal by a SCART or SVIDEO which your TV will have - this will work fine for sound & picture.

If you buy one here you are likely to want to buy a set top box or foxtel anyway to get more channels.

So I'd ship it. We shipped all our TVs.

brisnick

i had a 4 year old sony widescreen tv, and checked how much it would cost me to ship. outcome was it was cheaper to sell in the uk and buy a new one here than to ship it.

Billabong

Some friends of ours brought thier 3 year old TV over and had to buy an Ozzie video to pick up any of the channels - TV's are pretty cheap over here - I would just buy a new one!!

Coulterk

My thoughts were along the lines of having to initially pay for so much for everything extra you need when you get here, that shipping things you already have is a good idea. We hired a container and selling things to reduce the shipping cost was not really going to affect the shipping price untless we could get rid of so much that we could reduce the container size. Which in our case was very unlikely.

Agree that the prices over here are OK, but if you have a good TV already, you will probably lose money if you sell it in the UK and buy another here. That is unless you have to pay extra for shipping it, or you manage to sell it for a good price in the UK.

TVs here are a little more expensive in the UK. So the answer is do your homework. The most you would have to pay to get a UK TV working here is around $50 for a set top box (unless anyone has seen one cheaper). Again assuming that you are shipping the TV in a container with the rest of your stuff.

hevs

Agree, totally

Ours works perfectly through our VCR...

Juanita

Cheers guys!


I'm not paying for shipping anyway because new employer in Oz is covering shipping costs so want to ship as much stuff as possible - so thanks for all the tips.

Also - next question - whats the deal with plugs/adapters. Will I find it easy to pick up cheap adapters? Do any of you know of any good places to get hold of them? Is the voltage the same as the UK? Can you use an extension cable with several UK sockets on it and then just use one adapter to plug into the wall?

Juanita

Coulterk

Voltage here is the same, so it is only down to the plugs themselves.

Some comments:

1) UK adaptors here are cheap - e.g. from Dick Smith
2) Bring UK 4 way plug gangs with you for say TV/Video and just change the 4 way to an OZ plug and leave all the other UK plugs alone. This is especially good for things like transgormers that you cannot change to an OZ plug as it will be a molded unit.
3) Cut off the plugs and replace with OZ plugs
4) With things that have say a kettle lead, then you can just replace with an OZ kettle lead. Cheaper to replace the plug, but a lot quicker!

I currently use about 6 x 4 way boards for computer stuff, TV and hifi and have replaced around 20 plugs. Again - bring the UK 4 or 6 ways with you.

biggy

My advice If somebody else is payin for it then ship the whole bloody lot......u have extra rooms here, need lots of furniture.....what u dont need once here then have a garage sale....

hevs

Also Bunnings price match. I went in there fresh off the boat and paid $5 per plug. IGA do them for $2.50, so you go to the service desk and tell them and you get the difference back plus 15%!! Bargin

Juanita

Bunnings, ISA - are they electrical retailers?

spalen

ISA is a supermarket
Bunnings is a "B&Q" lookalike

You can buy plugs here and cut the wire and put them on yourself but you're not supposed to (but lots do) and you just need a modicum of common sense ( which I didnt have) and read the instructions onthe packet to make sure you put L / N / E where they should be.

anya4oz

Bunnings is my fave shop here - it is a total dream. So much fascinating stuff.....

Anya.

hevs

Its IGA (independant grocers of Australia) They are a small locally run supermarket

Live (brown) is also called Active here

Juanita

Oh dear, did you electrocute yourself!