What to take...?
 

i am off to Sydney in Jan / Fab 2004, I am going to rent out my house (furnished) as security in case I return after a year or 2. So I am not thinking of shipping furniture - I have be told not to take out electrical stuff - but I have just been brought a multi region DVD player and I have a fab new computer. Did anyone eles take things like this with them - did they work? Did you ship them?

Re: What to take...?
 

hi scamp.

Not from personal experience but from that of a friend who moved over to oz. He took his pc over with him in a suitcase!! Poperly packed and protected of course. He took the HD's out and kept them in his hand luggage. The monitor he left in the UK and bought new on arrival.

He had some problems getting it going again at the other end but after a quick visit to the local pc shop everything was fixed and working as normal. It turned out the processor had popped out of it's socket in transit and wasn't seated right. (he should have spotted that as he's a claimed 'PC expert') :D

I'm not sure i'd do that with my pc, but it's so old i'm giving it to my parents and building a new one when i get there. (it'll give me something to do while i wait for the jet lag to wear off! ;)

not much help i know but it's something to think about.

Leigh

I'm giving away my PC too, might get a laptop before I leave but will probably wait until settling

As for the other stuff, we are selling all furniture and appliances and taking only clothes, CDs ,books and personal items

we arrive in Sydney too in Feb 2004 :D

Re: What to take...?
 

the multi region dvd player should work ok as far as i am aware, just remember that you may be required to provide evidence of when it was bought to avoid paying tax on arrival.;)

sorry to branch this off slightly, but something i'm doing with my cd's is leaving the cases behind and just taking the cd itself. instead of a box of cases i've bought a few of those 100xcd wallets. they'll fit in a small bag and weigh a 1/3 of the weight a crate of cd's with cases will. The cd cases i'm leaving with my folks in their attic. :)

i've also copied all of my cds to my pc's HD as well,... but that's just coz i'm a lazy arse and it's easier to listen to them that way!

..as you were.

Leigh

Hi scutterUK,
it's not as mad as it sounds to copy all your CD's to the PC.
Buy an MP3 player and you can listen to what ever cd you like.
If you break or dammage a CD you can just burn a new one.

Bye
Markeh

You're right. i was thinking of buying a 40Gb Ipod... i can get the lot on there! :)

On the pc shipping front - had mine shipped, monitor, tower, printer, keyboard etc. All came out airfreight - very professionally packed by the shippers. Plugged it in, and its as good as ever. no problems at all.
The only thing we had to get was a new cable to connect the modem (in the tower) to the phone socket, cos the phone sockets here are very different. Cost about $20 (I think) from Dick Smiths.

I packed my motherboard, ram ,processor, video card, HDD in my suit case in anti static bags. I bought a new case, mb, mouse, monitor and keyboard here and was running within a day with a PAYG ozemail internet account. I have my own domain name so swapping ISPs is not a prob for me.

The DVD player should work but not all UK TVs and VCRs will produce sound here.

If your goods are newish it is cheaper to ship as reobtaining everything quickly adds up to a lot of money. I had little in the UK anyway and most of what I had was crap that I sold second hand. Getting married also helped as the wedding list saved us.

I brought computer, TV, multi-chipped DVD, multi-region VCR, all work fine. Electrical current here is the same (to all intents and purposes) as the UK. You would need to get any TV you bring adjusted, but if you're not bringing a TV then you don't have any problems. A phone / modem cable is cheap enough (Polly must have got a very long one for $20 :D ) Also bring all your videos, DVDs, CDs (computer and music), DIY power tools, vaccuum cleaners, yadda yadda.

And bring some 4-way adapters. That way you change ONE plug - on the end of the adapter, and plug in yout computer / screen / printer / speakers / joystick / etc.

Import duty - only on stuff that's less than 12 months old.

It IS a long cable, this unit has the most inconvenient layout of sockets ever!!!
We got online with Optus - just bought a start-up disc from Australia Post.
The 4 way adapter thing is a good point, I've brought several of those power-board things so you just need one Aussie adapter for several applicances. They do recommend using a surge-protected board though, as electrical surges apparently happen more often here than in the UK.
Something that has just occured to me - the UK plugs that have fuses in them - presumably the fuse can still blow, just like in the UK? If the fuse on an item does go, can we get replacement ones here? (That may be a really stupid question, but I am a non-practical girlie!!!)

Not a daft question at all - the answer is NO. Once the fuses blow, then you would have to hard-wire with fuse wire. NOT a recommended practice!!

I use my (UK) surge protector 4-way adapters on my computer equipment.

Thanks for that, can't think why it never occurred to me before. I don't fancy the hotwiring idea, so I shall be getting my mate to send some fuses from the UK!

Good idea. 3 Amp and 5 Amp should be all you need for computer / TV equipment. 13 Amp for power tools. Chances of the fuses blowing are slim, anyway, but that's their job....:)

And you know what fuses are - they only blow when you have nothing to replace them with!!!