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!!!

Sod's Law / Murphy's Law. :D

This raises a good point. I would recommend protecting all TVs, VCRs, PCs etc with a surge protected power board. Because of the electrical storms, the overloaded grid (due to air conditioners in summer) and bush fires power here is not stable. I am considering buying a UPS for the PC but I have most items on surge protected power boards.

Totally agree! I too build my own PCs, and there's nothing worse than watching a new motherboard fry!

With our place in the mountains it would cost $25,000 to have mains connected, so I'm going to invest that in a solar power system with backup generator. (Nearly free electricity, apart from capital costs and the odd drop of fuel.) Then I'll put in a surge protection MCB panel.

bring as much as you can is what i say..cos you only have to replace it!!!
i brought towels, tea towels, dusters etc and they smelled as fresh as when they were packed for shipping!

all electrical stuff work except tv..you can get sound or pic but not both together!...buy new oz video then it works but is a pain using 2 different remotes all the time....shame eh!..
2 of the tvs have got green shading on part of the screen ..dunno why??..anyone enlighten us????
how do you get uk tv's adjusted?? ...please tell me cos we are about to buy new uns for kids for xmas...poor loves having to have them as xmas gifts again!!!

lots of oz houses have windows to floor(the ones ive seen anyway)..so maybe if your curtains are new and thinking of bringing em and they arent to the floor ..re think.
hubby wishes he had brought all his boxes of screws and nails instead of giving em away.
microwave trips the main fuse so we cant use it..will have to buy another which we arent bothered about cos its old anyway!

i have found bedding a tad expensive so bring yours esp sheets ..if duvets are newish then bring them too..i was worried about damp but nothing smelled funny at all

a few of my boxes had been checked but nothing was pulled up. we even brought our daughters riding gear,..body protector, boots etc (put on the shipping form that it had been disinfected though)

our computer worked absolutely fine..plugged it in and away it went!!

thats it for now

Just another note. For PC's with modems get a protection strip with a phone line protector because lightening can zap your motherboard through the modem.

leaving it all behind
 

I also opted to bring nothing, just the 20K plus handluggage as I'm only here for 2 years.

I've bought cheap furniture from superAmart and Kmart have been good for kitchen stuff etc. It was just a pain finding all the stuff at the beginning and adds up to a fair amount of dosh when you're still waiting for first pay cheque. I'm finding that not having any of my personal possessions make it feel very temporary though. However what I've spent so far is much less than the cost of shipping.

On the computer side, can anyone recommend a good ISP for occasional use? I'd like something equivalent to one-tel back home, free call +1p a minute anytime of day, no pre-pay
and I could plug into any phone in the country and it was still billed to me.

TC