trev wiley

hi, proberbly f.a.q. but your views and advice appreciated. reputable container shippers, crown seam to crop up alot as reliable company, views please, and other recomendations. also, am i right in thinking gst is payable on all the stuff we bring over. if so is that on the retail value, or the state it's in now value. lastly...for now, although on same voltage electic as uk so most stuff will work[with new plugs on], do t.v.'s work, or is the signal frequency completly different?
thanks trev.

GeorgeM

We used Pickfords from UK to NZ and they were absolutely useless at the UK end.

Their team was made up mostly of students on holiday, and the only guy who appeared to be full time seems to have spent most of his time packing things in the most damaging manner possible - e.g. wife's silk dress in with my 3.5kg dumbells (!).

I had three computers with printers, scanners etc and had kept all of the original packing for everything. I offered to pack them up myself but was explicitly told that if I did they would not take responsibility for them. When I unpacked at this end I found that most bits had been just shoved into the boxes and the polystyrene broken unto pieces and wedged against the equipment to stop it moving about.

The one older guy spent most of his time moaning about the company and how they never gave them enough time to pack properly, and how they were awful to work for and so on. He then proceeded to pack boxes in the most illogical manner possible - a few things from the kitchen, a couple of books, bathroom stuff and then jam in as many clothes as you can. Then label the box 'Study' just for fun.

On the last day one young guy who was a student on his first ever day dragged a large heavy chest across our wooden hall floor and left a huge unrepairable mark in the wood. They initially claimed that they had no responsibility for the damage as we hadn't taken out extra insurance, but we told them that this was bullsh*t, badgered them and eventually they paid for a complete replacement floor. Unfortunately our efforts in getting this sorted benefitted the new occupants of our old house in the UK, not us.

The Careful Movers? I think not!!!

englishnurse

so am i right in saying that computers work over there then that you have bought in the uk? to repeat the above question what about tv dvd players etc..

GeorgeM

Need to change the plugs, of course (can cost a fortune - you'd be surprised how many things you have with a plug...). Took a bit of searching around for ones that were reasonable quality and easy to put on - eventually found good ones at Cory's although they were quite expensive (I can't remember just how much but remember being a bit surprised).

Keyboard layout over here is different (no pound sign, @ and " switched round, for example), so if you eventually buy a second/third machine over here or you use one at work you can end up getting a bit confused at times (but no more serious that swapping between laptops and 'proper' keyboards).

Apart from that I've found that my computer equipment functions fine, and have been able to get printer cartridges ok although these were for Cannon and Epson printers which are pretty mainstream. Unfortunately these are just as extortionate in price here as in the UK! Haven't had to have any major repairs done, though. Wouldn't be surprised if I found getting parts for my old laptop (Advent, vintage 1999) was difficult if something went wrong. I took it into a shop for a minor problem and they remarked that they had never seen one of them before.

There is a problem with Videos and TVs as they use a different transmission protocol overhere. This means that you can't use the receiver either into the video or TV. NZ videos play fine on our UK machine, though, and vice versa (we have set up a UK TV with a UK video in a 'family room' and use it just for viewing videos. The ones from the hire shop work fine on it).

englishnurse

thanks for that ive just bought a new computer so i would hate to sell it if i didnt need to

javajive

NZ uses a different PAL standard. So if you have a multi-standard TV that supports PAL-B (see http://www.openspaceproducts.us/pal.html) it should work.

For DVDs & DVD players be aware that many are locked to certain regions.
With NZ & UK being in different regions, you may find that NZ DVDs don't play in your UK player and if you buy a NZ player then it might not work with your UK DVDs.

No problem with computers. You may like to buy a replacement keyboard and switch the setting in Settings->ControlPannel->Keyboard.

javajive

My tip for sorting this quickly is to buy some UK (or where ever you are coming from) multi socket strips. Then you just cut of one UK plug and replace it with a NZ one to get 4 or 6 appliance working all at once.

Now you can slowly change the plugs of things you use all the time, but at least you can get any UK applicance working without having to change plugs.

extrameant

Be warned, this will bore most of you!
The following relates to receiving TV off-air signals only. A UK TV can still be used as a monitor and a video can record an AV signal from another tuner (such as the output of a NZ TV).

UK terrestrail TV uses PAL I, NZ uses PAL B/G. The sound is transmitted on a different frequency so you won't hear it over here. Also, UK uses UHF frequencies for transmitting TV channels, NZ uses mainly VHF but also UHF is used in local areas and for Prime TV (which is worth getting). You actually need two aerials here (one for VHF and one for UHF) or sometimes you get a single combined aerial.

It might be worth checking your TV manual to see if it tunes across VHF (Low and High band) and UHF channels It would also need to be capable of PAL B/G, not just PAL I. It is not impossible, because TV's are mass produced from the same components. However, it is most likely your TV will not cover VHF bands. Same with videos.

There is no terrestrial digital TV here (DTT) and it is unlikely to be installed for many years. If it comes, it will use the same frequencies as UK. There is a trial running in Auckland but I am not sure what the content is right now. They are quite likely to change it to 8K carriers instead of UK's 2K carriers, but I imagine your UK STB's are capable of both (unless one of the original ones) Again, if you are thinking about bringing a STB, it would be worth checking it does 8K carriers. The trial could be switched off at any time though. It is not official, just something TVNZ is doing for itself. (Channel 59 I think, if anyone wants to look)

Some UK electrical equipment will be a bit dodgy over here. The mains power in uk is 240~250V and here it is 230~240V. It makes a difference and things will take a bit more current when used over here. That combined with the fact that UK domestic system is set up for 13 amps max and NZ is 10A max means you will see the lights go dim or take out fuses a bit more often when using equipment which is a heavy load. This will also put a strain on the house wiring. I use my UK welder and compressor anyway. I wouldn't bring a three bar fire though, cos you tend to leave those running for longer and that could give you problems.

The theoretical domestic max load in new Zealand is ~2.3kW, where in the Uk your max load is ~3kW.

trev wiley

thanksto all, some usefull tips there, nice to know the 'puter will work, and the plug tip with the extension strip is a great idea. don't be shy, if you got any more post 'em please.