Arguments in favour of waiting and buying a laptop in the UK?

It seems that the overwhelming consensus of opinion on this site is that it's better to buy your laptop in the US and take it with you to the UK -- saves money, and there are no compatibility problems.

Is there any compelling argument in favour of holding off and buying one in the UK?

after comparing the price of macs in both countries, i can definitely confirm that they are cheaper in the US.  i was kind of shocked at the difference!

Is there any compelling argument in favour of holding off and buying one in the UK?

The only thing which comes to mind would be if you really want a U.K. keyboard for some reason.  But as modern laptop keyboards are terrible and all tend to deviate in one way or another from the conventional PC/XT/AT keyboard layouts anyway, it's probably not a big deal one way or the other.

after comparing the price of macs in both countries, i can definitely confirm that they are cheaper in the US.  i was kind of shocked at the difference!

Funny when I did a mac comparison back in Jan they were the same.  Or so I thought, perhaps I should check again, just out curiosity.

The only thing which comes to mind would be if you really want a U.K. keyboard for some reason.  But as modern laptop keyboards are terrible and all tend to deviate in one way or another from the conventional PC/XT/AT keyboard layouts anyway, it's probably not a big deal one way or the other.

it's pretty easy to switch the keyboard within Windows or Linux (I'm not familiar with a Mac). The only thing you have to remember is where some of the keys moved themselves to.  I'm always forgetting " and @ swapped places when I switched to a UK layout. 

I'm always forgetting " and @ swapped places when I switched to a UK layout. 

It's something of a mystery as to why IBM decided to swap them on the U.K. version of the original PC keyboard. 

It's just as unclear why after finding out that the \ key location was pretty much universally deprecated by users on the original PC keyboards they decided to move it back to a more conventional location for the American XT (and later) keyboards, but leave it in the awkward position between Shift and Z on U.K. keyboards.   In fact that might be reason not to want a U.K. keyboard, unless you install a utility to have it act as Shift instead.

Warranty issues are the only thing I can think of. Sometimes you can't get repair work done abroad on a US-bought machine. It's the only consideration we have when I contemplate buying gear while I'm in America.

The warranty plan for the Mac is international, so no worries there. 

I've got my (US) macbook configured to a UK keyboard

If it's the cost that bothers you some broadband options include a free laptop or notebook. That's how I got mine.

Laptops are cheap over here, and even "free" if you go into a Carphone Warehouse or a major service provider shop and sign up for their service package -- they do deals where you get the laptop thrown in for signing the contract. You might not want to do that, I didn't, but still got a great laptop from them at a standalone price of something like £369, because they sell 'em standalone too if you want. That's dirt cheap and good reason to just buy one here.

We looked into the free netbook option with Orange while I was visiting, and when you read the fine print, it's really not as free as it looks.  At least, the one Tim and I looked at required something like a 3-yr agreement with a £24/mo calling plan, plus then you had to add on the dongle/net fee at I think £5/mo. Sure, you got the laptop and would use the plan provided, but when we did the math on it it really wound up being overpriced.

I thought it would be cheaper to buy one in the US, but for the spec I was looking for it was proving to be more expensive. When I visited my mom in Florida I had an eye out, but I found that ordering online in the UK was a better deal than Dell and all the shops I went to like Circuit City.

I went with http://www.pcnextday.co.uk/ in the end, which sell a brand called Zoostorm which offer really high spec machines at a great price.

On the other hand, I found digital cameras to be a lot cheaper in the US. I got a canon for $500 that was going for £450 over here, but the warranty isn't international so fingers crossed it doesn't lock up.

Good luck!

We looked into the free netbook option with Orange while I was visiting, and when you read the fine print, it's really not as free as it looks.  At least, the one Tim and I looked at required something like a 3-yr agreement with a £24/mo calling plan, plus then you had to add on the dongle/net fee at I think £5/mo. Sure, you got the laptop and would use the plan provided, but when we did the math on it it really wound up being overpriced.

So buy the laptop stand-alone price. Mine at £369 doesn't get much better than that, and it has some decent specs. And not a netbook. A full laptop.

So buy the laptop stand-alone price. Mine at £369 doesn't get much better than that, and it has some decent specs. And not a netbook. A full laptop.

At today's exchange rate though, that's $609.  I don't know the full specs on your laptop, but you can get some decent laptops that aren't netbooks for less than $500 in the US if you watch sales. 

To the OP: Electronics seem to be going way down in price in the US....especially if you buy a computer now and take advantage of the back-to-school sales.  so if you CAN swing it, you might want to consider getting your laptop in the US before you head over.