Greetings from Seattle

Welcome Jane and Ken.
Graham and I are in the next shire over, in Wiltshire -- home to Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral, the Roman baths of, er, Bath, Peter Gabriel, Sting and Mr. Christmas.

It's the latest G5 iMac that has been whittled down to just one voltage, either 110 or 220. Any other Mac should be just fine here, but do check for dual to be sure. Your separate monitor won't work, if you have a desktop version. Your laptop, no probs. Double check your peripherals too. The key is being dual voltage.

Sorry to say, your VCR/DVD/TV (the electronic equipment)...none of these will work. Has to do with frequency, irrespective of voltage.
US standard is NTSC A 525-line 60 (59.94) interlaced fields per second analog broadcast TV standard
UK standard is PAL A 625-line 50 interlaced fields per second analog broadcast TV standard

If you bring your DVDs/Videos here from the US, you *can* still play them if you purchase a DVD player that's multiregion and a VHS/TV that is NTSC and PAL capable (both, not one or the other). Programs can be played back on SECAM equipment but they come out as black and white.

Vnice is spot-on about getting ones here, though. The prices have dropped dramatically. You can get a DVD multiregion player for less than £30. A friend just got a Sony one for less than £70 on amazon and she's thrilled with it.
Sony multiregion DVD player for under 70 quid

I'm sure you've looked up conversion rates already...brace yourself, it's almost 2 dollars equals one pound right now.

Through our business, we've met some lovely people with Devon County Council; I'm sure Jane will enjoy her workmates.

We've got great broadband at 4Mbit. We use Telewest, and our Internet is included in our cable TV package, with phone service available. If you want to see if your area is serviced by Telewest, click this link Does Telewest cover my area? and enter the post code where you'll be living. (my initial and limited investigation does not look promising for you)

BT (the phone company, British Telecommunications) also provides broadband and it has a goal to get the entire UK broadbanded. It's currently nowhere near the 4Mbit speed (512k), but it is broadband. You can also find out if your post code is in the serviced area: click this link then click on "Broadband from BT".

My husband and I both love Mexican and sushi and are always keeping an eye open for the opportunities. There is an attempt made by chain Chiquitos, but you might be disappointed. balmerhon's right...you're probably going to like your homecooked better, though. Yo! Sushi is a chain starting to pop up all over. While it's "fast food" sushi, it does fill my sushi craving, and picking out the dishes as they go past on conveyors is quite fun. You're likely going to venture to Bristol for any major shopping/dining excursions. (Bath, too.) Though Bristol has a big mall at Cribbs Causeway, and many multiplex cinema options scattered throughout (ergo food choices nearby), if you stay off the beaten path and go to areas of Bristol, such as Clifton, you will find smaller ethnic eateries. Yes, shushi and Mexican too.

I guess you can tell I love this area. Keep up the questions...we'll try coming up with one thousand, two hundred and seventy-nine answers. 

Lisa--

Thanks so much for your response-- it's exactly what I was hoping for. Lots of specific details. I love it!

Since online info was inconclusive, I called the "Genius Bar" at my local Apple Store and asked about taking my G5 to the UK. They assured me that I should be fine once I'd gotten either a plug adapter or a localized power cord, which confirmed what I'd found in my research. I'm checking out my peripherals, though, and finding that most of them are US-only. Bummer! I replaced most of my previous gizmos when I finally bought an OS X-loaded Mac in February. I'd hate to have to sell them at a loss and replace them again in the UK.

Would it make any sense to buy a transformer? They seem to vary widely in price, but spending a couple hundred pounds on one box might be preferable to replacing a graphic artist's high-performance scanner, inkjet, and laserjet, when I'm already going to have to buy a new flatscreen display, TV, VCR, and DVD player.

BTW, I'm looking forward to breaking past the NTSC/PAL barrier. There are some videos I haven't been able to watch, here in Seattle, without renting a PAL player. Cool.

Thanks for the other info, too. Jane & I aren't big on shopping, and we don't even go out to restaurants that often, but we do like to know that the amenities of civilized living are near to hand-- good markets, bookstores, theatres, museums, etc. It's possible we've gotten a little spoiled, living in Seattle. Goodness knows it was a vast improvement over the wasteland of Dallas, Texas, where we existed for so many years.

Here's a question for you: is there a UK Web-based resource comparable to Mapquest.com? I'm always trying to locate areas in the UK, and having only indifferent luck.

And, what's your sense of cost-of-living matters? For instance, if I need to buy a new pair of shoes, should I generally be thinking, "Buy those puppies while you're still in Cheapsville!" or "Hold off till you get to the Island of Reasonable Prices"?

Looking forward to meeting you and Graham for tea or coffee or beer or whatever...

Ken

Ken,

Hope I'm not butting in.  To see maps and what amenities are near a particular location, see http://www.upmystreet.com/    Very useful site.

No need to search for American-style coffee shops, try Nescafe Blend 37 instant coffee.  Don't think of it as instant coffee, it's delicious.  And only available in the UK, I think.  I live on the stuff.

Jim H

I use multimap. Simply put in the post code (or placename)!
http://www.multimap.com/

I know what you mean about replacing your babies. I tend to collect Macs and have 12 USB slots taken up and 6 firewire slots used on my current machine...using two monitors too. I'd not be happy if I had to buy all new.

I know you hadn't asked about coffee, but I think since you're coming from Seattle we're all expecting you to have a preference or two. We actually grind our own beans from Italy, ordered from Garraways, whom we bought our machine from. Bristol has a great coffee beaner with Roast-n-Post (they don't roast the beans until they ship them to you). I can recommend both for online ordering.

Shows...lots of live performances!
Bristol has the Hippodrome and Bath has its Theatre Royal.
There's also:

Devon entertainment

Princess Theatre - Torquay
Torbay Road, Torquay, Devon, UK  TQ2 5EZ

Wyvern Theatre
Theatre Square, Swindon, Wiltshire, UK  SN1 1Q

The Queen's Theatre
Barnstaple & The Landmark, Ilfracombe - 01271 32 42 42

Every village seems to have its own acting company, too. Great stuff!
You'll find plenty to do. 

I notice, Lisa, that you didn't give me a yea or nay about getting a transformer, but merely sympathized with my plight in being faced with buying a bunch of new peripherals.

Sounds like I'm gonna have to buy a bunch of new peripherals. Oh, well...

I've picked up on a theme that seems to run thru many of the responses on this board, so far: that, as a Seattlite, I'm likely to have developed a dependency on drive-thru coffee that will find little satisfaction in Devon.

As it happens, I've always been way too cheap to feel good about paying upwards of three bucks for a fancy coffee, when I can more economically order a regular cup o' joe, or even better, go home and make one for myself. Besides, I feel the same way about Starbucks as I do about McDonald's or Wal-Mart, which is to say, less than positive.

If what you're doing, Jim, is "butting in," then I hope and pray for a plague of buttinskys.

Please feel free to butt in early and often.

But, but, but... INSTANT COFFEE? Surely you jest! Could such a thing ACTUALLY be worth drinking?

I don't blame you for being sceptical, I was too.  But Nescafe Blend 37 and Black Gold are not powder, they are just freeze-dried coffee crystals that produce a strong coffee taste like Starbucks.

I don't understand why it's not sold in the US.  Just another bit of evidence that not everything in the US is best.

Jim H.
iMac and Powerbook user

Ken,
Transformers can be purchased relatively cheaply on Ex-pat websites.  We bought a 2000watt transformer that powers my Sony, Electric Guitar Amplifiers, Multiregion DVD player and various other items we brought over.  It think ours was $125.00 but might have been as low as $79.00 or so.
Steve

Dangit Ken! I can't believe I didn't respond to your transformer question. Omission of an answer is definitely NOT indifference! Thanks for pushing the topic back in my view.

I am without hesitation so anti transformers that I could use it as a political grandstand.
"If elected, I would abolish all transformers in the world!"
(this is where the crowd goes wild)

However, my own experience. 
I'd prefer you listen to people who've had success with them; I have not.
Dr. Steve's got his head on.

(Fried a brand new Zip drive in under a week. It, and the transformer, went in the bin to never see light of day again.)

Just another bit of evidence that not everything in the US is best.

I've got some great appliances that couldn't agree with you more. And all the stuff that's so easily obtained here that comply with more than just one standard...tri-band phones, multi-region DVDs, combo PAL/NTSC...not to mention all the things that are gobbled up in the US as "European-style" (ie: European-style kitchen).

Lisa, while Dr Steve's input is welcome, I must confess to being rather conservative when it comes to questions such as this-- if transformers aren't thoroughly reliable, I'd rather go to the trouble and expense of replacing my peripherals, rather than find, one fine day, that they've all been fried due to transformer failure.

So, I gather that what you're telling me is that your experience of transformers has been negative?

just a tad
 

You, Lisa, are SUCH a tease.

just a tad
 

Hi Jane & Ken,

here are my 2 cents on the transformer issue ... when I relocated to the UK, I got me 2 transformers in the US ('cause they're way too expensive over here), mainly for the same reasons as you're considering, plugging in all the hifi stuff. Before you're going out buying one you'll have to do your maths, meaning you have to count the watts of all your appliances and then come up with the appropriate transformer.

Trying to power up your 1200W appliance with a 200W transformer won't get you very far (umm, to the hospital??)
I purchased a 2000W (was around $100, www.voltageconverters.com) transformer for my DVD player and Hifi Receiver but this thing weighs around 35lbs and would rather furnish a workshop than a family living room in terms of design  So, no easy walkaround with this box.

Then, the second transformer has only 300W (around $25) and I'm using it to power some smaller computer stuff such as printer & scanner. Actually, if you have a Hewlett Packard (HP) printer (or other of their devices) you should be o.k. because most of them have dual voltage (all you need is a different cable for the UK sockets).

All in all, it depends on how long you're going to live here, I should think. If you're moving back to the US some time you're going to face the same challenge the other way round, although, if you decide to buy a (or several) transformers and they work 2-way, so called "step-up step-down" (like mine) you could take your UK appliances with you to the US!

t.

But, but, but... INSTANT COFFEE? Surely you jest! Could such a thing ACTUALLY be worth drinking?

Just get a Senseo machine once you get here.... goooood coffee!

http://www.senseo.com/content/default.html