Hey guys,

Thinking of gettin a Sony Bravia for half the price from America. Anyone know if it'll work over here?

Also, anyone had any experience sending that kinda stuff over from the states and know how much it'd cost? It'll be the 32inch.

Cheers

lol @ bravia's

Just the plugs would be different I reckon and voltage?

Can get adapter from tricky dicks or jaycar something that allows you to plug another countries plug into it then you can plug it into wall.

lol @ sack

At the very least you will need a step down transformer to go from 230-240V to 110-120V.

I had to step down for a small US device, 65W transformer still costed me $100 :(

Can get adapter from tricky dicks or jaycar something that allows you to plug another countries plug into it then you can plug it into wall.

Would blow up, you need to change the voltage.

Shipping cost on that will be huge, probably easier to goto JB. No problems with power or warranty if it breaks.

Yea, thats the other option. Its just the XBR's are around $1000 in the states and over here a W is going to cost me about $2000. But maybe its still better to get it here. I have mates that are sparkies and would be able to install that transformer for free I recon.

hmmmmmmmm..............

edit: So what about the ntsc and pal stuff. Will that be a problem? Would the tuner work and would a australian ps3 have problems running on it (black and white with no sound? or anything like that?)

last edited by Jimbo at 18:00:30 14/Jun/09

I have mates that are sparkies and would be able to install that transformer for free I recon.

? You plug ur tv into the unit and plug the unit into the wall...

Dont need to be a bright spark to pull that off.

You have shipping, you have duties and taxes from customs, you dont have warrenty , you need to get a down step transformer from jaycar which will set you back around $150...

Is it REALLY worth that much to you?

also, is it $1000 in the states in US or AU? cause thats just shy of $1300AU dollars, then factor in the above. and if it stops working in 2 - 3 months because you got the wrong transformer.

You dont need "sparkies" to install it. Personally, this is a really dumb idea.

I thought US digital TV was ASTC, whereas Australia went and picked the most obscure standard possible in DVB. And for Analog it'll need to be able to handle PAL, though I think most sets these days will do both PAL and NTSC without any problems, that one's just a normal thing these days.
That in addition to power differences...
I'm sure the specs can tell you. But good luck with shipping charges as well.

The bravias support both, I have a mate that just moved back from NY and shipped his TV (only because the comany was paying) he did have to get set top box tuner tho.

Most devices these days can handle 110-240volts and auto switch between them. I've seen it written on so many things it's not funny and if it's not auto switching there's usually a little switch on the back.

Personally I'd buy it from somewhere local, what if the panel gets damaged in shipping? It's not worth the hassle just to save a couple of bucks.

Cheers Eds.

I normally wouldnt bother even lookin overseas for this stuff for this reason, but it is a very significant difference in price.

I'll look into the auto volt switcher thing. And according to the american sony site, they support NTSC and ATSC, but they dont advertise anything else (and why would they?). Would i be right in assuming i dont need a step down transformer if it has that voltage switcher built in?

Most devices these days can handle 110-240volts and auto switch between them. I've seen it written on so many things it's not funny and if it's not auto switching there's usually a little switch on the back.

A lot do yeah, but I think it's rarer on high wattage stuff like TVs. Just checked my plasma and it's only 220-240.

You don't need to worry about NTSC/PAL s***, a PS3 won't be using either, just 720p or 1080p. It's the built in TV tuner that probably wouldn't work and you'd need to by a set top box if you wanted to watch free to air.

Anyway, the biggest factor that makes the whole thing pointless is shipping. You're not going to find an online US retailer that will offer shipping to Australia on a heavy-ass TV, and even if you did, it would cost a fortune and wipe out any savings you might have made from the list price and you also have no warranty worth claiming if something breaks.

Warranty issue alone dude - 1 f*** up with your TV and your profit margin is blown.

Most devices these days can handle 110-240volts and auto switch between them. I've seen it written on so many things it's not funny and if it's not auto switching there's usually a little switch on the back.

Personally I'd buy it from somewhere local, what if the panel gets damaged in shipping? It's not worth the hassle just to save a couple of bucks.

Yeah seems like pretty much any decent quality electronics bigger than an electric shaver is built to handle 110 - 240 V these days, just look on the back where the power cable connects, it should say clearly what it can handle.

I thought HD kinda makes Pal/NTSC redundant?

Either way there would be nothing different between a US model and an Aust one except where you can claim the warranty and the plug type (hell it might even have a PC type appliance plug so you could just whack one of those in). It'd be able to handle 110/240v, it doesn't make financial sense to make two different TVs when electronics are so cheap now days.

Still I wouldn't do it, why not just buy a good TV like a Samsung or Panasonic?

$2,099.00 AUS for the current W 32" model which is KDL32W5500

and

$1,099.99 US for the 32" far superior XBR series, model KDL-32XBR9

Its just too much of a difference in price and quality to straight away rule out.

edit: I'd compare the same series but i couldnt find an american W or an Aus 32"XBR

last edited by Jimbo at 19:04:48 14/Jun/09

why not just buy a good TV like a Samsung or Panasonic?

When I was in the states in Jan I was lookin at them over there and you could really notice a big difference in quality between bravias and any other brand and as I intend to use it as my computer monitor also, I want to be able to game off it, so quality is somewhat of a must.

Arent you lessening the life by using it for everything ?

What are the lifespans on these LCD/Plasmas now ?

Faceman you are thinking of projectors mate :)

It's probably a conspiracy with projector and the bulb manufacturers.

$1,099.99 US for the 32" far superior XBR series, model KDL-32XBR9

Which is $1,359.55 AUD. I'd say $700 is not saving you that much when everything else is consider, as already mentioned in this thread, even if this model is better.

Is warranty really going to be an issue? What happens when you buy something duty free? It's still a global brand, I'm sure you could get it repaired under the warranty - even if bought in a different country.

Yeah, I reckon $700 is not enough saving considering the s*** you will have to go through boxing, at the airport, etc, etc. Travel light and move fast, my man. Makes it harder for the feds to catch up wid yo.

<<

>>

WTF $700 is 50% of the cost of the TV

What if he just sticks it in a suitcase

You c***s are rich

Jimbo I'm going to PM you with an alternative. Check your messages.

Ill get a quote on sending it over (I'll let sony in USA sort it out) and make sure it has global warranty and I have my mate whose a sparkie looking into having it changed to 240v ac when it gets here.

If its still around a $500 saving i think it's definetly worth doing? What am I losing? It still has warrantee and itll end up working here on 240v. And it is significantly better product (especially the faster refresh rate for gaming).

Could the people who disagree with me tell me if I am missing something?

Thanks all by the way. This has been a very helpful and informative thread

I thought US digital TV was ASTC, whereas Australia went and picked the most obscure standard possible in DVB. And for Analog it'll need to be able to handle PAL, though I think most sets these days will do both PAL and NTSC without any problems, that one's just a normal thing these days.

US Digital is ATSC, but its the obscure one. Most places use DVB-T.

Check the digital tuner before you buy it, because it may not work with Australian digital tv... you might need a set top box.

Thanks mongie.

I dont watch much TV atm. I may want to when i move out but that wont be for a few months and im sure i could take the hit of a set top box when I do.

have you looked at buying it from japan? it is going to be 110volts still but at least it won't be getting shipped as far, and won't have been shipped to america and back.

hmmm. Good thought. Ill look...

edit: Doesnt appear to be much different in price to australian. The models have different names again!

last edited by Jimbo at 13:26:46 15/Jun/09

i'd check out the warranty very carefully. even if you do still have a warranty on the item if you take it outside of the geographical distribution network it was sold in they might expect you to take it back if it needs warranty repairs.

will do. Thank you taggs

I think it is unlikely that Sony USA will actually want to help you buy it from them at all. There's a reason they're gouging us for prices you know (cos they can).

yeah sony are well known for using different pricing strategies, or in marketing-speak price skimming or discrimination, both between and within geographical markets. there's a solid change reso could be right.

A TV bought from the US will not pick up anything that resembles broadcast television in Australia, be it FTA or Pay. The tuners inside aren't for the region.

So I'm assuming it's going to be a playback monitor only. Fair enough. If you're prepared to deal with all the issues already outlined, also consider:

- Absolutely zero consumer televisions in the US market support PAL (50hz) playback. It isn't like every other market which will support both. So you'll need whatever you hook up to the thing to only ever output NTSC (60hz). While the chingchong DVD players, and XBMC type devices can permit a specific setting, name brand DVD/Blu-ray players are a different story. They too, would likely need to be purchased from the US.

- PAL-sourced, interlaced content (e.g. sports video) will, after conversion, look like s*** in NTSC. This is something you just cannot escape. You'll either have to go with deinterlacing (jittery slow motion), or suffer the alternative (ghosting/interlaced artifacting)

- Got a console? One that isn't imported from the States? Hard luck...not even sure modding it would save you. Games are the same. Every game you buy, will now have to come in from the US too. (although, in that instance, this is a blessing usually)


I really wouldn't do what you're about to do. Just sit tight. The USD/AUD exchange isn't likely to drop back to xmastime levels again for a good long time. Prices will shift to match when the 2010 models are rolling out. We're in the midst of a global recession, after all.

A family friend of mine brought back a Sony Bravia earlier this year from the states (not sure what model) that was given to him by a friend.

He ran into pretty much every problem mentioned by Creepy. After all the f***ing around it wasn't worth it.

He got the PS3 working on it he had purchased in Australia. He bought a game from an aussie store and when he tried to load the game he got an error on his console saying the game was not supported in this Format. He couldn't play any games he bought in Aus.

This is only what I was told though. I would have to concur with everyone else, the money you are saving is not worth all the potential problems. Plus I would imagine you would be f***ed on warranty.

Is warranty really going to be an issue? What happens when you buy something duty free? It's still a global brand, I'm sure you could get it repaired under the warranty - even if bought in a different country.

Warranties are totally specific to each company - my uncle bought a Sony laptop in the USA and got ROYALLY f***ed when it died a few months in. Sony Australia told him to get f***ed. Ended up paying about 1/2 the price of the laptop to get it fixed and then I think it died again. Total write off. One of the many reasons I hate Sony was how bad they f***ed him on that. Arguably his own fault for not reading the warranty stuff carefully, but he expected that being a massive global company maybe they woudln't suck at fixing their own products or something.

Btw, my LCD TV (Samsung) just died after about a year. Started getting weird pixel s*** happening, then light blurs, now it doesn't turn on. Samsung are supposedly calling me in the next few days (was promised a call within 2 business days but haven't heard from them yet :| )

So yeh, I'd be wary. Obviously Creepy shot down the idea already in much better style than mine but i thought I'd throw in anyway :)

What your uncle did, despite the circumstances, was grey importing. Sony has every right to tell you to go away - it's a bit rich to expect an Australian company, who pays their staff, to support a product they didn't get the income from (to pay said support staff).

Global companies rarely have a global treasury to fund their regional cost centres. Sadly, people as consumers tend to forget this.