Buying iPad whilst on holiday in USA, any warranty/compatabilty problems?

A USA bought iPad will work fine in the UK. Since the iPad has been released in the uK warrantee should not be an issue. The USA iPad comes with a universal voltage and frequency wall charger. YOu might need an adopter to match the plug configuration in the UK.

Only you can judge if you need/want a 3G model since you really did not provide much information on how/where you will use it.

From what see... You'll have to pay the sales tax here in the US and a VAT when you return to the UK... You may not be saving that much any money buying the iPad in the US. The government are going to get their cut one way or another.

If you get caught you will be fined. And customs could care less who suitcase it is in. And I'm sure the iPad is on their list for checking. I wouldn't put it in my daughter's suitcase. Doing so they can make it rougher on you.

Message was edited by: David M Brewer

I think it all depends on how you bring it back. If it is setup and used over there before bringing it back then there should be no problem. Just leave the packaging behind. Who is to say the iPad was not taken there on holiday and just brought back. There is no way as far as I'm aware to differentiate a US iPad from a UK one. People do this all the time.

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I haven't been oversea for some time. I think he would have to declair the iPad when entering the US. Throwing the box away isn't going to hide the fact that the iPad was brought in the US. The charger has a US plug on it. I haven't read the lable on the back of the iPad. That may state something about where the iPad came from.

Besides that, pandering the OP to break the law is a chargeable offense. Not pay import tax is smuggling. Your not going to get over on customs.

Whether you declare the iPad when entering the US or not has no relevance when returning to the UK. The fact that the iPad has a US power supply is easily solved by taking a UK iPhone power supply or buying a UK iPad one here and taking it with you. The iPad isn't going to say anything on the back about where it came from. The model number will be slightly different but customs aren't going to know that.

I'm not pandering the OP to do anything least of all break the law. Not declaring an item in customs is not breaking the law and is certainly not a chargeable offence. It's also not smuggling. It's also not a question of getting one over customs but just a question of going through the green light and not declaring it. If they want to stop someone, question them and charge them customs duties then that's another matter. In any case paying 20% customs charges is ridiculous and VAT/taxes are far too high here to begin with. Like I said it is a common practice and loads of people do it every day when going through customs. Let the OP decide whether he wants to take that chance or not.

My point is you're making a bigger deal out of it then you should. It's semantics at the end of the day. Why not let people decide for themselves if it is appropriate or not. Not to mention there is a big difference between and individual bringing an item in without declaring it and an organisation or company bringing in a large amount of items without declaring them and planning on selling them for profit. It's alright for people in the US to be high and mighty considering how much cheaper things are there. Without going off on a tangent and away from the subject at hand taxes here in the UK especially sales tax which is set to rise from 17.5% to 20% next year is just ridiculous as is the cost of living. I lived in the US for 12 years so I'm well aware of the discrepancies.

Ok, so we'll be "high and mighty" and the British can be cheating smugglers.

Do I have it right?

Do you think people should also decide whether or not it is okay to steal something, say a Jaguar from a car lot? They charge way too much for them and then there's that matter of the tax.

Like I said there is a difference between a large company/organisation doing it on a large scale and an individual. As I also said a lot of people do it and that includes Americans too. I'm not saying it's right but it is an option and considering how much we pay in taxes compared to people in he US for example I don't see why I should pay 20% when the most people in the US pay is around 8% or 9%. Not paying duty is hardly in the same category as stealing a car in any case.

Maybe I was a bit too hasty with the high and mighty but it annoys me when individuals make point to say something like this is wrong when all you're doing is giving a little less money to the government who doesn't even provide the level of service we deserve considering how much we may in taxes in the first place. If I offended anyone then I apologise but at the end of the day it should be left to the individual to make choice for themselves as to whether it is wrong or right to do so.

On a final note I lived in the US for 12 years so I'm well aware of the discrepancies in the cost of living and in the cost of consumer goods between there and the UK.

Well, you've already had one person disagree with you.

The only difference between an organisation doing it and an individual is the number of people. It is still illegal. And the fact that "a lot of people do it" (how do you know this?) and some are American's makes no difference. And how much the sales tax or VAT is also has nothing to do with it.

Okay, you don't like my stolen car analogy. But all I was really doing was determining how big a criminal you are, not whether you are one. Like the story supposedly attributed to Churchill (but some say Mark Twain): he approaches a woman and asks her, "Would you sleep with me for one million dollars?". She early responds yes. Then he says, "Would you sleep with me for a dollar?". The woman is insulted and says, "What do you think I am, a prostitute?" So he responds, "We've already determined that now I'm just trying to determine the cost."

But since the last person said they declared their purchases, and I don't know that most persons do it, then I'll amend my statement to be that we are supposedly "high and mighty" and at least one British person is a cheating smuggler through a lie of omission.

Of course I'm also assuming you've done this in the past? If you haven't, and this was all hypothetical, you have my apologies. But in any event what you are suggesting is a rationalization, and a poor one at that.

You haven't specified how long your visiting...so whatever you decide keep in mind that the stock is low on iPads so you can't necessarily walk into just any apple store and get any model you want. I live in northern va near dc and we have 6 apple stores all within about 20 miles of each other (many are even a few miles apart). Anyway if you walk in to buy an iPad they may have some models but often people are having to order them and go back a few days later to pick them up.

When she gets priority use of the ipad, her brother will be sorry he 'hogged' the PC.

I have grandsons 3 & 6 and they use my ipad a lot.
(supervised, of course, as they can play rough.)

But... Check and see if there are taxes you have to pay going back...