ap_smith

Right,

Got the P1, very very happy with it and now looking to get some ICE sorted out.

Started surfing the web looking at in car nav systems, and saw some different prices for stuff. For example: There's a top Panasonic system with 7" screen etc.

In the UK the price is £1600. However I've seen a site in the US selling the car gear for $699. Links are below:

http://www.soundcity.com/product.php?id1=CAR%20AUDIO&product_id=12757

http://www.caraudiodiscount.com/acatalog/panasonic_navigation.html

Errm WTF? Can someone tell me why there's such a price discrepancy? And if I bought the unit from the States would I have any trouble using in the UK (getting hold of UK maps, any technical probs etc.?)

Cheers

BigRed

This unit maybe only programmed with the us state maps, as for the price, well you do live in rip off britain remember!!!!!!!

I ordered a pair of headphones from singapore the other week (no SARS yet!!)they arrived in 5 days and i saved £20 compared with UK(same model ETC) prices. WHY, WHY , WHY i wonder!!

Enjoy you scooby!!!!

[Edited by BigRed - 4/27/2003 10:11:57 AM]

Si.t

the problem with US stuf is that it's not all compatible with UK, like th screen will be ntsc, not pal, the tuner tunes in on different frequency increments and they have sirius as opposed to DAB. And yes, the prices there are sickeningly cheap. You should be able to find most things a lot cheaper than the rrp in the uk, though.

Prodriver

Been thinking about changing my headunit..have looked at Kenwood KDC 7024/Sony 630/730 for around £200.

Just looked at the links above and seen things like Alpine CDA 7897 at $429, Pioneer 8400 at $399, Sony 730 at $289!!!!

It appears we are being ripped off but only if the sets function in the UK. SiT seems to think the radio would be a problem?!

Is there anything else to worry about if you buy from the States...e.g warranty...is it a worldwide warranty etc.

IMHO if it sounds too good to be true it usually is!!!

Nige

M0NEY

Like said above, when you buy headunits/sat nav/tvs etc, it wont work in the UK. I think you can get some sort of converter at the back to make it work.

Dont forget to that price you have to add shipping, import tax and vat

I normally buy subs/amps and speakers from the US but not headunits

chiark

US radios won't work properly. They use a different frequency stepping (.2 opposed to our .1 - so you can't pick up all stations). Plus no RDS, no TI, no AF, ...

Screen is more fun. Most screens for the EU marketplace are PAL/NTSC auto sensing, and quite a few in the states are the same too, but it's very difficult to find out authoratitively if a US screen supports PAL because it just doesn't interest people who live and buy in the states. But it interests us

Navigation might be a case of replacing a disc, but it might not.

It's all about market size. Over here, it's very unusual still to want navigation, hence low volume, hence high prices. Over in the US, or particularly Japan, it's the norm not the exception.

ap_smith

Thanks for the replies all.

I think you're right, in that as the demand rises the prices will drop lower and lower.

However, considering the basic technology and components are available over in the US and Japan then we are being absolutely ripped off! Jeez, another UK tax.

Nevermind - will try and find out more info on the US versions, but I guess it's a non-starter.

chiark

Ah yes, that's true. Add 17.5% that our caring government takes, which is normally excluded from US prices...