alistair

I'm off to New York for between 1 and 3 years and am looking for info on Electrical items.

Anyone know where I can get a 110 -> 240 V transformer ?

I've been told my TV etc will not work - is there anywhere I can buy a convertor or do I really have to get a new one ?

I heard about a 22b out there - can I take my STi ?

I can feel a big clearance sale coming on !

AWD

US TVs run on NTSC which is different to the European standard of PAL. Hence you're better off getting a new TV/video when you're out there. Also things cost a lot less (electrical etc.) so it will not cost anywhere near as much as here.

Your UK videos etc. will not work unless you get a multisystem (PAL/NTSC) TV/video out there.

Unless you have to I'd recommend getting stuff out there if you're out there for about 3 years.

The transformers that I've seen are quite heavy so you might as well get them out there.

Cars are very strictly monitored for emissions there. Hence no Impreza turbo, M3 in US has 240bhp, M3 in rest of the world has
321bhp, etc. Also you would be driving on the other side of the road so again I'd recommend getting another car.

If you were only going for a year or so it might not be worth getting rid of your stuff but as you're going for 3 years and technology moves on, I'd say sell the lot and but it again when you return.

Hope this helps

Dippy

Also note that the U.S. mains is 60Hz whereas ours is 50Hz. This doesn't affect basic electrical equipment, but may affect certain electronic equipment. So even with a step-up transformer, some U.K. equipment may not work or be unreliable.

Also don't forget that they don't have any irony over there.

ptholt

So in other words get all your gear in the for sale area and let the bidding commence

rsquire

Alistair,

There are two 22B's over here.

1 is owned by Subaru as a press vehicle and must be exported or crushed in a couple opf years. The other is an out an out competition car not registered for the road

The rules for importing cars into the USA are here

Robyn

Re TV's and video's

A lot of the decent ones around now can work with both PAL or NTSC. Check what yours are capable of before you chuck them out.

alistair

I suppose that confirms what I expected ! It would be a bit easier if I knew the duration a bit better, but that's the nature of IT projects 12-18 months, a 3 year visa and a head office in NY so who knows what is next.

I can't decide what to do with the electrical stuff as I may be back after a year and I may never come back - I suppose I should just sell it !

I don't think I'll go for a 'quick' car over there, my wife has a Cherokee here so I guess some big lazy 4x4 will do unless I decide to live on Manhattan and don't bother with a car.

AWD

.. further to Dippys post don't forget your iron! :-)

AWD

I have a friend who moved from the UK to Newark (New Jersey) to do a PhD so if you have any specific questions I can ask her for you. Newark is close to New York. Just a thought.... let me know.

She doesn't drive there though but got her licence by just going along and telling them that she drove in the UK and showing them her UK licence. I think that by law you can only drive with a non-US licence for up to 6 months after your entry into the country. Any longer and you need to get a US licence.

Be warned - crap sped limits (up to 65mph max and on most big roads near cities 55mph), cars are like boats (and fugly ones at that - although I didn't see anything as nasty as the frog eyed Scorpio). Petrol is so very cheap .... mmmmmm.....

..anyway, I am rambling.

AWD

Although you could always get something like a big American muscle car... Mustang, Corvette etc. I think that Camaros are meant to be very good value for money. They all go fast but I'm not sure how they handle. The US muscle cars look quite nice (IMHO) and you don't have to worry about petrol costs.

AWD

Many modern UK VCRs will do NTSC playback but will not record NTSC signals. So even if you took your VCR over, got a transformer and it worked, it wouldn't record US programmes. Also UK VCRs may only do output to PAL TVs so even if you can read NTSC videos you may not be able to view them on an American TV.

Have a look at