Stuart:

Look at it this way: If you paid less, then I would have to pay more to balance things out.

Thank you from Oregon for helping subsidize my purchase of this fine product.

This is something that really gets under my skin. That monitor ranges from $999 to $1199 down here and yet converting USD 569 to AUD I get $693. OK, it's a big box so allow another $100 for freight and I still only get AUD $793. Even that's silly, I think the things ship directly here from the factory in Asia so the freight cost would be less to here than the USA.

That's not the worst of it, I picked up a Shuttle Pro at NAB, final cost inc exchange charges on the plastic, less than AUD 100. Local price is AUD 249. Ned Kelly is alive and well.

Bob.

Stuart thanks for doing the math. I also knew that it was going to be a "steal" - but not in my favour. I even looked up the UK price .. . nothing to see here, move on . .

As Grazie must know, the UK is just one big rip-off. I shudder at the prices when I get to the old country. Last visit I paid like $US6 for a cafe, I paid $28 for firewire lead, $18 for a meal in a pub..... But there is bright side my bad heart really appreciates and that is 66% fat double cream for 60p a pint and extra cream Jersey milk at about a quarter of the US price.

> Ned Kelly is alive and well.

Yes - it's been going on for years, Bob - all those washing machine salesmen who manage to get into the pipeline between supplier and customer and expect to make a fortune just because they're there.

Back in the early days of NLE, I bought my first capture card, a miro dc30+, directly from Gary Bettan's Videoguys in New York, because it worked out almost half the cost of buying here in Oz. A few years later, probably after complaints by the Aussie washing machine salesmen, Videoguys were prevented by Pinnacle, who bought miro, from selling PAL boards, only NTSC, so we had to go back to paying the local rip-off merchants.

Best Buy today listed 24" Gateway LCD 1920 x 1200 monitors for $529.00.
I don't know how good they are though.
JJK

Last visit I paid like $US6 for a cafe
==========
Yes but tea is SO CHEAP.

John

JJK, the Best Buy Gateway monitors are $629 in Phx.Az. Reading through this thread, you will see that there are differing prices for the same thing in differnt places. Prices are set by what the competition is doing and what Retail firms thaink they can get for their product. That is, excluding things out of their control like VAT.

Prices in Oz are such because they can get that price, perhaps kept that way by lack of serious comptition, or various means that restrict competition.

Where can you get the Gatewqy 24" for $529?

OdieinAz:
In Macedonia, Brookpark, & Mayfield Ohio Best Buy Stores.
I threw the Sunday Broachure away but I'm pretty sure it was $529.00 but then again it could have been $569.00. The national website has them for $729.00 with some kind of sound package.
JJK

Gotta a 24" Dell as my primary, with an NEC "alienware config" stock secondary. Very sweet.

Darryl

Dell, Gateway, what ripoffs. Just a few weeks ago I acquired a 22" widescreen Samsung [225BW] for under $300 from Newegg [S&H $22], had it in my hands 2 days after ordering. Gotta love it ,it's so perfect for Vegas.

The big difference between the 22" and the 24" LCDs is that the 24" are the smallest monitors that have the resolution to show full-resolution HDTV (1920x1080). This makes them much more valuable to anyone editing HD video. Of course, the manufacturers know this, too, which is why they jack up the price disproportionately.

I love my Dell too, though I used to only buy Sony monitors... "I wouldn't edit with Vegas without my 24" Dell"... at least if I have a choice... it's a superb monitor for video editing, highly recommended, since you can stretch a timeline wide on it.. and of course I have 2 other monitors as well..

http://copywritingu.com/kenmonitors.jpg


ken

Rick, thanks for the heads-up on the 24" Dell monitor sale. I just ordered one... now I just need to figure out how to get it past my wife. It just won't be as easy to slip into the house as a VASST download!

I definitely want to use it as my primary unless I'm editing just due to the nice size. Then, I'm assuming most people are using it as a secondary display in full screen while editing? Hopefully it's easy enough to switch back and forth... or is there any easier way to set up two monitors?

Yesterday I wrote to Dell UK to complain about the price.

First thing this morning I had a call from them - took me by surprise - a lady with an Indian accent (I think that's where their call centre is) who attempted to explain the price difference.

Lady: "Dell is a US company, we have to pay import duty."

Me: "Are these monitors manufactured in America?"
Lady: "No."
Me: "Well then. Besides Dell UK is a separately registered company."

Lady: "The UK has more taxes."
Me: "Sure, but not to the tune of 250% of the value of the item."

Lady: "You couldn't import it for less than the UK price (£700)."
Me: "I'd need to add VAT at 17.5% and duty at ~4.5%. I make that about £350, which leaves me £350 to cover the cost of shipping."

Lady: [silence]

Lady: "Sorry, I've checked, we can't do it any cheaper."

"Rick, thanks for the heads-up on the 24" Dell monitor sale. I just ordered one... now I just need to figure out how to get it past my wife. It just won't be as easy to slip into the house as a VASST download!"

Gotta love my wife... We're in the process of packing to move and she told me to dump the heavy CRTs and buy LCD panels after we finish the move.

Nice one Stuart!

But don't forget the Senate just voted to make us pay 300% more for the very same US made medications than they are sold for in UK. So if this Dell rip-off makes you sick you get your money back.

Ho-ho-ho!

That was a nice one!

The reason they are paying one fourth of our prices for the same meds is that their government acts like any other prudent customer when buying very large quantities:

What's your best price on this here one hundred million unit portfolio of meds over the next 12 months?

vs. the U.S. government (outside of the VA which has been allowed to keep its prudency so far):

We need to buy one hundred million units of all the most expensive products you can come up with, regardless of the price.

The DELL catalogue for May just landed on my desk. The 24" 2407WFP is down to £589.

The 27" 2707WFP is £829.

All plus the dreaded 17.5% vat.

Down to £589. What a ripoff!!
I bought my 2407WFP last month for $750 Canadian (plus 14% in various taxes).
That works out to about 1/2 of what you folks have to pay :-(

Mike

I bought a 2407WFP in January. R$3.380

R$3.380 = US$1660.

but an average worker in brazil get about 25% of a american worker. so, to me, is like a american guy buying it for US$4800. oh god...