[Wolves] Suggest an OS

[Mark Harrison]

Tim Childe wrote:
>  
> As for memory, I've already done the upgrade thing and upgraded to 64 
> - I made an error assuming that the 32 was in one slot leaving one 
> free, but it's actually built in leaving two slots free, so I could 
> have gone to 80Mb.  Unfortunately, I realised too late to add another 
> 'simm' to my order and as the postage from the US was more than the 
> price of the memory ordering a second time was not worth it. (the 
> memory is ridiculously expensive in this country)
>  


I'm not trying to suggest that you SHOULDN'T import - just make sure 
that you're aware of how level the playing field is. I've been buying 
from US over the Internet since 2000, and a lot of the time it DOES make 
sense, however... while it's fashionable to complain about UK pricing, 
it may be worth remembering what you get it you buy from a UK supplier.


- Right of return. Whether stated or not, the European Distance Selling 
Directive applies to purchases made by individuals. I appreciate that 
not all sellers seem to honour this, and the costs of chasing a bad one 
may outweigh the refund, but in my experience 95%+ of UK vendors I've 
used seem good. The DSD explicitly does NOT apply if you buy from a 
vendor outside of the EEA.

- Decent warranties. Under UK law, it is very hard for a warranty to be 
less than 1 year, because if nothing else Trading Standards have the 
right to over-rule the published warranty terms if they deem them 
unreasonable. By comparison, many US products have 30 day warranties 
(counted from date of dispatch, BTW.) [I've been burnt on this one 
personally, BTW].

- Reassurance that your purchase is at least safe enough to pass CE 
certification. (Not an issue for RAM, I suspect.)

- (Clearly this doesn't apply to RAM) - reassurance that your product is 
designed for 230v / 50hz electricity.

- The knowledge that about 15% of the price is going to fund nurses, 
teachers, Gordon Brown's chauffeur, the War in Iraq and the Millenium 
Dome..... seriously, though, if you're a business, remember to deduct 
the VAT when making the comparison.


For the record, I'm a shareholder in an etailer (not of IT products), so 
have a vested interest in trying to persuade you to "buy from a British 
supplier". That having been said, their products ARE normally as cheap 
as US imports - and they don't feel a need to apply an exchange rate of 
£1 = $1 :-)


Mark