Portable HDD on a plane and electronics in suitcases...

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Hey gang,

Got a quick question. I'm going to London next week for a brief visit after a break of 8 squillion years!

Tech stuff in .ky is incredibly expensive to buy due to import duty, etc etc. I am therefor thinking of buying an external HDD in the UK to bring back to Cayman as it will be far cheaper.

Thing is, how do I bring the thing back safely? Can I put it with my carry-on luggage with my laptop? Or is it safe to put in the my checked in suitcases?

I know if I leave it in the retail box it may be well padded from knocks, but there is a high chance that customs will inspect my suitcase and so, like all the clothes I am planning to stock up on, I have to remove all the tags and packaging so it looks like I had it in there already and thus bypass import duty and taxes!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I need low cost stuff to smuggle back home safely!!!!

On a side note, is the Microsoft Zune available in the UK yet? Else I may wait and buy one in New York when I am there on business in a few weeks.

Oh and on a side note, is Tottenham Court Road still the hotspot for techy stuff? Where else would you recommend I could pop in and buy an external HDD in Central London??

 

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External hard drives are designed to be moved a bit, they should do fine in either hand luggage or checked
I've checked standard hard drives before, in the right packaging, no problems
they can withstand a fair few Gs when they are switched off so not too big a deal
I'm actually packing 3 500GB externals in my hand luggage when i move to the states

You should be fine mate

 

Something tells me that bag is going to get redirected to SC.

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence there Phoenix! What kind of packaging have you used before? I'm looking for packaging that looks inconspicuous so it looks like i've had the drive a while (seriously, you have no idea how anal the customs folk are here in Cayman).

Any ideas on where to pick up good external hdd bargains in London Phoenix?

 

Ha, you may want to wait and divert the crates i am shipping, there will be a few TB worth of disks, a few C2Quads and about 32GB worth of memory

I'm trying to see if i can fit the 24" LCD in my hand luggage at the moment



Tot Ct Rd is still a tech hot spot if you like getting raped on price, but no more so than most retail outlets, theres also a PCworld up the top now, and if you do reserve at store on certain items it can work out competitive with online stores (got my WD Passports there cheaper than online)


They should be fine out of packaging, maybe wrap a bit of bubble wrap and put them between clothes to stop bangs and bruises

depending on your needs, WD Passports may be a good option anyway, they are lower capacity as they use 2.5" disks, but are designed for travelers, they are bus powered and go up to 320GB now, awesome for throwing in your laptop bag!

 

Hah! No change there then! Hehehe!

Is the PC World near the Goodge Street/Oxford Street end or up the other side? I'll look in to those WD Passports, they sound ideal!

I work off a laptop all the time, I don't keep a desktop PC here as due to hurricane's they usually get ruined by flood damage. With a laptop I can leave the island, take my laptop with me and external hdd's. Jobs a good un!!

 

The PCWorld is up the other end near Warren Street (although Goodge street is slap bang in the middle)

Collect @ Store works by visiting the pcworld website (pcworld.co.uk) reserving what you want and saying 'collect at store' in the basket, then you pick which one you want to pick it up at (stock permitting)
you then get a code to print / write down and bring with you, few bob saved (although that only applies to items with a 'web exclusive' price, worth exploring though

The Passports are great bits of kit, I have about 4 now lol

 

Yeah the prices look good. I'm also interested in DIY-ing it and buying an HDD and an enclosure. Saves even more moola! I think whatever I pick up I will just buy a jiffy bag and fill it with socks or something and put the HDD/Enclosure in with it. Should help ease the bumps!

So refreshing to see reasonable (ok, PC World) prices than the prices I am used to here!

By the way, just wondering about getting a Zune in the UK. Are those available there yet?

 

I assume you mean the Zune 2, not the less than stellar 1st Gen one, in which case I'm not sure :/

to be honest the costs of getting parts and making the hard drives are not nearly as 'cheaper' as they used to be, and for a few quid (sometimes saved!!!) i'd rather have something with a bit of workmanship, the WD Passports do actually look and feel every bit worth the money, I've had plenty of make your own ones with cheap crappy enclosures, rocking ports and other such unfavorables

you can't go wrong with one mate

 

Yep. Looking to get the Zune 2 80gb. I've gone off iPod's for good. The more I see of the new Zune, the more I am sold on it. I know it's a Micro$oft product but I am totally sold on it. The iPod Touch is very nice but offers nowhere near the kind of storage capacity I am looking at. Heck even the 80gb Zune 2 is a bit on the small side for me (in terms of I need to archive as much as I can to a portable device due to my limited options on the island due to price, hurricanes, window tax, swamp insurance, pork bellies and the cost of frozen concentrated orange juice in the Equadorian commodities market this morning)

Aye point deffo taken on the DIY route. I was looking on PC World at a 3.5" Maxtor 1tb jobbie which RRP's on that site for around 120 smackeroo's.

Liking the look of that! Though then I like the USBness power-wise of a 2.5" job-me-do.

Maxtor or WD hmm....... decisions decisions.

 

I certainly agree with that. Unless you spend some decent money on an enclosure they can be fairly crap.

 

Here you go mate, computer fair at Tottenham Court Road every Saturday, extra low prices on stuffs you mentioned, quality is not bad either:

http://www.yoingco.com/computer_fair_market.htm

 

Thaks slyuen! I forgot all about the TCR computer fair! They used to have that same one when I was living in London. Hooray!!

I'll pop down there next Saturday morning then and have a butchers!!!! (feels weird saying that when I haven't been in the UK for several years hahaha!)

Mercy boo cup!

p.s: Totally off topic but London related and I didn't want to start a new thread but, where in Central London can I get football shirt name and numbering done? Want to get my Euro 2008 Spain shirt done (assuming they beat Italy on Sunday else i'll just leave it!).

I was thinking Nike Town but it's an Adidas shirt and they might do Nike shirts only? Foot Locker on Oxford Street maybe?

 

your in the UK next Saturday? why not hop on a train for 40 mins to Northampton and come say hello at the GTG!

 

Aye, I'll be in the UK on Wednesday, although I leave on Tuesday afternoon I don't arrive until Wednesday because getting off this bloody island is the most incredibly difficult thing to do in the entire world!

Cool idea though! Alas I am actually going to be at a concert in Hyde Park on Saturday and Sunday so my weekend is pretty much booked to the hilt!

We'll have to do a USA/Canadian/Caribbean one when you get this side of the pond haha!!