Saturday, January 17
"Who let the geeks out?"
[Woof, woof, woofwoof...] After an extended period of on-and-off effort, today I finally completed the task of getting our finances up to date. The biggest effort has been tracking where all the cash we've spent has gone. Our bank here wouldn't give us SWITCH cards when we arrived, which are used for electronic payment at time of purchase (the service called EFT-POS in New Zealand). As a result, we've been living a life dominated by cash. As we now have bank accounts in both the UK and New Zealand, we also could no longer use our old personal finances software, which could only handle one currency. I discovered in fact that this was an area of weakness in most personal finance packages. In the end though I came across Liquid Ledger, which has fulfilled our needs well. We're now back on track to knowing just where all those pounds are going to. (If only it were so easy to shed kilos as pounds...)
I'm doubly pleased to be up to date with the finances because some time ago I made a deal with myself: I wasn't going to upgrade to Panther until I'd finished that task. Last Sunday night, knowing I was nearing my goal, I placed an order with the UK Apple Store online. Panther arrived on Tuesday and after a quick look at the packaging I hid it away until I'd earned it. Well, after a morning of finances it was an afternoon of software installation. I opted for a complete erase and re-install which required careful backups but has been well worth it. The combination of a cleaned up system and an OS that is faster anyway has made for a whole new computer. Rrrrrwwwww!
While it's perhaps more associated with the United States in antipodean minds, we have the online auction service ebay here in the UK too. I've bid on a couple of items in the past, somewhat half-heartedly, but have never actually bought anything. That may change soon though. Through the assistance of housemate Nick I have taken free but unfettered possession of a beige G3 desktop Mac. That came from elsewhere, but I'm now bidding on ebay for a new video card and some RAM to kit it out. The plan is to make it into a credible second computer, replacing our old Powerbook 1400cs. Unlike that machine, this one will run OS X, and with Panther just installed on our iBook, I have a copy of Jaguar lying around that just happens to be the ideal thing for the G3 desktop machine. I think we let the geeks out...
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Duncan and Bronwyn,
I spent last night with Geoff and Adrienne and Haidee and Gregor. Of course we talked about you, among other people and things. Geoff says you play golf with much enthusiasm, Duncan.
I wasn't sure if your email address was still the bigfoot one or not, and so I've resorted to contacting you via this comment box. Duncan, I'm interested in starting a webpage of my own. Yours is so amazing. Could you direct me to a good starting place? Much appreciated, Mark.
Posted by Mark E at 11:23am on Monday 19 January 2004Mark, great to hear from you! I regret to say, with slight disappointment, that Geoff sums up my entire golf game with the word "enthusiastic". : )
See my email to you for information on blogging options...
Posted by duncan at 6:08pm on Monday 19 January 2004Glad you agree with my characterisation of your golf, Duncan! I'm missing your enthusiasm to help get me out on those fairways again!
Posted by Geoff at 8:08am on Tuesday 20 January 2004dunc,
i also was talking about you just the other day. although i can't remember what i said and who it was too. crazy. anyway, have fun : )
matt
I would give more than the usual green fees to be able to take you out on the hallowed fairways of Brookfields Park, Geoff.
Glad to hear the memory of us has yet to fade in Aotearoa.
Posted by duncan at 10:28am on Tuesday 20 January 2004Hi again...
I am so close to buying some Mac kit (with the small caveat that I have yet to earn or pray in or otherwise fundraise the required cash!). Your entry has done nothing to lessen my appetite for biting that big juicy Apple. For the first time, no less.
I'm thinking about importing from the US given the good exchange rate (for us, at least) right now. MacUser and other Mac mags don't seem to have any advice for those who might be interesting in buying with US dollars and shipping.
Now I'm not gonna hold you to any advice you might give, but has this thought occurred to you or anyone else reading this blog? And what might be the pitfalls? Is it really worth the hassle?
Intrigued to hear if anyone here has some good advice.
Jon (North London - but I once worked in Worple Road, Wimbledon!)
Posted by Jon Harris at 10:29pm on Monday 26 January 2004Jon,
You won't regret your first Mac (or the rest of them in the future!) If you're using Windows as well then Panther is a big improvement too, and your Mac will play nicely with its friends.
I've not imported new gear from the States, but you're right, the exchange rate is good right now. Apple sets UK pricing by the quarter and tend to err on the, shall we say, conservative side regarding working these out relative to the US pricing, so you may well get a better deal. Don't forget you'll most likely still be hit with VAT when it arrives though, which will be hefty.
In terms of pitfalls, the OS is fully international so that's not an issue. The keyboard it ships with will be a US keyboard, meaning it'll have a slightly different layout than you're used to, and it'll have $ rather than £ printed on it. (You can re-map the keys if you want, but of course the printed keyboard symbols are there to stay.)
Then there is warrantees. This might sound a little complicated, but it's not really. Every new Mac comes with a one-year warrantee which covers all hardware repairs required unless you drop it or do something really silly. They call this "AppleCare". If you buy a laptop then this is provides international cover, but if you buy a desktop machine it is only covered in the country of purchase. However, you can purchase the additional "AppleCare Protection Plan" to extend the cover out to three years. This extended warrantee now proves international cover, presumably from the start? You'd want to confirm this at time of purchase. My advice even to someone buying a new Mac here would be to get the extended cover. On computers you usually get your money back on these things.
Let us know how this turns out!
Posted by duncan at 6:36pm on Wednesday 28 January 2004Hi duncan, thanks for the advice which is encouraging, helpful and interesting. As it turns out, I may be able to get an even better deal now (yes, it is legal!) right here in UK through the charity I work for, which qualifies for an educational discount if the machine is not used for commercial purposes. I'll let you know when I'm the proud new owner of my very first Apple.
Posted by Jon Harris at 12:18am on Saturday 31 January 2004
