Hi Can someone advise me please , I am going to the USA with my sister and I was thinking of buying a new laptop while there is this a good or bad idea ? Is there anything I need to look out for?

Customs charges, mains chargers that are not universal voltage, warranty and a US keyboard.

I am typing this on a US market Panasonic Toughbook CF-29, although it came from UK Ebay. Only difference is the US style keyboard, although I have changed the settings in windows so its laid out as UK, in other words the £ is gained by typing shift+3 but the key says it should be a # there instead. Of course, as panasonic spares are readily available I could change the keyboard quite easily but as its a works machine now thats not down to me!

The power supply will probably be the same (or universal) but you will need a UK style plug leading to the power supply which will generally cost less than a tenner. The PSU for this laptop is 100-240V input, all that the seller did was change the mains lead running to it.

Maybe an idea also, if you buy a laptop over there, do it when you first get there, get it all working, test it and then remove all packaging and pretend that it you took it there on the way out to ensure you avoid customs charges on your return.

Steve

warranty

Most business class laptops from main stream suppliers (Toshiba, HP etc) have an International Warranty - but do check first.

If its an international warranty then you have nothing to worry about.

As said the power adapter will be universal you will just need a UK extension

Plenty of people get Apple laptops in the states and its never a problem with the warranty with our machines if that helps

Got mine from the US, Had no troubles at all. There are a few things with the keyboard, as said before with the £ button, also the " and @ buttons are swapped and there are one or two symbols missing (but i've never really noticed until I've need it). Changing the layout in windows to a UK style keyboard sorts it out, and I don't even notice that the keys show different symbols than what comes on the screen.