Sat Nav and incar DVD on a budget

[lotusmark2]

Has anyone got experiance of the two title topics.
I have had a look around and can find in-car dvd units with stand alone TFT monitors for around £130 which is a hell of a lot cheaper than my local in-car place are looking to charge, any feedback on what to look out for on these units?
Satnav is something I have been considering but finding it hard to justify the cost, is there a way to do it on a budget??
Cheers in advance
Mark

 

[Shude]

This should have been posted in the electronics forum! Moving...

 

[lotusmark2]

This should have been posted in the electronics forum! Moving...

Sorry
Brain fade, not really awake (I am at work after all)

 

[GrahamC230K]

Has anyone got experiance of the two title topics.
I have had a look around and can find in-car dvd units with stand alone TFT monitors for around £130 which is a hell of a lot cheaper than my local in-car place are looking to charge, .......

TFT screens for £130 or DVD players with a TFT scren for £130? The later surprises me.

I would have said £1500 for a decent DVD Sat Nav/DVD Player. I can highly recommend Panasonic.

 

[lotusmark2]

TFT screens for £130 or DVD players with a TFT scren for £130? The later surprises me.

I would have said £1500 for a decent DVD Sat Nav/DVD Player. I can highly recommend Panasonic.

Hi Graham
This is the thing that has made me ask the question
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3073058759&category=14946

 

[GrahamC230K]

Maybe I am missing out, but I tend to ignore things shipped from Hong Kong as I am too poor to take a chance and risk loosing the money.

 

[lotusmark2]

Maybe I am missing out, but I tend to ignore things shipped from Hong Kong as I am too poor to take a chance and risk loosing the money.

If you have a quick look on Ebay there are loads between £150-£250 and UK based BUT they dont look as nice as the intergral slidy outy type dvd screens (technical term). Dont know about the quality either, just looks to good to be true.

 

[Ian B Walker]

These arrive in UK ok but beware, Customs charge £35 for import duty and Tax. I know as I have to deal with these during the course of my Job. Good value though.

 

[sym]

These arrive in UK ok but beware, Customs charge £35 for import duty and Tax. I know as I have to deal with these during the course of my Job. Good value though.

Ian . . . how does that work (pardon the ignorance) as I have often thought of ordering stuff from the US. Where and how is the customs charge payable if it ends up being levied, and are there any ways to avoid it when asking for the goods to be shipped ?

S.

 

[dogbone]

Ian . . . how does that work (pardon the ignorance) as I have often thought of ordering stuff from the US. Where and how is the customs charge payable if it ends up being levied, and are there any ways to avoid it when asking for the goods to be shipped ?

S.

If it is declared as a gift on the customs documentation the max value you can have I believe is £36 or £18 if goods, they could of course mark it as a low value. However unless you get the person/company posting it to use another method of insuring it, other than fedex/ups/etc, and the package is lost, then I should think you will only get the amount stated on
the customs decleration back.

You may get hit by customs which seems to come in at around 5% +VAT (ohh and sometimes the courier's charge to be present when the package is opened)
Parcelforce Worldwide increased its customs clearance fee to £7.75 on 2
April 2002, from £6.25. This fee is charged by Parcelforce Worldwide to
cover the handling costs of paying the VAT on all parcels that have tax
levied on them by HM Customs when they come into the UK, and then collecting the VAT back from customers when they receive their parcels. If it is then sent express delivery to you, its around £13.

Each item has a TARIC (Integrated Tariff of the European Communities) code
which gives you the import duty tax figure
http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/en/tarhome.htm

http://www.sloanefox.freeserve.co.uk/importukduty.htm

Then again it may just pass without inspection.

 

[lotusmark2]

I get alot of RC racing gear over from the States and I would say about 65% of the time I get hit so the odds are not too bad

 

[sym]

I get alot of RC racing gear over from the States and I would say about 65% of the time I get hit so the odds are not too bad

What I meant, was , to who do you have to pay the charge when you get hit ? Is it when your package is delivered - do you have to pay cash ? Do they withold the parcel until you pay it ?

S.

 

[lotusmark2]

What I meant, was , to who do you have to pay the charge when you get hit ? Is it when your package is delivered - do you have to pay cash ? Do they withold the parcel until you pay it ?

S.

The norm is that they will send through your parcel and then send you a bill to pay direct with the couriers (who will pay the duty on your behalf). I think this does depend on the courier you use though.

 

[racall]

You have to pay the post office

 

[samuelellis]

if you get the lilliput screen thent hey are known to be fantastic screens, that in dads dvd player looks liek a name brand player that name escapes me atm (will post about it later)

there is a blaupunkt sat nav system that is one din (no screen displays it int he frotn of the radio) that is reasonable on www.caraudiodirect.com

 

[UKEvo]

I always try to use USPS Express mail instead of UPS or FedEx when I bring in stuff from the US. I have no idea why it is, but I never get hit for duty using the US Post but always do with FedEx. It must be something to do with the way Customs work. I've shipped literally hundreds of parcels (I run a Parcel Freight company) via various methods and always get hit with the two above but never by USPS.. Go figure...

 

[sym]

Mark - what's your budget for the Sat Nav ? Probably the cheapest way to do it (assuming you don't want to have to replace your head unit) is with a PDA & software based solution. Depends whether you are bothered about an integrated look or not.

S.

 

[Sp!ke]

If you're on a really really tight budget, my SAT-NAV / DVD system cost me about £70 + the laptop I already had.

Even if you don't have a latop, it doesnt need to be anything fast, a P2 233 would do the job and can be picked up for very little.

 

[lotusmark2]

not to worried about the integrated look, in fact quite a bonus if I can take it in and out of other cars.

 

[Simon]

This is the cheapest single DIN in dash unit I can find. Blaupunkt DXR52 £479.99 Inc postage.

I want one.