Thanks Juliette, that is interesting info. I think in my case, in particular, it isn't worth it to get the PRS-600 shipped from anywhere if I can buy it here for 300E or less. The guy at the local Sony shop says he will have the 600, and that way I save shipping and get service. I used to not care about service, but I have been burned having to return broken things and it is a huge pain. The price here is still a rip off - the PRS-600 with VAT should be about 250E (since they are all made in China or wherever anyway, shipping is irrelevant for the big vendors). A 20% markup!!!
But since I can't get it for that price in any case, I will just buy it here locally if they offer me that price. If not, I can order it from the Apolo people here in Spain, who will ding me for another 15E.
Point 3 is relevant, since if I buy it here in Europe (even from a Spanish reseller when Sony doesn't sell it here) I get a warranty, which is worth something. At least I assume they will support it here even if they don't sell it here. I guess I will have to look at the fine print.
And getting away without paying VAT is hit or miss. All things being equal, I might give it a try, but the warranty makes buying local a good deal. And I would get to hold it before I make the final decision, too.
The situation is different with the DR800, since that isn't available in Europe yet, but I just remembered that they don't support OS X, so I am not going to get that anyway.
I like the idea of going in on a bundle with other people. It is stupid that that needs to even happen - Sony ships it from China to the US, and then it gets re-shipped from the US to Europe because they won't sell it here for a reasonable price. Oh well.
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