# bringing led tv from north america



## soniaharjani (Dec 15, 2010)

hi,

I just bought a samsung led tv for 3000 dollars and want to ship it to dubai. will it work there ? does it make sense ? whats the best way to ship goods and how expensive ?

also what about other home electrics?


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## AndreaMarshall (Nov 22, 2010)

When i moved from new york to arizona it was going to cost me $350 to ship my 24 inch tv (not a flat screen). 

The TV was $300 when i bought it. Waste of money. The outlets here are all like the ones in the UK, so you would have to use a converter. We have a surge protector that has converter outlet thingies on it, and our tv has a spanish plug i think (insert joke here)

IT works fine, my hair straightener and laptop plugs work fine here with a converter, but i blew up my curling iron.

Electronics are more expensive here, and there is no best buy or anything like that, but you can wait for sales and coupons and find a good deal. 


We were going to ship our 40 or 47 inch LG tv with all the fanciness included in it...but it became a waste of money. 
PEople come out here for a short time and move home, and before they go home they sell their stuff. So you can buy a used TV at a really good deal. We got everything we need for our house - bedroom set, couch, tv, surge protectors, dishes, blender, cooking whatnots, microwave and "so much more!" for $1,200 US. play around on dubizzle.com to get an idea of whats out there before you spend loads to ship items here.


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## ccr (Jun 20, 2010)

If you are going to ship electronics, make sure voltage is 110-240V since most electronics in North America are still limited to 110V and most of the world is 220V.

Your TV is most likely to be digital so will work, but you could get a similar TV for same or cheaper here. And no risk of damage while shipping.

If shipped with container, make sure packers build a wooden crate for it.


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## Nightshadow (Sep 21, 2010)

I also burned out my hair clippers which I use to trim my beard... I plugged them in, even with the converter / transformer thing, they started buzzing like super fast and before I could even use them I smelled the burnt aroma coming from inside of them. I was quite upset. My laptop and other electronics I brought seem to work just fine but I am cautious. 

I would follow Andrea's advice to be honest. Consider how many people here buy $3000 dollar TVs and then end up leaving a few months later. You can get so much nice stuff here for cheap on Dubizzle (their version of CL). Im now glad i left my 55 inch Samsung back home... would have been a total waste to ship it. 

Good luck!


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

errr did you actually USE a transformer or just a plug/adaptor? I got a trimmer from the US and had to use a transformer/step-up/step-down converter and there are other things to consider too.

Too much hassle but I think most TVs nowadays are mult-system so it should work provided it can use 220-240V


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## PVD04 (Feb 17, 2010)

Almost all consumer electronics in the US are 100-240v, so your TV will work over here. The only exceptions I've seen are some kitchen and personal care items. It is typically not worth it to bring any electronics unless your employer is paying for the shipment due to high shipping costs and the fact that electronics prices here are comparable to those in the US.


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## w_man (Apr 16, 2010)

^^ Agreed.

We have been checking TV prices here and you can get a decent 50 inch LCD for roughly 1000 (give or take a little) Canadian dollars. We decided to sell everything and buy new here. I am also usually looking at used TVs online ... you can get fairly new models - lightly used for a very good price.

We decided to make a deal with our employer to give us a relocation allowance rather than shipping our stuff over - didn't want to take a chance with shipping electronics which could potentially break down during shipping.

All depends on your offer I guess but as others have stated - if it arrives here properly, you shouldn't have any problems but I would just check the power adapter or back of the TV to ensure it can manage 100-240v.

GL with the move


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## funkyant (Mar 27, 2010)

Firstly, don't take anybody's advice that your TV will or won't work. Just look at the sticker on the back of the TV which will either state *110-250v 50/60Hz* or *110v 60Hz* - then you know for sure. If it's the latter, definitely don't bring the TV. Step down transformers are prone to failure due to overheating, and only expensive ones, which still can fail, provide proper power to your device (most output 110v @ 50Hz which is not what the TV power supply was designed for). As a general rule of thumb most whitegoods with motors or heating elements (shavers, kettles, toasters, fridges) will NOT be universal voltage because they are much cheaper to manufacture as 110v only models for the USA.

Regarding the plug, nearly all devices with a universal power supply use an IEC (International Electrical Connector), and you can easily buy a power cord with a local plug for cheap. Bear in mind that just because your device may have this plug, it is not a guarantee that it has a universal power supply. You must check the sticker, which every device must have in order to conform to safety standards.










[email protected] Nightshadow for plugging his shaver into a plug adaptor and not a transformer - lucky you didn't cut your face up mate! 

Secondly, none of your electronics warranties will be valid in the UAE, and as somebody above stated, many ex-pats going home are selling quality second hand goods for cheap.

Check out Dubizzle.com Dubai | Electronics for Sale in Dubai, UAE

So I'd vote for leaving your things at home, and buying stuff here.


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## Nitro_From_Windsor (Sep 10, 2010)

Ok, so I though about this a lot too and did a lot of research on it. I wanted to get the Samsung 3D LED TV from ebay and ship it here. It would have been half the price that all the stores here have it at ($3000 as opposed to $5000 or AED18,000). As everyone said here, voltage is an issue. An even bigger issue is the whole NTSC/PAL video Standards. Back home, its NTSC while here it is PAL. So if you bought a TV from home here, you will need to get a PAL to NTSC converter for most of your video inputs and those little boxes can run upto $300 for the decent ones. So, basically you will have to spend some money to get the thing to work properly.

After all this, there is the issue with warranty. I am not sure if the manufacturer warranty of the TV is international. Plus, if something goes wrong with it here, the people here might me hesitant to fix the TV since it is not the local variant (Not necessary but a risk to take none the less).

After all this, I just settled for a 46" (originally 55") Sony LED TV from eMax. More expensive than home but less headache. Hope this helps and good luck.


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## funkyant (Mar 27, 2010)

nitroproductions said:


> An even bigger issue is the whole NTSC/PAL video Standards. Back home, its NTSC while here it is PAL. So if you bought a TV from home here, you will need to get a PAL to NTSC converter for most of your video inputs and those little boxes can run upto $300 for the decent ones. So, basically you will have to spend some money to get the thing to work properly.


Not true. There is not a single TV on the market that is not PAL *and *NTSC compatible.

In fact just about every panel manufactured is actually neither PAL or NTSC - it converts the signal to it's native resolution. And when you start to talk about HD there is no difference at all.

If you really care:

PAL = 625 lines (rows of pixels) @ 25 times per second
NTSC = 525 lines @ 30 times per second.

SD Standard worldwide is:

720 x 576 @ 25fps or
720 x 480 @ 30fps

HD standard worldwide is 1920 x 1080 @ 50/60

Note the correlation to the different power standards (divide Hz by 2 = frames per second):

Most of world = 240v @ 50Hz
USA= 110v @ 60Hz

In reality, your TV physically has neither of these exact amount of lines and must stretch the picture to fit. So if it has to stretch anyway, doing it from PAL or NTSC is neither here nor there.

You might guess that I'm a video and electronics technician by trade, and cannot simply let mis-information go without correction. These will probably be questions asked by many moving here, so It's my duty to set the record straight


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## Nitro_From_Windsor (Sep 10, 2010)

funkyant said:


> Not true. There is not a single TV on the market that is not PAL *and *NTSC compatible.
> 
> In fact just about every panel manufactured is actually neither PAL or NTSC - it converts the signal to it's native resolution. And when you start to talk about HD there is no difference at all.
> 
> ...


The technical info you have on here is correct but I can speak from experience that there will be issue with PAL devices working on an NTSC TV. My parents bought their JVC HD camcorder that recorded in PAL (720p and 1080p) to Canada. It would not playback on my 55" Samsung 3D LED TV I have there (UN55C7000). It would say that the resolution was not supported. It was connected via an HDMI cable.

I am not an expert but I believe the TV had an issue with reading the 720 x 576 @ 25fp (PAL) as opposed to its native resolution of 720 x 480 @ 30fps (NTSC).

The Sony TV i bought here however, has the option to switch between all the different formats which is not present in the North American versions of the TV. Just my observations.


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## funkyant (Mar 27, 2010)

nitroproductions said:


> The technical info you have on here is correct but I can speak from experience that there will be issue with PAL devices working on an NTSC TV. My parents bought their JVC HD camcorder that recorded in PAL (720p and 1080p) to Canada. It would not playback on my 55" Samsung 3D LED TV I have there (UN55C7000). It would say that the resolution was not supported. It was connected via an HDMI cable.
> 
> I am not an expert but I believe the TV had an issue with reading the 720 x 576 @ 25fp (PAL) as opposed to its native resolution of 720 x 480 @ 30fps (NTSC).
> 
> The Sony TV i bought here however, has the option to switch between all the different formats which is not present in the North American versions of the TV. Just my observations.


I'd say you had the settings for the HDMI port in the camera wrong, as that particular panel is 1920 x 1080 native, which is neither NTSC or PAL


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## aboli (Dec 21, 2010)

Does anyone here know where can I buy a converter for PAL to NTSC for my Tv in Dubai??!! nowhere I can find this!!
help please!


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