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Hi Dionasaurus! Welcome mate.

I would definitely go for a parallel import. What it says on the Vodafone website is just cautionary so that nobody can go complaining to them. All you need to do is get a C902, then put Vodafone's K850i GPRS and MMS settings on it, which are exactly the same. You can do it via the SE website or the Vodafone website I believe.

There are many benefits of buying a parallel import. Firstly, they are always cheaper, and often as low as half the price Vodafone releases them at. Secondly, you don't get the Vodafone branding, and you get to have the phone as Sony Ericsson intended. And thirdly you can have it now, and not in several months, if Vodafone even ends up bringing it here!

All I would advise is to go to a parallel importer that you trust, and buy a one year warranty. Most importers don't offer a warranty as standard, and it would suck to buy a faulty phone with no way to get it fixed except pay. Usually 1 year warranties are about $60 on top of the phone's cost. Just gives you that peace of mind.

Trustworthy Parallel Importers I have dealt with are:
www.parallelimported.co.nz
www.etown.co.nz (for this one, check under 3G phones and GSM phones, they mix all their phones up, I don't know why)

BTW, I'm going to add your name to the first post of this thread. We have a list of all the New Zealand members active within the last year and links to their posts.
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Posted: 2008-07-11 03:25:30
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@Dionasaurus: I have to correct myself. I went down to my local bookshop today and saw the latest MyMobile magazine which had a C902 review, which basically confirms its coming to NZ quite soon.

No price was listed yet (it said 'To Be Confirmed'). I'd say it will be more than the K850i, and I'd definitely still say go for an import!
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Posted: 2008-07-11 13:07:49
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If the price is yet to be confirmed, then I wouldn't hold my breath for it.
I was in at an importer last weekend who had the C902 and W890 advertised for sale but when I asked to see them they said they were awaiting stock.

This seems to be the Modus Operandi for importers of phones in NZ. Advertise what you don't have, don't stock accessories, don't know how anything works, speak english okay until the sale is made and after that it's "Me no understand", plus charge extra for a 12 month warranty which is illegal under the consumer guarantees act unless you buy 'As Is, Where Is' which you wouldn't with a $500+ cellphone.

Vodafone stores aren't much better TBH.
They also advertise what they don't have, don't stock accessories, don't understand features, some still don't speak english well, but you will get decent after-sales service and 12 month warranty included in the price, but expect to pay exorbitant prices for anything just released and anything thats reasonably priced will be considered old here on Esato.

NZ pricing is volitile as demonstrated a couple of pages back when I posted NZ sales figures (the graph lines were jagged in the extreme, just like a seimograph, which is a good analogy actually ) and which Muhammad-Oli unfortunately found out to his cost. Anyone buying the V640i in Feb for $399 would have been caught out too, but to a lesser degree - this phone is now selling at 5/8's of its original price which was already only 40% of that of the K850i.

BTW, the V640i specs match or exceed that of the iPhone 3G in almost every way which makes its current $249 price the best value on the NZ market and an absolute must have. iPhone at $979 (8GB) betters it only in larger screen, larger memory (which an M2 card can match), GPS (available with an SE accessory overseas), Accelerometer (available on W910), reading email attachments and Wifi compatiblity. The V640i is BT Personal Area Network compatible so could use BT to connect to a home network instead of Wifi so this is not such a disadvantage as it seems. K770, W910, K850, C902 (any SE with BT V2.0) can do this also.



Buying SE phones in NZ is a hit-and-miss affair and lets hope Telecom and NZ communications sort this out in November. In fact I'm gonna email them about it, just to be sure.

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[ This Message was edited by: carkitter on 2008-07-12 02:45 ]
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Posted: 2008-07-12 02:42:49
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@carkitter: Yeah I fully agree with you. We really don't have any good options for buying a mobile phone in New Zealand. I think Telecom's swap to a better network is going to be the most interesting thing that can happen for New Zealand mobile phone retailers. I just hope Telecom stocks some nice SE phones!

BTW: Exciting times with the Esato awards going on! I voted for more than one New Zealander, I'll say that much! Shhhh...
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Posted: 2008-07-15 16:12:40
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Yes exciting indeed, not many Aussies been around lately (other than Masseur) so some kiwis might be in with a chance of best Australasian.

My vote for best thread was this one and for best post I chose this one. And that's all I'm giving away...
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Posted: 2008-07-16 09:19:18
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Well I'll say that my 'best thread' was the same as yours! That's enough giving stuff away now.
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Posted: 2008-07-16 11:02:32
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Had a read of the C902 review in My Mobile tonight, that Dushan Delic really is poor at writing and reviewing. His percentage ratings should be taken with a healthy dose of salt...
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Posted: 2008-07-16 13:14:30
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Haha, yeah he's awful. I didn't read the review because I feel bad reading a magazine and not buying it.

What was so bad about his C902 review? What I don't like about that magazine is that they copy and paste from other reviews even though those other reviews have some bad English. Sometimes they even make the mistake of not changing the name of the phone they are reviewing when they paste it in...
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Posted: 2008-07-16 13:27:53
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K well I have a bit of a problem. I hope someone can help me out. The thing is, I'm looking at getting a C702 very shortly, but I'm a bit confused about where to buy and where the hidden charges may lie.

Firstly I will lay out my options:

1. Expert Info-tech can get me a black C702 for $535.01 (what's with the one cent?) + $59.95 for a one year warranty + $12.45 for delivery. So $607.41 all up.

2. E-Town can offer one in black for $599.98 + $23 delivery and I can't find out how much a one year warranty will be. If anyone can help that would be great. So $622.98 + unknown warranty charge (if they even offer one).

3. Plemix.com have the same for $460.57 +$53.39 one year warranty + $38.71 for shipping. That comes to a total of $552.67.

So why am I not going for the Plemix one? Well there will be an import tax on it which is worrying me. Firstly, I don't know how much it will be, and so it may end up being more expensive than the NZ suppliers (or out of my price range even), and secondly I don't know how I am supposed to pay this import tax.

If one of you know (K71 maybe seeing you had experience with this!), it would be great if you could let me know!

There are a few things worrying me about the other two options too.

E-Town:
1. I have dealt with them before, buying a Z550i for my girlfriend and they were friendly enough. But they sent the phone in the wrong colour. My girlfriend didn't mind, but I don't want the hassle if they decide to send me a Cyan C702 which I will have to send back.
2. There is no guarantee it won't be branded in some way.
3. They have the dodgiest looking website I've ever seen.

Otherwise I would be ok with buying from them, but they are the most expensive option at the moment.

Expert-Infotech:
1. Carkitter, you have had experience with these guys. They sound like an extremely dodgy outfit, despite now having a nice enough website, etc.
2. I wonder whether the phones are branded or not, whether they'll get my order right, and whether they actually have the C702 in stock!

Any kind of comments on Expert-Infotech would be appreciated, as well as E-Town if you have anything to say.

Another reason for my paranoia about the NZ importers is that being from Christchurch, I can not see before I buy. When I purchased my K700i from Parallel Imported in Auckland, it came with photos already taken on it, which were of their shop, kind of proving they had a play with it before sending it. When my brother bought a K300i from them, his phone was a branded one, with some Spanish stickers (rather than Quickshare) and software branding that looked horrible.

With Plemix, I have seen photos of the kind of stock they have which is unbranded and looks great. Plus I have the backing of several Esato users who have used them with no problems. They also have a respectable website that lists all the information I need right where I want it.

I think I have covered all I have to say. Please, any advice, comments or alternatives would be greatly appreciated.

I am not interested in E-bay, TradeMe or buying from a person rather than a store though. I don't want to be scammed, ripped off, or buy a second-hand phone!

Thanks in advance guys!
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Posted: 2008-07-16 14:23:44
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"No revenue collection will be made if the total amount owing on the goods imported is less than $50. This revenue waiver does not apply to alcohol or tobacco products."

this is a quote from the NZ Customs website page : http://www.customs.govt.nz/im[....]ustoms+Charges.htm#paraTitle01 so have a read to familiarise yo' bad self wid it.

basically if the GST calculated on the value of the phone including postage and insurance is more than nz$50, then you will have to pay.

so Plemix = $460.57 + $53.39 (warranty) + $38.71 (post) = $552.67 x 0.125 (gst) = nz$69.08.
therefore buying through Plemix would end up costing you nz$621.75.

the GST is either paid to the courier company when the item is delivered to you (cash, cheque, or credit card), or NZ Customs will send you an invoice for the amount owing, and then send the item on to you when you have paid.

of course it really depends on the Plemix policy of reducing the overall value of the item.if the overall value was reduced down to say nz$380, that would give a gst amount of nz$47.50, which is below the nz$50 threshold (nz$400 gives nz$50 gst exactly).

as far as i know the gst charge is the only one that should apply, as my G900 only had an extra gst value to pay on delivery.
this is also my third phone through ebay, and although it is a bit risky, SE phones generally seem to be ok stability wise.of course my G900 could shit itself tomorrow, but the seller i bought it had a free one year warranty sign on the auction when i bought it (whether they would live up to that is another matter of course!!), so there may be some type of cover at the end of the day.

[ This Message was edited by: K71 on 2008-07-17 13:01 ]
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Posted: 2008-07-17 13:49:59
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