Any potential problems buying a camcorder intended for the US market ?

[CW1]

Hi,
Have seen a camcorder I'm interested in that has a US suffix on the model number. Although they're on sale in the UK I'm assuming it's a US model, and it's a fraction of the price of the UK model. What potential problems could there be ? It has both a hard drive and an SD slot, and I'd probably eventually copy the recordings to DVD rather than store them on my PC.

[Answerprancer]

The only issues I can see that may conflict with UK use are a) the operating voltage of the charger and b) if it's set up to store videos as NTSC rather than PAL.
The latter is most likely to be a selectable option though.

[CW1]

Wow that was quick ! Wasn't expecting an answer this time of the morning, thanks.
That's pretty much what I was thinking too, but would using an adaptor solve a voltage issue ? Would only be a minor inconvenience (?) ...

[ChuckFickens]

Aside from the problems you may get with power voltages and frequency and the issues with the different video formats used in America you would also have to pay 4.9% import duty and 17.5% VAT on the item when you bring it into the UK and then if it goes wrong you have no local place to return it under warranty.

[VHG]

You say on sale in the UK, but is this on a "UK" web site?

If so note many people from say China set up UK web sites to look like they are UK based but in fact are based in China (or other far east countries).

If it is from the far east it may well be a cheap copy so beware.

Where is it for sale?

[CW1]

It's already in the UK and it's second hand so taxes, duties and warranties don't apply. And it's for sale on "that" UK auction site (where I'm very experienced and have bought high value goods before), a private seller who does look genuine so I'm not concerned about authenticity.
A camcorder's something I won't be using a lot so while it'd be nice to have a high end one, there's no point me spending £100s. This one, being less than a third of the price new, looks ideal but not if it's gonna be a load of hassle.

[CW1]

Had an e-mail from the seller, she confirmed it was bought in the UK, and had seen another cheap one (about half the RRP) on the same auction site for nearly double the price of the one I was interested in, and that had sold, so - I bought it ! Lovely little thing, like new, AND it turned out the seller had used the wrong MPN, it was actually REK so a UK one !
A SNIP !

[ChuckFickens]

Nice one, glad it worked out and thanks for letting us know.