Notebooks available to England?

[Ribena-Toothkind]

Hello

I've been on the hunt for a laptop with the ability to play the latest 3D games (Preferably ATI 9000), and also basics such as word processing.

If I were to order internationaly I would have to pay 17.5% duty as well as 4% tax Which makes most foreign high-spec laptops out of my budget. (Not to forget shipping costs)

I have only been able to discover, so far, two websites that sell laptops with the specs I require.

Alienware.co.uk
Dell.co.uk

I have heard good and bad things about both, so cannot decide which one to go with!

I plan on using the laptop for mostly home (gaming) and college use, so mobility isn't really a big issue. This has made me lean towards the Alienware Area51m model, but it is also a fair bit more expensive.

Anyhow, I would be very greatful if any other UK citizins could share their knowledge of importing from other countries. Also, feel free to post any other sites I may have missed which are UK based.

BTW, the price difference is around £400 (~$650), is a slightly faster (alienware) notebook really worth it?

Thanks in advance for any response!

[kieran]

i imported my dell8200 from the us(dell.com), making use of a good deal they offered at that time.
thus i bought my system for 2200 dollars, the same from dell.de would have cost me around 4300eur at the time.
when i got it i pay 16% of taxes though, raising the price to 2600.
i still saved 1700eur.
i guess i could have easily smuggled the computer out so as not to pay the taxes, but being a seaman i have to cross the customs often, so i did not want to take the risk.
i shipped mine with a ship i was employed on, but i also learned that there are such things as mail forwarding companies who can do that part for you.
mail though gets checked frequently to my experience...
so my overall experience:
good deal even with paying the taxes! if you have the possibility you might want to try to evade that, i guess.