I was wondering, is there any reason why I should buy the Steam Deck abroad in France instead of in my home of Canada?
So I (Canadian) am surprising my friend (from France) with a Steam Deck in October when I go visit them. It will just be the cheaper LCD version, since they won’t care about (or notice) the difference in quality.
Aside from buying adapters for the plug, I literally can’t think of a reason why I should buy it directly in Europe as opposed to getting it in Canada. It would be a lot easier since I can have it delivered to my address, don’t need a specific day and time for it to be delivered, don’t have to deal with any issues of ordering things in a foreign country (sometimes you need to have a local address to order and have things delivered, etc)
That said, I wanted to still check and see if there’s something I’m forgetting or just outright unaware of. I know there’s specific power requirements for the Steam Deck, but mine worked just fine with an adapter when I was last there in January.
Warranty in Europe is typically stronger. And you might want to be closer to the shop where you’ll have to return it to, if it’s defective.
This is a really good point, thank you!
Mostly just EU consumer protections and ease of warranty service. If you buy in the EU you should get the standard 2y consumer electronics warranty but only 1y in NA. Verifiy that you can actually get a deck in france, apparently availability is spotty. Typically warranties are handled where you bought the item too, so if you ever need to make a warranty claim you might have to send the deck to Canada if you buy it before you leave.
https://www.douane.gouv.fr/fiche/volume-and-value-based-customs-and-tax-allowances
Value-based allowances, which apply to goods you’re carrying (purchases or gifts), mean that you don’t have to fill in a customs declaration or pay tax or duty. You don’t have to declare goods (including gifts) so long as their total value or their quantity doesn’t exceed the allowance limits.
The overall market value of goods cannot exceed the following amounts:
Arriving by plane or ferry: €430Any item whose value exceeds the limit must be declared and you will need to pay the amount of value added tax (VAT) and customs duties that would usually apply. These duties and taxes apply to the full purchase price on the receipt or an agreed-upon estimated value.
If you are bringing multiple items into the country, each item will count toward your overall limit; once you reach the limit, any surplus goods will be taxed.
Also note that the Steam Deck contains a Li-Ion battery and thus isn’t allowed in the cargo hold. So you’d have to take this into your carry-on onto the plane.
EDIT: Oh, and since it has a Li-Ion battery, you’ll have to take it out of its packaging and have it scanned separately during the security check. At least that’s how it usually is when travelling in the EU.
So you have to pay taxes if you bring your phone with you ? (Since it is probably more expensive than 430€)
That a doesn’t seem to be how it goes.
The difference, like the other commenter already pointed out, is whether you take something across a border, and then leave it there.
If you take the stuff you brought with you, back when you leave, then you didn’t import it. Import tax is exactly that, a tax on stuff moving from one country, to another. If you bring it in, and then out again, nothing changed.
As such personal items aren’t subject to this, because the owner is coming and leaving with them. Technically there’s a whole song and dance that should happen when you come and go, but that’s massively inefficient, so customs will just sit there and trust that if you have something to declare, you will.
And a lot of the time people don’t. Like a phone they bought while abroad. That’s technically something you need to pay for, but it’s not that harshly enforced. It just doesn’t matter compared to the import taxes collected for large commercial shipments.
Technically, yes. And you would be able to ask for those taxes back upon returning to your home country (with the same phone). But since this would create huge queues at the airports, nobody actually enforces that.
However, travelling with e.g. 2 Steam Decks or with one in its original packaging raises suspicion and you could get stopped when going through the green portal at the airport.
I haven’t had any issues last time when I brought my OLED Steam Deck into France, and typically I only bring carry-on. Then again, I also really don’t mind traveling light.
I would try to somehow order it in france.
Having the EU plug on the actual charger is just nicer, but more importantly, the warranty is longer.
The power adapter accepts 100-240V, and the same one is used worldwide. They just put different plugs on it (you can see the seams if you look close).
Any brick can output 60w these days. The charger is definitely not worth it
It’s less about the output and more about the fact that having to carry an adapter makes the whole setup larger, heavier and uglier.
Adapter? What are you talking about? Any usb c charger works gor steamdeck and they are super cheap rn.
So you’re saying buy the US one, throw the charger that comes with it in the trash, then buy another?
Wasteful.
I didn’t have a USB PD charger that went above 15W until the one that came with my Deck. I use it as a slightly slightly faster phone charger, too.
And no, the vast majority of new ones do not go above 20W, either. It just checked. Sure they all work, but your claim that “any” charger hits 60W is complete nonsense.
Eh I’m not petty pinching e-waste on a charger
I’m having trouple parsing this comment into a sentence that makes sense. You don’t penny pinch e-waste? What?
Either way, a lot of people won’t think about this in terms of mere monetary value. Every bit of plastic counts.
And that’s before considering that not everyone can afford to make trivial purchases. And even if you can afford it, I can’t imagine making purchases without thinking about it beyond whether I have the money. That some people don’t think past that, contributes to tons of problems.
I could easily afford a more convenient and smaller GaN charger to replace the one I got with my Deck, but it wouldn’t really bring me any new value. Every cent I’d spend on that purchase would be more efficient when used for something else.
If not for my needs, then someone elses.
People care. And they should. You bother me, because behind your comments, is the suggesting that we shouldn’t. To you, one less piece of waste is “not worth it”. That’s wrong.
Nah man thats a waste of time. There are much better way you can reduce e-waste and buy 1 more charging brick.
I’d say dont worry about it. You are absolutely free to take it and there are no region locks between Canada and Europe. I always travel with full suitcases of Japanese gear back to Europe no problem and it’s like 50% cheaper compared to European prices.
