I may have time to drive from Buffalo into Canada this Monday (tomorow) to buy a DVDR w/HDD (Pioneer or LG probably - the Philips w/ATSC tuner just doesn't sound quality enough for me and maybe I'm wrong...)

Any thoughts? There is a Best Buy in St. Catharines, which is right on the border by Buffalo - I don't have all the time in the world - it will be jammed into a difficult itinerary.

Does anyone know what happens in customs when you declare you bought it coming back into USA?

Thanks in advance.

I read somewhere else that we are able to bring something like $800 back duty free from Canada. Any DVDR should be under that. You probably won't find any Panny EH-55s left but shouldn't have any problem getting the newest Pios x60s. You might even find some good deals on last years x50s. Note none will have a digital tuner, only our analog NTSC tuners.
Personally I'd stay away from the LGs, never had luck with LG products myself. Lots of people on AVS swear by(not at) the Pios, so I don't think you could go wrong with one of those.
Earlier this summer I saw NIB 650's at Future Shop(BB) going for $399 but again they were closing them out. The 550s were the same price on less of a clearance.

edit:actually the 650 FS had was $299 clearance but I opted for a Panny EH-55 open box for $269 and love it. Either price was very good IMO.
Below, GREAT! the US dollar is worth more again. Earlier this summer it was the reverse and it cost me more US for a CND dollar.

2001 Audio Video

http://www.2001audiovideo.com/index.php

-several stores in Toronto area and a store in Burlington
which is closer to Buffalo

Pioneer 550 HK $330 (last years model) (plus 13% tax)
560 $450 " "
660 $500 " "

-exchange rate is approx: 1 $US = 1.06 $CAN

So I call the Burlington 2001 from Buffalo and the guy won't talk prices but says he has everything. I get there and there is only ONE 550 left in the entire 2001 inventory - and it was in toronto. So I gave up and went home.

From what I can tell from talking with various border guards, you get $200 allowance for a less than 24 hr visit. Anything made in US or Canada there is NO LIMIT to what you can bring over. DVDR, made in Japan, the US guard said, they would most likely just let it pass because they are after commercial stuff. Something for personal use they have latitude to forget about it.

The 560 660 I would get just as cheap from, what is it, worldimporters.com???

The URL is here (http://www.world-import.com/panasonic-dvd-r.htm) and yes, they have both, the 560 and 660 listed.

World Import has the Pioneer 550 and 650, both with NTSC tuners. These are more-or-less identical to the newer 560 and 660, the new models offer additional minor jukebox features. The 550 is the best value-per-dollar that World Import has, I wouldn't spend the additional $80 for the 650. The model 340 is a global version of the older 640 but with a smaller 80GB drive: no great shakes. Avoid the Pioneer 555 model variations, these are weird with NTSC. And under no circumstances should anyone opt for the insanely expensive Pioneer LX70: the cost only adds a European DVT/B digital tuner to the standard 650 chassis. Unless you think you'll move to London in the next year or two, you don't need an LX70.

Wish they'd bring the price down on that LX70. If it were more reasonable I'd probably have one by now.

Just would like it to put my CD music collection on.

Oh, another customs thing: Supposedly, if you buy something in CA and bring back to USA, you can apply to get back some of the tax(es) you paid for the CA purchase. I don't know where you have to go to get this. I don't think yo can do it from the lanes???

Yeah - California is like another country now.

Oh - you meant Canada? Sorry.

Usually you have to park and stop by their building to get something stamped, although if you're worried about duty fees it's probably best to just forgo getting the taxes back, otherwise they might slap you with the import fee, which may be more than the tax money you'd get back.

"Yeah - California is like another country now.

Oh - you meant Canada? Sorry." :D I thought the same thing, California's broken off to it's own country, and it's native language is Spanish:D

Hey, I wonder what is available in Mexico? (hehe)

Probably not much different from here. If it ain't made in China, it usually comes from there - or at least it seems.

Oh, another customs thing: Supposedly, if you buy something in CA and bring back to USA, you can apply to get back some of the tax(es) you paid for the CA purchase.

Unfortunately, this rebate was discontinued last year (http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/gi/notice221/notice221-e.html). :(

World Import has the Pioneer 550 and 650, both with NTSC tuners. These are more-or-less identical to the newer 560 and 660, the new models offer additional minor jukebox features...
Well, did I get my numbers wrong or what? :confused: 550, 560, 650, 660. My dyslexia kicked in big time. :( Thanks for fixing my mistake.