New Shiny - Nexus 5 32GB in Black
I've needed a new phone for a while now. My first edition HTC Desire from a gazillion years ago is starting to get quite battered and its second battery is now starting to fail, prompting me to finally give up and buy a new phone.
The problem I have with buying a new phone is researching them; I always end up finding something amazing that isn't yet available, which means a new phone never ends up being purchased. This time though my research wish list item from earlier this year was the Nexus 5, and given that my HTC Desire is due for retirement I have decided to stick to my guns, not look at any new shinies that are coming out in the next few months. I have closed my eyes to the Phone Arena phone compare tool - it will not taunt me with the pretty 50tetragigamegabyte camera phones covered in bling that would make a magpie envious.
So, having decided to actually buy a new phone, it's time to research prices.
As you probably know, this little gem of a phone isn't yet released in NZ. Pah! No problem. It's available on the Google Play store for US$399(32GB) or US$349(16GB).
Purchasing Stage 1 - Go to Google Play Store. Denied. You can only buy a device from the Google Play store if you live in the States. Google tells you to 'go away because we don't want your money you horrible foreigner'. I tried setting up through a US proxy but none of the buy now buttons would work - tried several different proxies, all to no avail. Nevermind, it doesn't really matter that I can't buy it on Google Play as they've sold out and there's a 2-3 week delay. Maybe that's why the buy now button doesn't work. Hmmm....
Purchasing Stage 2 - See if an NZ based company has managed to bypass the Google Play defences and get their mitts on the shiny lovelies. Only one so far, Parallel Imported. They are selling the 16GB Nexus 5 for $769 with a delivery estimate of 7-10 days. Ouch. Considering the 16GB version is US$349 retail on the Google Play store (which works out at NZ$425 on xe.com today) that's quite a mark up. I'm paying NZ$120 for shipping, that still would only work out at $545 if I could just get the damn Google Play store to work - ah well.... So after taking delivery costs into account, they are marking up over $200 on each phone - I suggest haggling with them if you have the urge to be annoying - I did consider it as I do enjoy a good bout of annoyingness, but decided that 7-10 days was too long to wait.
Purchasing Stage 3 - Look on Amazon
who very helpfully bill you in NZ dollars so you can see how much it's costing you complete with postage. Here I find a 32GB Black version (sold out on Google Play) for US$499, with shipping it came to NZ$749.
So for $20 less than PI I have the 32GB version and it's being shipped directly to me. Would have still preferred to pay US$100 less as those of us in Non-US countries could do with a bit of a break on the high prices, but things are what they are and I doubt they will change before my HTC Desire dies completely.
Below is a picture of new Shiny - image provided by the internets. I will post a review and more pictures when it arrives. I am now off to dance around like a crazy person who is a little bit excited about a new shiny, and then I will go onto the Zagg page to buy all the protection my new lovely needs.
The problem I have with buying a new phone is researching them; I always end up finding something amazing that isn't yet available, which means a new phone never ends up being purchased. This time though my research wish list item from earlier this year was the Nexus 5, and given that my HTC Desire is due for retirement I have decided to stick to my guns, not look at any new shinies that are coming out in the next few months. I have closed my eyes to the Phone Arena phone compare tool - it will not taunt me with the pretty 50tetragigamegabyte camera phones covered in bling that would make a magpie envious.
So, having decided to actually buy a new phone, it's time to research prices.
As you probably know, this little gem of a phone isn't yet released in NZ. Pah! No problem. It's available on the Google Play store for US$399(32GB) or US$349(16GB).
Purchasing Stage 1 - Go to Google Play Store. Denied. You can only buy a device from the Google Play store if you live in the States. Google tells you to 'go away because we don't want your money you horrible foreigner'. I tried setting up through a US proxy but none of the buy now buttons would work - tried several different proxies, all to no avail. Nevermind, it doesn't really matter that I can't buy it on Google Play as they've sold out and there's a 2-3 week delay. Maybe that's why the buy now button doesn't work. Hmmm....
Purchasing Stage 2 - See if an NZ based company has managed to bypass the Google Play defences and get their mitts on the shiny lovelies. Only one so far, Parallel Imported. They are selling the 16GB Nexus 5 for $769 with a delivery estimate of 7-10 days. Ouch. Considering the 16GB version is US$349 retail on the Google Play store (which works out at NZ$425 on xe.com today) that's quite a mark up. I'm paying NZ$120 for shipping, that still would only work out at $545 if I could just get the damn Google Play store to work - ah well.... So after taking delivery costs into account, they are marking up over $200 on each phone - I suggest haggling with them if you have the urge to be annoying - I did consider it as I do enjoy a good bout of annoyingness, but decided that 7-10 days was too long to wait.
Purchasing Stage 3 - Look on Amazon
who very helpfully bill you in NZ dollars so you can see how much it's costing you complete with postage. Here I find a 32GB Black version (sold out on Google Play) for US$499, with shipping it came to NZ$749.So for $20 less than PI I have the 32GB version and it's being shipped directly to me. Would have still preferred to pay US$100 less as those of us in Non-US countries could do with a bit of a break on the high prices, but things are what they are and I doubt they will change before my HTC Desire dies completely.
Below is a picture of new Shiny - image provided by the internets. I will post a review and more pictures when it arrives. I am now off to dance around like a crazy person who is a little bit excited about a new shiny, and then I will go onto the Zagg page to buy all the protection my new lovely needs.
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