PlayStation® General

[Calvin100085]

Hi,

I've never owned a PS 3 before, so I need some help.  I plan to buy a PS 3 on the Black Friday sale in the United States. I'm a Canadian and I live in Canada.  They're selling for $199 for the 250 GB console and I want to know if I will have problems buying a U.S. based PS 3 if I bring it back to Canada to play at home.

1. Will there be warranty problems if I have issues?
2. Will the PS 3 network work from Canada if I bought it in the U.S.?
3. Have you heard any stories that suggest I should buy it in Canada if I intend to only use it in Canada?

Thanks.

[CaptainAlbator]

You shouldn't have any problem. Region 1 encompasses the US and Canada. The only thing you might have to worry about is when you bring it across the border, the Canadian border patrol might want you to pay taxes on it. Not joking around on that one. 

[Art_Addict]

Based on personal experience, if you buy a PS3 from a different country or state, it might only affect certain features on the PS3, and sometimes might also affect the PS3 internet browser, like it displaying a message about the certificate the PS3 was registered with etc. So I would probably advice getting the one that's from your hometown.

[Calvin100085]

The border is always an issue.  We'll see how that goes.

[Calvin100085]

Hmmm, you raised a really good point. Now, my concern is the game discs. If I buy PS 3 games in the United States, and buy PS 3 games in Canada, will I have read errors or compatibility problems? Oh nooooo....because buying the PS3 in Canada is going to cost me a lot more money, like over $100 more.....

[Tribble6]

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Calvin100085 wrote:
Hmmm, you raised a really good point. Now, my concern is the game discs. If I buy PS 3 games in the United States, and buy PS 3 games in Canada, will I have read errors or compatibility problems? Oh nooooo....because buying the PS3 in Canada is going to cost me a lot more money, like over $100 more.....

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You're good on the game discs as they're region free and even if they were restricted to region 1, like most DVD's and Blu-ray's, you're also good as region one covers U.S. and Canada (as indicated by CaptainAlbator).

[CaptainAlbator]

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Calvin100085 wrote:
Hmmm, you raised a really good point. Now, my concern is the game discs. If I buy PS 3 games in the United States, and buy PS 3 games in Canada, will I have read errors or compatibility problems? Oh nooooo....because buying the PS3 in Canada is going to cost me a lot more money, like over $100 more.....

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I know from experience when sending books and CD's across the US-Canadian border they want the titles and estimated value. But if you go across the border on a regular basis, you can probably get away with saying "they're gifts". It shouldn't be too big a deal, since you're not bringing cases of games across the border for resale. One or two, they probably won't care. 

[rego00123]

just make sure the psn account you make is in canada and not in the us. the rest is all the same

as for the duty fee's at the boarder, if you are there less then 24 hours you will get hit with duty fee's for any "large amount" you declare. stay over 24 hours and you will be able to purchase up to $800 worth and not have to pay a cent on return

you can "omit" that you bought the ps3 while over, but you always run the risk of being pulled in for a random check (very rare). the boarder patrol isnt stupid they know why people make under 24 hour trip to the us. that all said, they really are not worried about people smuggling ps3's into the country, they are worried about serious crimes. you should be ok.

if you are REALLY worried they will make you declare the ps3 just take it out of the packaging and keep it in your trunk. they have no idea what you had in there before crossing but a fully boxed product still in "like new" condition will tell another story to them. its really upto you