€urope ripped off by PC companies?

LAST TIME WE LOOKED, one €uro was equal to US $1.00910 and on one day last week the European currency was worth more than the US dollar.

Why, then, do Europeans have to pay so much more for products, many of which are manufactured outside of the US anyway, or include components which come from goodness only where?

Maybe it's because we're suckers. This magazine has already pointed out that the good old tried and trusted £1 = $1 scam has operated here in Blighty for quite some time.

Indeed, when Microsoft launched its little Xbox in the UK, Vole UK attempted to tell the INQ that £299 was, for all intents and purposes, the same as $299, so re-valuing the pound at a stroke.

But here's some examples of how €uropeans are being ripped off as we speak.

Apple Store quotes the following for the up and coming iMac 17-incher for the following configuration as $1,999 in the US, but a staggering €2,638 (VAT included) in the Italian Apple Store.

The configuration is for a 17-inch widescreen LCD flat panel, an 800MHz PowerPC G4, an Nvidia GeForce4 MX, 256MB SDRAM, 80GB Ultra ATA hard drive, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K internal modem, and Apple Pro Speakers.

The same configuration costs £1,649 in the UK, which equates to $2,600.64, including VAT, £1,403.40 without British tax. That's $2,213.30.

VAT rates wary widely throughout €uropa - here's an EU page that describes policy on the inquitous tax and its anomalies. µ