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crowe-t

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 7, 2014
332
76
Satellite Of Love
I'm looking into buying a Mac Mini on E-Bay. It has a model number which I believe is Canadian: MXNG2VC/A. The United States version has the model number:MRTT2LL/A

Will a Mac with a Canadian model number work in the United States? Is it just the model number that's different?
 

HDFan

Contributor
Jun 30, 2007
7,290
3,342
Dunno about model number differences but buying from ebay is risky.
 

crowe-t

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 7, 2014
332
76
Satellite Of Love
It's new in a box and the seller has great feedback. I need an Intel Mini for some older programs. I need to know if it'll work in the US. I believe the only difference is the model number.
 

DeltaMac

macrumors G5
Jul 30, 2003
13,757
4,583
Delaware
Your mini will need to have a green card to work in the US. :D

Nah, just kidding. The number is just an order number, and only is a reference within the original selling country. Used to be more important when dial-up modems, or other country specific hardware might prevent use in (some) other countries. The only difference between US and Can units would be that number on the label (and that it was originally meant to be sold in Canada... but you already know that)
Is there any difference in the power cord? (I don't recall, but the identifiying label might show a different set of compliance standards, required on tech sold in Canada (?) )
 
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EugW

macrumors G5
Jun 18, 2017
14,900
12,878
Yes it will work fine. BTW, I'm in Canada, and I'm posting this from a Mac mini purchased from the US on eBay.

And the good thing about Mac minis is you don't have to worry about the keyboard, because there isn't one. Some of the Canadian Macs may come with the Canadian French keyboard, which sucks IMO.

Is there any difference in the power cord? (I don't recall, but the identifiying label might show a different set of compliance standards, required on tech sold in Canada (?) )
It will work the same, as both countries are 120 V / 60 Hz, with the same plug. IIRC the cord doesn't even have a tag, does it?

EDIT:

I forgot to mention: Make sure the seller ships to the US with an appropriate shipping method. You don't want to get hit with extra brokerage charges from the shipper.
 
Last edited:

crowe-t

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 7, 2014
332
76
Satellite Of Love
Yes it will work fine. BTW, I'm in Canada, and I'm posting this from a Mac mini purchased from the US on eBay.

And the good thing about Mac minis is you don't have to worry about the keyboard, because there isn't one. Some of the Canadian Macs may come with the Canadian French keyboard, which sucks IMO.


It will work the same, as both countries are 120 V / 60 Hz, with the same plug. IIRC the cord doesn't even have a tag, does it?
Thanks.

What E-bay seller did you get your Mac Mini from?
 

EugW

macrumors G5
Jun 18, 2017
14,900
12,878
What E-bay seller did you get your Mac Mini from?
Some dude in Maryland who doesn't seem to sell that many Macs. I just checked and the only Mac he has for sale right now is a 2011 11" MacBook Air. No Mac minis.
 
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crowe-t

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 7, 2014
332
76
Satellite Of Love
Yes it will work fine. BTW, I'm in Canada, and I'm posting this from a Mac mini purchased from the US on eBay.

And the good thing about Mac minis is you don't have to worry about the keyboard, because there isn't one. Some of the Canadian Macs may come with the Canadian French keyboard, which sucks IMO.


It will work the same, as both countries are 120 V / 60 Hz, with the same plug. IIRC the cord doesn't even have a tag, does it?

EDIT:

I forgot to mention: Make sure the seller ships to the US with an appropriate shipping method. You don't want to get hit with extra brokerage charges from the shipper.
The seller is located in the US so extra charges are not a problem.
 

MajorFubar

macrumors 68020
Oct 27, 2021
2,174
3,826
Lancashire UK
Without wanting to sound confrontational at all, why did you even think it wouldn't work? You're even on the same voltage and mains frequency, which I'm not sure would be an issue anyway: I think the modern power supplies automatically switch.
 
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crowe-t

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 7, 2014
332
76
Satellite Of Love
Without wanting to sound confrontational at all, why did you even think it wouldn't work? You're even on the same voltage and mains frequency, which I'm not sure would be an issue anyway: I think the modern power supplies automatically switch.
I wasn't sure if there was anything else about the Canadian Mac that was different.
 

Vlad Soare

macrumors 6502a
Mar 23, 2019
675
652
Bucharest, Romania
UK would be more problematic, as it would be right-hand drive, and you'd have to place it backwards on your desk and to use the mouse with your left hand. Canadian should be fine though; no issues there.
On a more serious note, make sure it doesn't come with a French keyboard. Those are absobloodylutely horrendous. You don't know how good you are at swearing until you try to use one of those. No kidding.
 
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EugW

macrumors G5
Jun 18, 2017
14,900
12,878
UK would be more problematic, as it would be right-hand drive, and you'd have to place it backwards on your desk and to use the mouse with your left hand.
I am a right-handed Canadian, but I often use the mouse for my American Mac mini left-handed. :)


Is there any difference in the power cord? (I don't recall, but the identifiying label might show a different set of compliance standards, required on tech sold in Canada (?) )
Even the UK electrical isn't a problem. The cord is removable and you can just buy a US/Canadian cord for $4. The Mac mini supports 100-240 V / 50-60 Hz. As @MajorFubar says, they're auto switching.
 
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usagora

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2017
4,869
4,456
Dunno about model number differences but buying from ebay is risky.

No, eBay has pretty stringent buyer protection in place. If you receive a bum unit or otherwise not as described item, you simply open a case and if the seller fails to make it right, eBay will step in and override them. So I wouldn't hesitate for a second to buy a Mac off eBay. Obviously, you still want to do your due diligence and avoid purchasing from a seller whose listing isn't detailed or doesn't include actual photos, has a mediocre seller rating, etc. to avoid a higher chance of a bad transaction to begin with.

I'd say selling on eBay is riskier than buying.
 

MajorFubar

macrumors 68020
Oct 27, 2021
2,174
3,826
Lancashire UK
I'd say selling on eBay is riskier than buying.
I'd definitely agree. Commonly, in my experience, by unpaying winners. Sellers should be able to specify an option in their listing which only allows people to bid who agree to nominate an immediate-payment method at the time of bidding, such as PayPal or ApplePay (etc). If they win, the seller should be instantly paid from that bidder's nominated account. There are already controls in place to fish-out bogus sellers, but very little to control the number of bogus bidders.
 
Last edited:

eltoslightfoot

macrumors 68030
Feb 25, 2011
2,547
3,101
No, eBay has pretty stringent buyer protection in place. If you receive a bum unit or otherwise not as described item, you simply open a case and if the seller fails to make it right, eBay will step in and override them. So I wouldn't hesitate for a second to buy a Mac off eBay. Obviously, you still want to do your due diligence and avoid purchasing from a seller whose listing isn't detailed or doesn't include actual photos, has a mediocre seller rating, etc. to avoid a higher chance of a bad transaction to begin with.

I'd say selling on eBay is riskier than buying.
I agree with this. There are many, many buyer protections between eBay and Paypal. There are not many seller protections. I quit selling my tech there when they required me to use my checking account as the place to deposit funds.

edited to add: Swappa for the win!
 
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Le Big Mac

macrumors 68030
Jan 7, 2003
2,840
437
Washington, DC
Without wanting to sound confrontational at all, why did you even think it wouldn't work? You're even on the same voltage and mains frequency, which I'm not sure would be an issue anyway: I think the modern power supplies automatically switch.
Perhaps a legacy of the DVD regional codes that somehow might transfer over to online streaming devices? Of course the DVD codes put US and Canada in the same region. Or if you want to go further back, the PAL/SECAM/NTSC encoding for analog television? Though again US/Canada were both NTSC.
 
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usagora

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2017
4,869
4,456
Check out all of the posts in MacRumors about ebay scams.

I never denied there are scammers on eBay. I'm saying eBay will cover you in those cases where you don't receive what was advertised. So I suggest people simply use common sense when making eBay purchases and in the rare cases when they do that and still get "scammed" (either intentionally or just a stupid seller), then they're not out their hard-earned cash because eBay will cover them.
 

EugW

macrumors G5
Jun 18, 2017
14,900
12,878
Check out all of the posts in MacRumors about ebay scams.
What are the scams mainly?

I see a lot of stuff on eBay like people selling empty boxes, people selling as-is equipment as "not tested" which actually usually means they tested it and it doesn't work, laptops with dying batteries, heavy scratches, and the big one: Sellers advertising "2020" Macs just because they can run macOS Big Sur.

OTOH, there are a lot of sellers that do high volume who have excellent feedback and who are absolutely clear in their eBay listings of what they're selling.
 
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