[citation][nom]__Miguel_[/nom]Hmm, please let me clarify something, since this article, as most articles stating European prices and how those prices equate in terms of USD are usually a bit skewed from reality.To put it clearly: in Europe, you simply cannot state prices for consumer goods without applicable taxes being added, usually VAT (P&P are excluded, btw). You can do it if you're selling them to a company, but NOT for consumers. So, those prices are final retail prices if you want to pick them up from the store, which is not that bad, especially since it's rather common for companies to have a single price throughout the entire Euro-zone.Oddly enough, these prices are usually identical to what US residents see in on-line shops like NewEgg and similar (which don't show post-sales tax prices, AFAIK): a $199 card in the States usually costs €199 in Europe. I don't really know how, but at least on IT stuff, there is a 1:1 conversion ratio between Euro and US Dollar.In short, if history repeats itself, these cards are a probably more palatable $550 when they hit the US market. It's still a much better price than in the US, though, if it weren't for the damn unofficial 1:1 conversion rate, it would hit markets at ~€440, not €550...Miguel[/citation]
Europe is not a country, even thought 17 nations use the Euro each member state may have its own rate of VAT, sales tax, or other similar. Stating the price ex-VAT then gives the reader the opportunity to work out the cost applicable to them.