International travel adapter w/ Surge Protection

[JonnyBowley]

Hey guys,

I have a question for all you frequent fliers out there.

I've been looking for an international travel surge protector to use with my Macbook for when me and my g/f go on our RTW trip next year. I know, I know, forward planning!

Now, I've searched the forums and found a thread from someone looking for a similar product here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/210343/

I'm having the same amount of luck as them (that is, no luck) and at first considered using a variable voltage travel adapter and the belkin two-prong surge protector found here: http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=135205

As it won't protect any RJ45 cable, and has a low 283 joules rating, I thought perhaps I could use this product instead: http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=182400. It both protects RJ45 and has 1081 joules rating.

Turns out it's only available domestically in the US and Belkin don't manufacture an equivalent for the UK market with UK a plug output and inputs.

Then I had a brainwave - connect the US Belkin surge adapter to this product, http://www.swisstravelproducts.com/power/adapter.html (a variable voltage input travel adapter), giving me a two-part, surge protected travel adapter for use almost anywhere in the world.

Any thoughts? Will this work? Answers on a postcard...

 

[JonnyBowley]

It has just occured to me doing this would require me to have 2 UK to US plug adapters... This setup is getting more unwieldy by the minute...

 

[JonnyBowley]

Hello?

I don't know what it is about these forums, but I find that whilst there is always something interesting to read, whenver I have a problem, people are unwilling to suggest solutions.

Call it a persecution complex but it seems to me that the majority of users are US citizens and so don't face the same discrimination that the UK market do from many electrical manufacturers seem to use.

Why isn't there a single surge protecting world travel adapter on the market anyway? I mean, who takes their laptop to another country and just plugs it into the mains power?! You'd have to be crazy.

Does anybody have any ideas?

 

[roisin and mac]

Hey there, just a heads-up about a year later, or very nearly there

I don't know whether you found yours (I hope so because by now it should be close to your TOALT*, that is if you're not gone already), but anyhow I thought I'd give you the update.

I've been looking for the same thing for a few months now (and even posted here after weeks of fruitless searching, lol), and I'm still not having any luck. Far as I can tell, there's 2 parts to the problem:
1) lots of 'travel surge protectors' out there, but most are supposed to go between the adapter 'box' thing and the extension cable, which won't work with apple adapters as they don't have the same plugs
2) if you can find one that does, such as the rather droolworthy Belkin mini surge protector with USB, they only come with north American plugs so they're no use anywhere else without adaptors (on both ends, no less!), which really compromises the portability/compactness of the thing. And it's a bitch because that belkin one is slick; not just a surge protector, but also a charger for usb stuff (two no less, bless'em!), and another two plugs for yer non-USB phone or another laptop and stuff, and still smaller than a remote control.

I can sort of see why you'd be jealous of the NAmericans, lol. Ah well, at least I vented about the belkin thing. Come to think of it, I think I'm gonna drop them an email about that and link to these threads, maybe they'll rethink things...I can dream right?

lol




*Trip Of A LifeTime