Travel adaptor for European usage

[josepho]

Hi guys!

On the 4th of July I'll be jetting off to Salamanca, Spain for a 6 week Spanish course, which should be excellent. Naturally I won't be leaving without a few key appliances:
my 12" PB, my iPod, a couple of my phones (probably V600 & P900).

These things are all fairly valuable, so I don't want to risk it using el cheapo travel adaptors. My girlfriend got 2 for £0.99 yesterday... On the back it says "For temporary or infrequent use" - I know this is true, but it actually saying it on the packaging doesn't fill me with confidence. Clearly I don't want to drop a bomb on just a couple of travel adaptors, but nor do I want to find that it damages any of my prized possessions.

Any input you could give would be greatly appreciated!

 

[robbieduncan]

For the PowerBook and iPod just use the normal adaptors. The plugs are the only thing that changes between the US and all other versions. You can buy a world wide set of plugs from the Apple Store. For the phones adaptors will be fine, but you could simply buy european chargers when you arrive (they really are not that expensive).

 

[josepho]

That would certainly be one way to do it, but would it still be alright to plug in my UK power supply with one of those adaptors? Are there better ones I could get?

 

[robbieduncan]

Sorry for some reason I thought you were American! When I travel to Europe I always just take a 4-way UK power strip and use 1 adaptor to plug that into the mains. UK and European voltages are almost identical and power adaptors used here work there, the only difference is the plug.

 

[Nikko1965]

Spain, eh? OK, take a knife, chop the plugs off your cables, strip the main insulation back a good foot, strip the brown and blue insulation off to a length of about two inches and do NOT twist the copper strands together, cut the earth cable off completely (you won't be needing that!) and then jam the copper fuzz into the two holes of the socket which is probably hanging out the wall to make access easier. If you want to secure the connection use sellotape.

I love Spain but I love their approach to electrical wiring even more.

Cheers,

Nick

 

[JFreak]

cheapo adapters work just fine. the only thing they do is to make your plug fit into local power outlet. the voltage is between 220 and 240 volts everywhere in europe, so don't worry.

nowadays most power adapters are universal, accepting voltages between 100-240 so it shouldn't matter where you use them. better to check though, especially when travelling between europe and america.

anyway, cheapo adapters are (technically) just as fine as apple-branded plugs - just look cheaper because they are just that

 

[mouchoir]

Simply plugging your apple power supply into a plug adaptor should be fine.

I simply changed the plug on the power supply to my US bought 15"PB when I returned to the UK and it works fine.

I have been using an Italian bought Sony stereo at home through a travel plug converter for 4 years and that has never had a problem.