I will be moving from Montreal Canada to Melbourne Australia this spring. Lots of stuff to take care of and believe it or not, Immigration is one of my lesser headaches.
Deciding what to ditch, what to sell at a Garage Sale, what to bring…
Since Australian “plugs” are different that ours here in Canada and the US, I’m wondering a couple of things:
~ How much are converters?
~ What voltage would I look for in a converter?
~ Would an Australian Electrican be able to rewire my stuff to be able to use it in Australia?
~ What about PHONE plugs? Are they the same here and there?
~ What about CELL (mobile) phones?
~ What about satellite dishes?
I have to really figure out what’s coming with me and what isn’t. The smallest things (like my alarm clock) have to be considered.
Also, would it be worth it for me to bring my computer? Dell something bought in October 2001. We’ve bonded. Wouldn’t want to leave her behind.
For the computer (so long as Dell hasn’t made any stupid mobo connector changes) I’d eat my DRAM if you couldn’t swap out the PS for an Australian bought one.
BTW, just so you aren’t surprised, Australia (and South America, go figure) are DVD zone 4, whereas Canada and the US are region 1. (map).
Look at your computer. Most have switchable power supplies (110 to 220). Also, virtually all monitors and printers are 110/220. If this is the case, all you need to do is switch the power cords for the Aussie version. Worst case is you might have to switch the PS which for some Dells is trivial, for others almost impossible.
Using most US appliances on 220 to 110 converters is pretty easy and small ones are not expensive. However, I don’t know how easy they are to find in Australia. Just look out for things like analog clocks which require 60 Hz frequency.
If you have a DVD collection, consider buying an all region DVD player. Search on line. They make some that will not only play all regions, they will output both NTSC (North American/Japan) TV signals but also PAL (European/Australian) so you can use it with any TV. These universal DVD players are not expensive. On the other hand universal VCRs tend to be expensive and not work very well.
Mobile phones will not work in Australia. Australia uses GSM, US uses TDMA. However, some phone manufacturers have come out with global phones. CHeck with your manufacturer. The phone jack that was linked above is one of the old style 1960’s jacks. Your normal phone should work over here but be advised that strictly speaking, your modem should be certified in Australia. Apparently, they can crack down quite hard on that sort of thing since non-approved modems play havoc with the system. I have NFI about the sat dish but I’m guessing it would be easier to buy one here than ship it. Computers and small electrical appliances are easy, large appliances are not worth the effort.
I’ve taken apart several PS for parts/fixing. In all the ones I’ve seen, all the 115/230 switch does is disconnect the power, probably 'cause it’s pointless to put in parts nobody in most of North America is ever gonna use, but provides a safeguard for people smart enough to actually look and try it.
Go ahead and try it, but don’t be surprised if nothing happens.
After 45 minutes it overheated and I returned it. It did say not for continuous use, but I would have expected somethinbg longer than 45 minutes.
I eventually borrowed one from a friend (rated at 1000 watts), as I didn’t want to pay the price for a better rated one.
When I was searching, 240-110 volt transformers came up pretty expensive, so you really (really) want to think about what you are bringing over, what the rating of the transformer will need to be and whether it may be cheaper to buy electronics in Oz rather than get a transformer.
I’m hoping someone will pop in with a place you can cheaper transformers (so I can buy one too).
I think you will find that it is not worth bringing small electrical appliances unless they have a built in 110/240 switchover. Arsing around with transformers for every single appliance will drive you batty. Generally, it would cost you more than it was worth to get appliances modified to work off 240.
It’s not just the operational considerations, it’s the safety considerations. 240 will kill you quicker than 110 and my understanding is that we have better design requirements for insulation etc for that reason.
Despite what Nanoda says, I think his experience is the exception. I have used several appliances that were 110/240 compatible in US/Aust and they all worked.
Your Dell might be an exception: you could just have a new power supply fitted here at minimal cost (I don’t know how handy you are, but it would take me about 10 minutes and a screwdriver).
What Shalmanese said re phones. Those old style jacks that Nanoda linked to are on the way out and adapters are available anyway. It’s true that it is actually illegal to import non approved phone gear though.
I’m fairly sure it won’t matter; most (many? Ours, at least, is, and we weren’t especially searching for one, so they must be pretty common) DVD players in Australia are de-zoned, so they can play anything. I vaguely recall New Zealand has illegalised zoned players, and it may be similar here.
On the computer PS point, over the last 4 years or so, it’s becoming standard for them to operate on 110-250 V, 50/60 Hz. There’s no switch or anything, the PS works it out itself. Just have a look on the back for a sticker that says 110-250 or 110-240 or similar. If not, a new PS costs like A$35.
Won’t work for the monitor, though. But people just throw away functioning 15 inch CRT monitors. Shouldn’t be hard to pick one up for next to nothing.
On the DVD front, a new region free DVD player can be had for A$79.
The monitor you can forget about. Monitors are affected by magnetic fields. A change in hemisphere will disrupt the colors in the monitor because of the Earth’s magnetic field just the same as using unshielded speakers next to your monitor it’s the same kind of thing. I have had this happen and it was cheaper to get a new monitor.
Australian DVDs play every region. DVDs and VCRs normally play NTSC and PAL.
The stuff in your computer that isn’t a power supply will be the same here as there. If you don’t want to bring the whole thing, you can remove the HDD and RAM and put them into your new machine here.
PS Why would you want to go to Melbourne? Sydney is much nicer. Heh, heh.
I recall reading once that monitor factories (made in Taiwan & such, ya know?) had special enclosures made to simulate the magnetic field of wherever they were selling their current batch so they could be properly calibrated.
I live in Korea. My monitors from the US work fine here. I have Aussie friends. Their monitors from Aus work fine here. All three monitors I own are auto-sensing. They run on either 110 or 220 and require no switches or resetting. (However, I’ve never seen an auto-sensing PS on a desktop computer, they have switches. Notebooks are auto-sensing, as are most printers.)
I have moved several computers back and forth. The 115/230 switch does work and allows you to change voltages. I’ve never heard of a dummy switch on a PSU.
Transformers are not a big problem. Here in Korea we buy 1000 watt 220 to 110 transformers for about $25 to 30 (US). I own about 4 I’ve had for over 3 years and never had a failure.
