I’m trying to find a american to european power outlet adapter so I can plug in my laptop during my vacation later this year. I figure this should be simple so I do a quick search on Amazon for “european power adapter”. There are fricking 82,580 results! I have no idea which one I should buy and I sure don’t want to find out to late I bought the wrong one.
Help me dopers you’re my only hope. I will be going to Brussels, Paris, and London. I just need something cheap that will last at least 1 month. Nothing fancy.
Well for a start there are different sockets in London compared to Paris and Brussels - but what is you’re gonna be plugging in? For almost any laptop (please don’t sue me) basically anything will do and your device will cope with the different voltage/frequency to the US in which case get anything you like.
By the way can you seperate out the power lead from your transformer? If so I’d just buy two extra power leads assuming the transformer is dual voltage.
First of all, make sure your laptop power supply can handle both 120 and 240 volts. Almost all of them can these days but you want to check to make sure you don’t have some oddball that can’t handle the voltage. Most of them will say something like AC Input 100-240V or something like that.
As long as the power supply can handle the voltage, all you need is a plug adapter set. Radio Shack used to sell a kit with several different plug adapters in it for about 10 or 15 bucks. Not sure if they still do.
Don’t buy a voltage converter. You’ll be paying a lot of extra money for something you don’t need.
ECG as usual is right in the money. I would like to add bring a small power strip or cube tap so you can plug in your phone, I pod etc as well, I kinda sucks to only have one outlet that you can use. One more thing, many European hotels have a light control that relies on your key, it won’t work without your key in it. Some of the hotels I stayed in this switch turned off the outlets as well, so be prepared to charge your stuff while you are in the room. Have a great trip
My daughter is is living in Germany, and has a lot of experience. As said, a standard laptop works just fine with the relatively cheap plug adapters. Anything else needs a transformer. Check to see the current supplied by it, if you need one. A phone charger will work just fine with any, but something like a hair dryer is going to need a heavy duty one.
You should also check for phone service - even if you can use your phone, it can get expensive fast, especially for data.
If you’re not leaving next week, have a look at this, which will work in the UK, in Europe, and many other places. It is not a transformer, but that’s no longer an issue with modern laptop, camera, and phone chargers. This one even has the USB port built in.
Ok I just checked my laptop and I see the 100-240v that engineer_comp_geek mentioned so that takes care of 1 thing. Now I just need 2 somethings that lets me plug my electronics into a Paris/Brussels outlet and a London outlet. I looked at the links from Mr Downtown but to be honest I can’t tell which side is which. They look more like adapters for a European visiting America.
Those global power adapters are exactly what the name advertises, global. You can plug almost any kind of plug in them and plug them into almost anything. Your plug goes on the “top” part and a system of levers/buttons lets you choose which jack it uses.
I will put in one that I highly recommend by Samsonite. It is just a small kit that comes in a pouch about the size of a pair of rolled socks. It has the 4 most common world plugs but the bonus part here is that it has a converter for the 240V to 110V. Your computer cord does the coversion but some other electronics like camera battery chargers, etc. don’t accept 240V so this kit has been awesome for me literally around the world!
I prefer the adapters that are all one piece so that I don’t have to worry about losing pieces. You slide out the prongs that you need. My model is by Kensington.
Unless they patrol the rooms while you’re out and confiscate anything left in it. Even though the do not disturb sign is out. (Thankfully it was just a spare room key and not anything important.)
In my experience, most electronics these days comes with power supplies that can handle a range of currents. I actually can’t remember the last time I needed an actual voltage convertor (as opposed to just a cheap $2 plug adaptor) for anything. My laptop, cell phone, double AA battery, and camera battery chargers all are dual voltage. As mentioned above, just check the label of your electronic device to make sure.
The easiest and cheapest thing to do (usually), is to bring an unlocked SIM-based phone with you, and buy a SIM abroad. Or you can even just buy a cheapie cell phone while you’re abroad–the basic models can be almost practically free. In the UK a couple years ago, if you bought a 20 pound SIM card, the phone itself was a pound.
If you do bring your own cell phone on your regular plan abroad, data charges are INSANE if you don’t buy a package from your provider beforehand. Generally, they send you a text message when you get abroad telling you the rates. On this trip, my AT&T rate is $20 per megabyte. Ouch. Turn that data off. Forget to do so, and you can accidentally rack up an expensive phone bill while your phone is downloading your emails automatically, or you use GPS, forgetting that map data is usually downloaded.
Look, all you need is a standard US-EURO plug adapter like this one:
You can find them for like a dollar. That will work fine in Paris and Brussels. When you get to the UK, you will notice that it will not easily insert into the outlet because there is a block in the outlet that is opened when a standard UK plus is inserted.
The block is in the third square of the outlet. You can easily unblock the outlet with a ballpoint pen or something, insert your cheap Euro plug adapter and then pull the pen out.
If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, then you will need to buy one of these as well: http://hillelectricalservices.co.uk/wp-content/gallery/web-site-pics/electrical_plug_13_amp.jpg
Those cost a little bit more, around 10 bucks or so. So either just get the one adapter and use your pen when you get to the UK, or buy both adapters.
Except you’ll pay close to $20 or more for one at the airport. And it’s going to be much more than the OP needs. It’s like buying a tie rack at The Sharper Image.
In that case you’re at the wrong airport. I bought an American to European adapter at Heathrow last summer and I don’t think it cost me more that 5-6 pounds at the most.
If your lap top is rated for the higher voltage ranges, and you use a simple non converting adapter, don’t use a surge protector. I once did this “just to be extra safe”. There was a loud pop, a whiff of smoke from the protector and all of the power went out in my room. After I called hotel maintenance and got the power switched back on, I crossed my fingers and tried plugging the computer into the adapter directly and it worked fine.
I bought an American to European adapter at Heathrow last summer and I don’t think it cost me more that 5-6 pounds at the most.