4 CommentsI am going to the US for a couple of weeks soon and I need to take my laptop with me. I bought a travel adaptor but noticed this evening that it mentions not being suitable for devices with an earth and I am pretty sure my laptop has one of those.
I know nothing about this sort of thing so I was wondering if there were any Brits who have experience with this? I don't particularly want to blow up my laptop so want to make sure I have the correct stuff before the trip :)
I'd really appreciate any help you can give.
BinaryMoon
Written Jan. 9, 2008 / Report /
Just bumping this in the hope there are any Brits with experience around (crosses fingers).
My girlfriends tech support people told her that she should be ok with a normal plug adaptor but I want to double check to be on the safe side and I know there are loads of clever people here :)
RightOn
Written Jan. 9, 2008 / Report /
not being suitable for devices with an earth
Huh?
dreamweaver
Written Jan. 9, 2008 / Report /
Do you mean "devices with a ground?" Though I'm still not sure how to answer the question...
The only thing I can suggest is that you look at your power supply brick, and ensure that it specifies "110v-220v" on it, so that you know it will work with the US voltage (110v). If by "adapter" you mean a converter plug, it should work fine as long as your power supply brick is made to work on 110v.
About the grounded thing, if that's what you mean by "earth," I know that US plugs have a wide side and a narrow side on the plug, so that the plug only goes into the socket one way so that it is grounded properly and the polarity is right. I don't really know how to test for that with appliances that are made to work with electrical systems that don't have polarity and grouding issues (like in Europe) when you travel to the US where polarity and grounding is an issue, since I've only ever had to make US appliances work in Europe.
Hope this helps a little, anyway.
Edit: actually, I have used chargers for cel phones and CD players in the US that originally came from Europe come to think of it, and as long as the voltage on the charger said 110v-220v, all I did was pop a converter plug on it and plug it into the wall and it was fine in the US, with no polarity or grounding issues. I've never had to do that with a laptop though...
BinaryMoon
Written Jan. 9, 2008 / Report /
The power brick says it's fine but the thing that got me thinking was that the adaptor said it was not for plugs with an earth (the third pin on a uk plug... I think ground is the same thing).
From what I can tell devices with an earth have a metal pin at the top, and ones without have a plastic pin.
I'm starting to think I am worrying about nothing. I've ordered an English to US plug adaptor with a surge protector. Hopefully that will cover me.