Recently, I took a trip to London, and beforehand I went by my local office supply store to get an adapter, so I could charge my laptop, camera, and cell phone.
I came home with a Samsonite Converter/Adaptor, and it seemed like exactly what I needed. It worked in countries all around the world, handled high wattage, etc.
Then I got home and read the back. It said…
WARNING:
Do not use with power tools or electronic circuitry (.i.e. computers, fax machines, TVs, VCRs, stereos, battery rechargers, etc.).
So this overseas electric adapter was useless to me. It was the only option on the shelf at the office supplies store.
I figured when it’s sold in the travel section of an office supply store that I could expect it to support a computer and other electronics. I was wrong.
I’m not sure why they even sell the useless thing there. But that’s neither here nor there.
Fortunately, I checked out sharperimage.com and found the Tumi Electronics Electric Adapter.
The Tumi Electronics Electric Adapter works in 150 countries, and it worked great for me in the U.K.
I was able to use it in my hotel room, and on my way home I was in the lounge for the Emirates Airline, and they had a different type of plug.
I’m not sure why there were different plugs while I was still in the U.K., but for whatever the reason, the Tumi Electronics Electric Adapter took care of it for me.
On another note, if you’re traveling overseas, I would suggest also bring along an extension cord and power strip.
There were a number of times when I was working in cafes and other places where I couldn’t get a table close enough to an electrical outlet. So the extension cord came in handy.
And in the hotel room, since I wanted to plug in my laptop, phone and camera, the power strip was necessary to charge all of the devices at once.