US to Ireland - in need of electricity conversion help

Tamith

Hello everyone,

I'm sorry if this is a silly question, but I'm going to be traveling to Ireland soon, and am looking into the types of products I'll need to use in order to ensure that anything I plug in (predominantly my laptop) won't be fried when I try to use it. :P

Can anyone help me with deciding what I'll need? I keep getting confused about which products are best and which I need. I'm pretty sure I'll need the plug converter, of course but I don't know about transformers, etc, and I can't find an adequately simple guide on what to get.

Links to anything you recommend would be fantastic too And I'd greatly appreciate it! Thank you to any and all that help =D

FTGFOP

The power supply for your laptop is a transformer itself. If you check out the writing it should say 120v/230v on it. So the only thing you need for your laptop is one of these, which does nothing more than allow you to plug into the mains.

Generally, phone chargers are the same.

Stuff like hair dryers, straighteners, toasters (leave that at home :P) would need an adaptor with a transformer like this.

The type of adaptor without the transformer is readily available here (Tesco, hardware stores, so on) and if you're just concerned with your laptop and your phone then that's all you need. If you're bringing over stuff like hair dryers etc. then you need the transformer-type and those are a little less common. So you might want to order off Amazon or something before you come over.

...actually, the US Amazon is pretty pricey with their transformer-type adaptor so if you know the address where you'll be staying you'd save yourself some money by ordering off the UK website and sending it to your Irish address.

Enjoy your trip!

Tamith

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I appreciate it so much, FTGFOP!

I had no idea about my laptop power supply lol And to think I was going to go on amazon and buy this 70 dollar transformer trying to get it to work :P My adapter says:

Input: 100-240V ~ 1.5A(1,5A)
Output: 19V ---3.42A(3,42A)
50-60Hz

So I imagine that'd be okay? I'm considering just buying another adapter/power supply as well, to be on the safe side (since I don't know the general life expectancy of those and will be overseas for about 3 months lol).

Once again, I appreciate your kindness ^_^ Thank you!

FTGFOP

You're very welcome.

Tamith wrote: »

My adapter says: Input: 100-240V ~ 1.5A(1,5A) [...] So I imagine that'd be okay?

That'll be fine. The power supplies for any particular brand of laptop are the same the world over except for the shape of the plug that connects to the mains. Glad you asked here before dropping $70 on something you didn't need!

As for buying a second power supply, I wouldn't bother unless your current one is old or starting to give you trouble. Although if you just want to have a backup then it'll probably be cheaper to get it in the US before you come over.

AlmightyCushion

As ftgfop says above you're adapter is fine. All you'll need is a travel adapter so it'll fit in the plugs where ever you go.

Tamith

Thank you, AlmightyCushion

and thank goodness that's true - brought my amazon.com bill today down from 170 (lol I had alot of electrical converting stuff in my cart :P) to 25 dollars. ^^ Much more tolerable.