Frequent international travelers have got the power thing figured out. When you travel from the US to another country the question becomes what do you need to charge/use your electronic devices. My friend Michele who was headed to the UK asked me this very question. So I thought I spend a few minutes here giving you some tips along with my favorite power adapter.
Converter vs an Adapter
Many of the electronics designed to be traveled with (like notebook computers, iPods, iPhones) are already geared to be used in different countries. An easy way to know is to look at the description on the power adapter for your gear. If it says that it can handle 100-240 volts then you're all set. All you need is a plug "adapter" so that you can plug it in the wall of the country you're going to.
However, if your power adapter has a max input of 120 volts. That means that it was designed to work in the US only and in order to use it in another country that has 240 volt wall outlets you're going to need a power "converter" something that can regulate the 240 volts down to 120 volts. Or you might just go with a compatible 3rd party adapter like the ones from iGo.
For your Mac, iPod or iPhone
If you have a portable electronic device from Apple, your supplied adapter already works in other countries. All you need is an adapter and Apple sells a nice kit called the Apple International Travel Kit. This kit has everything you need to adapter your MacBook/PowerBook adapter as well as a USB power adapter (actually it's there older version with the removable prongs) and sync cable With this kit you'll be all set in the US, UK, Australia, Korea, etc. You can get the Apple kit here.
