My experience was that most devices could be plugged in with just a 3 prong plug adapter. I was in Rome, Sicily, and Tuscany and the standard seems to be the 3 prong plug, not the 2 prong plug adaptor I'd brought along. (Although you can buy a 2 prong to 3 prong adapter at grocery stores and hardware stores.)
I looked at the small print on the plugs/power supplies of the devices to see if they required 120v or if they excepted 220 as well. They only things I needed a voltage converter (heavier, transformer adaptor) were my kids' leapster and nintendo DS. The camera, phone, DVD player, etc all worked fine with just a plug adaptor.
Posts: 334 | Location: San Diego | Registered: 26 November 2006
3 prong in Rome? Grrrrr I went adaptor shopping this weekend and they told me the 3 prongs were only in *villages* and I would need the 2 prong for Rome...*sigh* Back to the store I guess so I have both.
Originally posted by *Narcissa*: 3 prong in Rome? Grrrrr I went adaptor shopping this weekend and they told me the 3 prongs were only in *villages* and I would need the 2 prong for Rome...*sigh* Back to the store I guess so I have both.
The apartment we stayed at in Rome at the beginning of the trip, and the hotel in Rome at the end of the trip both had 3 prong.
But the hotel's plugs accepted 2 prong and seemed to work. I presume the middle plug is a redundant ground.
Posts: 334 | Location: San Diego | Registered: 26 November 2006
It's probably best to buy the kit with several different adaptors. I think they sell at Brookstone and some travel stores. They all fit into a little pouch and you're set for any country except maybe Australia (I had to buy a different one there).
Posts: 196 | Location: Alexandria, Virginia | Registered: 09 May 2005
You can get a set that will cover the whole world at Radio Shack for about $3.99. At my local store, they told me it is their biggest selling item. Note this is the adaptor, not the converter.
Posts: 456 | Location: Boston MA | Registered: 19 December 2006
I recommend trying to find a 3 prong adaptor for Italy. I needed mine in Florence, Rome and Venice. Depending on the outlet, you may not be able to fit the two prong into a three prong outlet. (It's just a little bit off - which is quite maddening!) If you need one, you can buy a two prong to three prong adapter in Italy itself. Many of the apartments I rented supplied at least one of these or had them attached already to the appliances in the apartment.
You will need a converter for those items which are not rated for 220/240 volts. Most of today's electronics are ok (you can read the transformer on your items to see what they are rated for).
One caveat - my Gameboy from Nintendo is not rated for 220 volts. I used a converter to adapt from 110 to 220 and tried to recharge in London. Unfortunately, the machine did not draw enough current to get the converter to work! (I admit I'm addicted and now I have a 220 volt Gameboy to use outside of North America - pretty sad).
converters are usually only needed for motor driven appliances, most laptops and MOST (not all) electronic games have built in current converters. but for what it is worth, hair dryers and curling irons seems to be easily melted in Italy, even with converters or maybe i just had a run of bad luck before i just decided to by a €12 local model.
And here is another twist - for computers only an adaptor is necessary, not a converter. I had a three prong plug on my computer cable - which I then plugged into a two pronged adapter that went into the wall in an apartment in Rome - worked great!! My plug of three prongs, to clarify, plugged only two prongs into the adaptor, leaving the third prong hanging out. Then it all plugged into a two prong outlet.
in realty, you can find three different stiles of plugs in italy dependingon the age of the wiring....as a result, most of us who live here have a drawer full of multi-sized multi-pronged plastic adapters, also because our appliances sometimes come with the small diameter two/three prongs and sometimes iwth the older fat two pronger models. Its hysterical to see what a power adapter strip looks like here and I am sure a North American electrician would be horrorfied.
I brought my hair straightener and adapter to Morocco and the first time I tried to use it I not only smoked the outlet I also destroyed the flat iron and burned off a sizable chunk of my hair! The appliance, as I found out later, was not compatible with the adapter. I spent the next two weeks in Morocco and Spain without a flat iron or hair on the left side of my head. Made for some lovely pictures.
I have an older model Olympus digital camera (probably six years old) and an iPod. I can recharge the iPod in Italy with a simple plug adaptor. The Olympus requires removing the rechargeable AAA batteries, but the charger that came with it works on Italian 220v current using the same adaptor. My Dell laptop ditto--adaptor only (although I do need to get a Italian surge protector, I guess).
The point to be made is that a lot of smaller consumer electronics (NOT counting hair dryers and curling/straightening irons--things that heat up) come with their own transformer thingie (or is it a dealiewhat?) that can operate on 110v up to 240v. They will say that on them somewhere. I hesitated at first, fearing I'd fry my not-inexpensive electronics, but in my experience they DO work if appropriately labeled. If they do not say something along the lines of 110v - 240v, or similar, I wouldn't experiment. But so far I have been safe trusting the labels.
Bottom line: Read the label. Go for it. Buy the curling iron or hair dryer there (or get one of those others have suggested that converts).
VKB, Are you going to charge only the digital camera batteries in a plug in battery recharger OR are you charging the entire camera set into a holder of some description with its own power cords? We use a Sony Cybershot which comes with both. We used the battery recharger with a 3 prong adapter and that does the trick. Adapters, converters and surge protector power bars are available In Italy...we bought ours at the TIM store in Assisi. They had everything we needed for the laptop and the price was good. You should not have a problem locating what you need if you don't want to get it before leaving. My advice would be to get what you need at a Radio Shack and cross it off the list of things still to be done. Regards Martha
Just FYI... My husband just informed me that he bought a car adapter that works for our camera, our Ipod, cell phone, computer, and video camera. Since it has a 12 volt car charger we are set. It was 4.99 on ebay. Hope it works.
Posts: 109 | Location: Minnesota | Registered: 14 April 2007
I will just be charging the camera that has it's own battery not the entire camera.
I just remembered my daughter will be bringing her hair straightener I'm sure. After hearing many of you with hair dryers that burned up, I'm hoping that won't happen to her straightening iron?
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