Power from US laptops compared to UK

[Merlin4458]

Ok im going to buy a lappy while im out here and jsut pretend it was mine all along and take it bk to the UK with no probs. Someone mentioned to me that there might be a problem with power connectors or something like that? Would that be the case? Would i need something to make it work in the UK?

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks
John

[arbitor]

speaking of which what you planning to get john?

[b0redom]

Nope, almost all laptop adapters are autoswitching 100/240v as it's pretty much assumed laptops will travel. Depending on the manufacturer, you'll need a cable to connect from the power brick to the wall - usually one of those figure-of-8 ones - or a US/UK plug adapter.

The only difference is likely to be the warranty - check it's worldwide, and the keyboard layout.

[arbitor]

oh yeh that just occured to me all those chargers are variable, so scrap what i said lolz

[Funkstar]

The vast majority of power bricks for laptops just have a regular 2-pin figure-of-eight connector. However, HP (and perhaps others) use a "laptop power cable" in theor supplies. This is a three pin cable much like a standard kettle lead, however instead of the holes being molded into one large block, they are almost like seperate round pins connected together.

See here:
http://www.homestead.co.uk/productca...tegoryID=51123

[this_is_gav]

Acer use that 3-pin one too (well, the 4 or 5 different models we've had in recent years have). It's a fairly common connector though - all our projectors at work use them too (Sanyo (AVOID) and Hitachi).

[GoNz0]

yeh standard connectors, just buy the mains lead when you get back. if your lazy PM me and i will send you one. box full of the damn things at work