Using electronics

"I prefer to connect the ... in the way it was designed for." So what if the appliance has a polarized US plug (one blade wider than the other)? If the receptacle is polarized (I believe French ones are), but you use a two pin type adapter, you can plug it in opposite the polarization. On the other hand, German receptacles are not polarized. Even a grounded plug won't help you in Germany. Besides the grounded Schuko plug used in Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium and a lot of other continental countries, Switzerland and Italy have different grounded plugs, different from the Schuko and different from each other. How many grounded plugs do you carry? By the way, because it's ungrounded, that two pin adapter, called a Europlug because it fits in every modern receptacle on the continent, is only rated at 2.5 amps (575W, equivalent to 5 amps at 115V). Hair dryers and curling irons cannot legally use them.

It's very rare to need a converter these days. Most everything is dual voltage...even electronics. You can confirm this by checking the specs on the device. If says something like "Ac Input 110v-240v", all you need is an adapter plug.

DeDe, As mentioned in the previous reply, you'll need to check each device you'll be travelling with to ensure that it's designed for "world" operation. If the "Input Voltage" spec's indicate 100-240 VAC, then all you'll need is a Plug Adapter. The "adapter plugs" are simply a simple mechanical device that allows North American style Plugs to be connected to European power points. If they work with the appliances you've travelled with in the past, then they'll work with electronic devices. Note that for Barcelona you'll require the Plug Adapter with two round pins. One point regarding the Netbook. The plug on my Netbook is grounded, so I always travel with grounding-type Plug Adapters for various countries. While it may be possible to still connect these with a two-pin Plug Adapter, I prefer to connect the Netbook in the way it was designed for. Happy travels!

Lee, Polarized plugs were implemented to enhance safety mainly by ensuring that the "hot" lead is disconnected when the appliance is switched off. That prevents a potentially dangerous contact situation between line and ground (for example, the appliance case becomes energized due to an internal fault, and someone happens to touch that and a ground at the same time). In the case of power supplies for Chargers and other small electronic devices, the use of polarized plugs is not overly important (IMHO), and therefore it shouldn't matter whether the connections are reversed. For example, the primary side of a typical small power supply/charger can be connected either way to an AC power source, and the device doesn't "care". To answer your question, I typically carry four grounded Plug Adapters - UK, Italy, Switzerland and a "Universal" style that works with either a protruding ground pin in the receptacle OR the prongs that connect at the edge of the plug. I don't find it a problem to travel with that number of Adapters. "Even a grounded plug won't help you in Germany." I believe that a grounded plug WILL help in Germany if it's connected to a power point that's equipped with the third "ground" pin, whether this is polarized or not. The ground pin will always be at ground potential, and therefore should provide the protection that it was designed for. I haven't encountered any Hotels in my travels over the last few years that didn't have at least one grounded receptacle in the room. I can't recall the last time I had to use a two-pin Euro Adapter with a grounded appliance. I still believe it's necessary to use a grounded Plug Adapter if the appliance is designed to be grounded. If others don't feel this is important, that's their choice. Cheers!

Thank you all so much for the great input! I've checked the specs on everything we're taking, and they all are made for dual voltage. No grounded plugs either.