Eastern Europe Tour

Yes, its the two round prong kind. Some tyros who write here say to take a spare in case you lose one. We have used the same one for over twelve years. Magellan's has a comprehensive chart of what kind of adapters a person needs where they are going and people could cut the anxiety by looking at it. Not you Harry, but everybody else. Peace, brother, and don't stick your finger in the socket. That's 220 you're playing with.

You might want to look elsewhere on this web site at:
"Travel Store > Accessories > Handy Extras" Lots of information on adapters including a note from RS. They may still be on sale.

Thanks for the inputs. We have a full set of adapters form previous trips, but I was concerned that they may differ in each country. thanks for your comments.
Harry

AS long as you are staying in Central Europe ( Austria, Romania, Hungary, Czech Rep, Slovakia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Germany, Poland, Slovenia ) all you need is a cheap two prong Schucko adapter like http://www.amazon.com/US-to-European-Plug-Adapter/dp/B0012S304W/ref=pd_bxgy_hi_img_b I carry this one because it allows me to ground my laptop charger. http://www.amazon.com/APC-International-Adapter-European-Connection/dp/B00004Z5TJ Remember that the only US stuff you can use over there are dual voltage travel accessories specifically designed for use in Europe and small power supplies and charges that say something like "Input 110 - 220v, 50/60 Hz". if you want to do anything else you will need a bulky, heavy transformer and even then the results may not be perfect because Europe is all 50Hz. Clocks win run slow for instance.

Ditto to the above. I didn't pack a hair dryer either, since it seems every hotel on the tour had them in the rooms. And I use a little battery operated Rick Steves travel alarm clock. This tour is GREAT. Have a wonderful time!!!

I own a small vacation rental in Budapest. I dont leave adapters for the guests to use because I'm always afraid some American will show up and plug their curling iron into the wall outlet and set their head on fire. Other points of compatability in Central Europe: US DVD's and VCR tapes will not work in Europe so don't bother to bring movies to watch at bed time. US Televisions will not work in Europe so leave the tiny hand held portable at home. I think the US AM radio band begins a tiny bit above where the European AM band begins which means you might miss out on one or two stations at the low end.
You will need a GSM tri band cell phone in Europe, but tri band and quad band GSM phones have pretty much become the norm these days in the US so that shouldnt be an issue. What i am unclear about is the adaptability of US Playstation III games from the US in a European Playstation III console. We have one for our guests but since i've never messed with these things i have no idea. I have heard yes and i have heard no. Anyone know for sure?

"...US DVD's and VCR tapes will not work in Europe so don't bother to bring movies to watch at bed time..." Not entirely true for DVDs. Most all game consoles will accept out of region DVD/Blu rays and convert it to the proper TV format. Laptops and desktop computer will also accept any type of move disc and convert it automatically.

Im from the pre-game console generation. I guess Technology is passing me by. Ill take a couple of games and dvds with me next week and try it out on the PSIII. Thanks for the input!

Im from the pre-game console generation. I guess Technology is passing me by. Ill take a couple of games and dvds with me next week and try it out on the PSIII. Thanks for the input!

"Laptops and desktop computer will also accept any type of move disc and convert it automatically." It's more complicated than that. DVD's are coded for regions; there are 6 of them, and a DVD can be coded for a single region, multiple regions or all regions (this last is also called region 0). The US and Canada are region 1; Europe west of Russia is region 2 (along with Japan, of all places). Furthermore, while North American DVD's are in the NTSC video standard, Europe uses PAL. DVD drives in computers usually allow 5 region changes, then are "locked" to the last region you chose. But, you can get software that will play all regions (I use Video LAN, which is free). So, if you put a DVD into a computer and you are asked to change the region, you can decline, then play it with Video LAN. If you agree, you just used up one of your 5 allowed changes. Computers can play both NTSC and PAL with no problem, so a region 0 PAL disc plays in a computer with no difficulties at all. It's also possible to get stand-alone DVD players that are compatible with all regions, but most players are NOT; they will only play DVD's from the same region they're purchased in. Furthermore, not all TV's can play both NTSC and PAL (older models definitely did not, but some newer ones can), so you need a player that will convert PAL to NTSC, and can read region 2, if you want to play a European DVD on a US TV set. Blu Ray has 3 regions; the Americas are A and Europe is B. However, the Blu Ray High Definition standard is universal (no PAL vs NTSC type problems). I know you can also buy all-region Blu Ray players, but they're expensive, so I'm excited to learn that there may be game consoles that will play all Blu Ray regions!

Installing a free piece of software on a computer that blocks the region restriction isn't that complicated:) All Philips stand-alone DVD/Bluray players have a secret code you can enter that will play any region discs. Philips models will also convert the picture into any format you want. You just have to go into the settings menu to configure it.