laptop in paris

Deb....if the power pack for your computer reads something like "100-240 volts" then you won't need a converter. What you WILL need is a plug ADAPTER. I've never bothered with anything to protect against power surges. But if you really want one, you'll have to get one calibrated for 220 volt power. You may have to buy one there, or look for one in the U-S at a specialty store that deals with overseas travellers....they're likely to be on the expensive side. I wouldn't depend on a 110 volt surge protector plugged into a 220 volt power converter.

A plug adapter can be had very inexpensively in any hardware store in the France -- you're looking for the plug extender that allows a grounded plug to work with a non-grounded socket. Total price should be in the neighborhood of ~€1.00. This same adapter will likely be fairly expensive in the States. (This advice supposes, as Norm stated, that your power supply is rated 110-240v, although virtually all such devices are.) There are two types of surge protector; good ones and cheap ones. Good ones aren't cheap, and cheap ones aren't good. However, short of an extremely catastrophic event, the laptop's combination of external power supply and internal battery should provide sufficient protection. Usually, with a surge, the worst that might happen would be damage to the power supply. This is something that you'll have to evaluate with the value and importance of the laptop in mind. If you decide to buy a surge protector, go to a computer store (or FNAC) rather than a Carrefour type place which will have unknowledgeable employees who will sell you a plug strip as if it were a surge protector.

In my mind the real question is why you want to bother hauling a laptop around on your vacation. Unless you are in France for study or business, local internet centers and photo shops will be adequate for all of your computing needs, and will eliminate the risk of theft, and the weight and hassle carrying the laptop.