Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

adambooth · Apr 25, 2005, 12:23 AM

Heya everyone. The Air Force will be shipping me off soon, and I will be stationed at either Japan or Germany. I am not an electrician by any means, so I thought maybe some of our friends across the pond could help me with this question.

I know that over there you use 220V power, running at 50 cycles versus our 110V at 60Hz (correct me if I'm wrong). I'm told once I get over there, I can buy converters for my electronics at the store on base so that I can use my computer, etc in their outlets. Will it be okay to run my PowerBook with my original (US) adapter through a converter? I know that larger appliances like refridgerators don't do as well. I just want to make sure I won't be causing adverse harm to my PowerBook or shortening it's life in any way if I did.

By the way, does anyone know of the broadband situation in either Japan or Germany? I've gotten used to my fast line here in the states, and would probably go insane if I'll be stuck on dialup. What's an approximate cost I'd be looking at either location, availability of options, etc over there?

Thanks!
Adam

tinycat · Apr 25, 2005, 12:58 AM

i have taken US bought powerbooks to spain, france, and hong kong. you don't need converters. powerbooks are self switching and adjust to the power. you only need an adapter that allows you to plug your powerbook's two or three prong adapter into the outlet over there.

adambooth · Apr 25, 2005, 03:22 AM

Awesome, thanks for the info. I had no clue it would auto-switch, but that is a nice feature for sure.

Trygve · Apr 25, 2005, 08:44 AM

I've used my powerbook all over the world with just the Apple adapter and a few plug adpaters. There is no need to convert the voltage - only the prongs. In Germany, you'll find very good broadband (in March of 2003, 1mbps (100K per sec) was available in Freiburg). Even in Prague (obviously not in Germany) it is very easy to get 4mbps now... so it should be similar or better in Germany.

Trygve

ranga · Apr 25, 2005, 12:59 PM

You shouldn't have any problems using your PowerBook overseas. I've used my iBook in India, Singapore, Ireland, UK, &c. w/o any electrical issues. You should probably get a surge protector from a local shop once you get overseas and then plug all you US electronics into that.

The only thing you might need is the Apple World kit which comes w/ a bunch of plug points for your AC adapter b/c Germany uses a different plug point than the US. You probably won't need the world kit if you are going to Japan, b/c they use the same plug point a the US.

I don't know about Germany, but my brother was in Japan last year and he says that broadband is pretty widely available and very cheap.

Good Luck!

--ranga

mwigan · Apr 25, 2005, 10:58 PM

I use a MAdsonLine lightweight power adaptor or three short dual banana leads with the appropriate connectors on the end. One EU type, one UK type and one US type. I fnd that using adaptros is nto so good- I tend to lose them as they sometimes stay in the wall plug-ive left adaptors all over the world now.. the weigth of the theree dual banana - Eu /us and /UK leads is about the same as the difference between the apple power Brick and the madsonline minibrick....

ctbritt · Apr 26, 2005, 02:06 AM

Can't speak for the broadband, but I'm sure it's almost ubiquitous. As for the power, yes, I'm in Iraq right now and I only have to worry about the prongs. The power adapter is self-switching, as are many electrical devices these days.

legacyb4 · Apr 26, 2005, 09:16 AM

In Japan, you could opt for "slower" 50/3 megabit ADSL or get the "faster" 100 megabit fiber optical with TV package. Not sure if that's going to be fast enough for you, but I would think it's a bit faster than what you have now at home...

Originally Posted by adambooth

By the way, does anyone know of the broadband situation in either Japan or Germany? I've gotten used to my fast line here in the states, and would probably go insane if I'll be stuck on dialup. What's an approximate cost I'd be looking at either location, availability of options, etc over there?

geigercounter · Apr 26, 2005, 03:59 PM

Hey don't bother with Apple world adaptor kits, if you really want a cable just buy a cheap radio extension plug, will cost you about 2 Euro, and will give you some extra length. Then just buy an adaptor plug for your Mac, the power will auto select. Then you can plug other things into the power sockets, but ONLY if they auto switch or manually switch. Dont get it wrong or you will kill what you plug in. Broadband is very cheap in Germany, not sure about Japan. Always good to have a backup dial up connection in case you get stuck. That's about the only thing AOL is good for, international low cost local call dial up. Hope this helps.

jamil5454 · Apr 26, 2005, 04:08 PM

Originally Posted by legacyb4

In Japan, you could opt for "slower" 50/3 megabit ADSL or get the "faster" 100 megabit fiber optical with TV package. Not sure if that's going to be fast enough for you, but I would think it's a bit faster than what you have now at home...

100 mbit? Holy crap that's fast. That's the same speed as an ethernet connection, roughly 12 MB/s.