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(More customer reviews)This vendor was excellent - delivery was almost immediate and the item was exactly as described. Plus, they provided some prompt advice on converters when I asked by email. Perhaps they should have had more info on their webpage but I really can't blame them for my lack of knowledge.
I didn't understand the difference between electric (on-off) and electronic (circuitry).. and more...but learning is a cheap fix compared to what may have happened if I used the wrong converter. So here is Foreign Power 101... to the best of my knowledge:
The 1600w works for "electric" items - that means 'on-off' type appliances and NOT for laptops or hair irons with multiple settings & auto-shut-off capability. "Electronics" are things that have circuitry or digital displays or auto-shut-off, and should not be used with the 1600w setting.
So this converter will be fine for my 400w mini hair dryer on the 1600w setting, and on the 50w setting I can use it for for my 35w mini (on/off) flat iron for my hair.
For charging things, the 50w setting WILL handle electronics - i.e. things like cell phones. However, from what I can tell, it does NOT put out enough power to charge my cell phone (Droid) which is .8A. Output is only 400mA on the 50w setting, which = .4A. Per the above, you shouldn't charge cell phones and laptops on the 1600w setting.
I can use it to charge my camera battery (which has a separate battery tray for charging) on the 1600w setting because it pushes 13 Amps and that is 1A. If I buy a spare battery and tray, I can use a dual plug and charge both batteries at the same time using only 2A of the 13A.
For the Droid and my global cell phone, I bought a 2A USB charger. That isn't enough to charge the spare battery pack for the Droid.. since each pc is 1A (total 3A) but I didn't know that at the time either because this thing has 4 USB ports- so I guess 2 are useless. Still learning.
Still nothing for my laptop. For laptops, I read that one should have a transformer not just a converter. However my netbook pulls 800+ watts and I understand there are some converter - transformer units, but I haven't found something appropriate for travel yet. Some laptops apparently have built in settings for foreign current so you can switch from American to European current right on the laptop, but my netbook does not have that.
Also, some laptops have foreign current surge suppressors... American surge suppressors won't work overseas. So I might want one or two of those.
Don't forget that you still need adapters for the plugs over there. My suitcase is getting alot heavier these days!! Also watch for luggage weight allowances on smaller carriers (and in economy overall).
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Converts foreign 220/240AC to standard US 110/120 VAC
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