My family and I just returned from our two week trip to France and Italy. Before we left, I searched around for a few weeks before I committed to buying some good converters for us to bring.
One of the most important things I learned in this process was that not all chargers and electronic products can handle the 240 volts of power that the plugs in Europe put out. For example, my Nintendo DS charger can handle anywhere from 110-240 volts, but my digital camera battery charger can only handle the 110. To check for this information, look on the back of your chargers and in the manuals of your appliances. There should be a little box of details that will tell you how many volts it can handle.
If all of your appliances can handle 240, you don't need to buy a step-down converter like this one. However, if you can't find that information or the appliance says otherwise, DON'T RISK IT. BUY A STEP-DOWN CONVERTER.
Yes, step-down converters are bigger. This one that I'm reviewing weighs 7 pounds. And yes, they're more expensive, but just think about it this way:
It's better to spend $40 now on a full step-down converter and to sacrifice a little room in your luggage than to spend $5 for one of the tiny non-steps, plug in your iPod, fry it, and have to spend $200 in the long run to replace it. (Just an example. :D)
Also, another thing to check is how many watts your converter/transformer can handle versus how many watts your appliance uses.
This converter was perfect. We bought two of them, and with them we used two different hair straighteners, three different camera battery chargers, iPod chargers, and a Nintendo DS charger, and it worked great. Like I said before, it's bulky at 7 pounds, but this does exactly what you need it to do, and does it very well.
A final note on using it, too--make sure you shove the prongs ALL THE WAY INTO THE WALL. It fits in there nice and tight. :D SIMRAN Step Down Transformer THG-500 - Transformer - AC 220/230 V - 500 Watt
I bought this to take back to use in Thailand for my keyboard. Whoops, I found out it was only a one-way transformer, useful only in 220 volt countries (to step down to 110). Actually, that is implied in the name of the product, so I should have read more carefully. So, I have to bring this one to Thailand and bring back the one I bought over here, which is two-way and thus twice as useful. Just a matter of attaching a receptacle on each side -- why didn't they do that!! Buyer beware.
This transformer does a great job. I used it on a trip overseas with an air mattress I bought for my aunt as a gift. It worked great, we had no problems at all. If you're looking for a good powerful transformer for your item, this is the one. It is a bit bulky at around 7 lbs, but definitely worth taking it along and worth the extra money. - France'
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