Need Help with Electronics?!?!

We are looking at moving our entire household this summer to the UK.  

I am a bit confused about the electronic issues.  I understand the differences between the voltage and wattage; however what I am concerned with is how to ensure the transformer works?

When we lived in London a few years ago for 6 mos; I bought the most expensive wall transformer I could find at the electronics store (about 30 bsp).  It ended up burning out within 3 mos.  Thankfully it was just warming a curling iron.

Should I even try to bring over ANY electronics?

What have others successfully done?

Items I am looking at bringing of greatest concern --
  - 2 desktop computers
  - color printer
  - scanner
  - sewing machine
  - serger machine
  - TV w/ built-in DVD & VHS (due to the kids movies)
  - PDA charger

the rest of the household items are fairly inexpensive to replace (e.g. irons, food steamers).  We have already decided we are not going to bring anything with a rotating motor (for obvious reasons).

Looking for ideas on what you have done.....
 
Thanks,
Michelle

As far as the TV and DVD/VCR situation - you can easily get multi-region DVD players and NTSC VCRs here in the UK, and pretty reasonably priced as well.  They'll play all your DVDs and tapes from the US, as well as the new ones you buy here.  If you bring players from the US, then they won't play anything new you may want to buy here.

I moved 2 boys over - so I had TONNES of US videos!  Also, this means my mother can send videos and DVDs from the US as gifts.

I'm not much help on any of the other stuff.  Didn't move anything over that plugged in.

Yeah, bring accessories, attachments and media. But not all the main stuff.

I wouldn't go the route of trusting transformers. If it were my stuff, this is what I would do:

2 desktop computers - CPUs only (not screens) and ONLY if they are marked for dual voltage. Later models should be, almost all latops are.

color printer - probably not; check for dual voltage...but I don't think they come that way unless they are laptop-related. Paper size is different and some American models might not "adjust" to European paper size. Oh, they may physically adjust, but the software inside might always default to "letter" and this can be a real pain/extra step everytime you want to print

scanner - I brought my scanner, no probs. But, it was dual voltage.

sewing machine - I brought my sewing machine only for sentiment reasons. I think I can have this altered by removing the motor and replacing it with another, but for now she just sits in the corner. Heck, it's a 1955 Necchi Super Nova!
(aside: my mother-in-law had the same model, only mine's cabineted and hers is portable. She loaned me hers and it still purrs after almost 50 years.)

serger machine - I would guess it would be the same answer as the sewing machine

TV w/ built-in DVD & VHS - ditch the TV, bring all the tapes and DVDs. You can get multi-region and NTSC/PAL players, and the prices are not bad. And, you'll want to buy tapes/DVDs over here; might as well have something that plays them all
(aside: you might also want to consider the fact the UK government is phasing out analog and trying to force everyone to go digital by the year 2010...that will mean buying a new set anyway.)

PDA charger - mine is dual voltage, so no problem. I think they purposely make all these travel-able. Just like all my camera chargers.

BTW...one thing about having US appliances that are dual voltage...say computers with peripherals that are also dual voltage. You don't have to get a US->UK adapter for all of them. Bring a US powerstrip (or multiway), plug all your US gadgets in that, then use one US->UK adapter to plug the power strip into one outlet...assuming you're not overloading it!

Oh, and the reason for no TVs or printers is that the frequency is different. You could get the electrics to work if you use a transformer, but the picture won't play properly.

i know this thread is really old, but i just wanted to make sure this concept would work.

i plan on bringing as many electronics to london as i can since i dont want to buy uk-versions and have to sell them in three years (other than a couple of lcds, maybe a ps3, kitchen appliances, vacuum).

so, i would like to be able to plug items such as laptops, a vonage router, a mac mini, stereo, subwoofer, video camera, mobile phones, baby video/audio monitor, psp, xbox360, etc. into a us powerstrip and plug into the wall once.

has anyone had problems with this approach?  we are living in a newer building in richmond, so i assume that the wiring in the flat will be ok.

thanks.

Hiya ukmillers,

You may want to search on the electronics board as this kind of stuff has been discussed before - but overall -

So long as all the equipment you mention is recent, the power supply units will be 120-240V capable, it'll just be a question of getting the plug adaptors to fit. Good thing is that many power supply units come with a detachable lead, so you can get the UK plug version and just re attach into the power supply block.

the laptops, routers, mac mini, audio system, video camera, psp, xbox should all be good. The baby monitor im not so sure about, but you can pick em up from ebay or Argos etc for not a lot.

I have quite a few items i've imported and bought over from the US that you mention, and had no issues at all

Hope this helps
Cheers, DtM West London & Slough UK

thanks for responding!

i have read many posts about my specific items.  my question is around plugging them all into one powerstrip to use one adapter.  have you done this before?

hi ukmillers,

Be careful about plugging them ALL in one strip and running them all the time, if theyre just the chargers and maybe the xbox, you shoudl be ok but I'd say just to be on the safe side dont keep everything running and powered up off one extension strip.

e.g phone chargers could be in the bedroom, the Xbox and PC in the living room and PSP/PDA on another socket elsewhere.

Adapter sockets are very cheaply available nowadays, so buy up 3-4 of them for around the home and you should be fine !

DtM! West London & Slough UK!

point taken.  i'll heed your advice!

I'll add another word of caution. 

The idea of using a U.S. power strip is sound -- I have several in use myself for various items of test equipment etc.   However, if you have any equipment which is 120V only, and thus running with American plugs on an American power strip via a transformer, I would strongly advise against using any dual-rated (120/240V) devices by keeping the U.S. plug and using an adapter to connect directly to 240V. 

However careful you think you'll be, with the same plugs in use for two different voltages the chances are that there will come the day when you lose concentration for a moment and connect a 120V-only device to 240 volts by mistake.   

Ok, dh is an AV technician and the question I have he has tried to answer for me but it's frustrating me because he is talking over my head!  Can anyone break it down more simply?  We are wanting a portable dvd player and I found one that says it's NTSC playback but dh says it won't play american dvds.  Why?

I found one that says it's NTSC playback but dh says it won't play american dvds.  Why?

Probably because of region coding.   As well as the 525-line/NTSC vs. 625-line/PAL video standard issue, DVDs also carry a region code.  It was part of the DVD specification to allow the studios to release titles in different parts of the world at different times and to prevent people from buying a DVD from the "wrong" region.   

At least that's the theory.  In practice, many DVD players can have the region lock bypassed, either temporarily or permanently.  You can also buy "region free" players from some sources, already configured to allow you to watch a DVD from anywhere (so long as it's NTSC or PAL as appropriate).

Here are the region codes:

1 = U.S.A., Canada
2 = Japan, Europe (inc. U.K. & Ireland), South Africa, Middle East, Greenland
3 = S.Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Parts of South East Asia
4 = Australia, New Zealand, Latin America (including Mexico)
5 = Eastern Europe, Russia, India, Africa
6 = China
7 = Reserved
8 = Reserved for cruise ships, airlines, etc.
0 = Uncoded  (i.e. viewable on a player which is locked to any region).



Edited to add map.

Re-posting map for moved image: