Plug adapter search

You do need to be a little careful with some of the cheap adapters.  There are quite a few on the market which are not properly fused for use on the typical 30 - 32A British ring circuit.   The adapter needs to have a fuse (like the one in my link above) to provide proper protection.

You do need to be a little careful with some of the cheap adapters.  There are quite a few on the market which are not properly fused for use on the typical 30 - 32A British ring circuit.   The adapter needs to have a fuse (like the one in my link above) to provide proper protection.

Very true. Most of the cheap ones for travel don't actually ground and have all sorts of warnings on them about how they aren't to be used for Class 1 electronics including laptops, MP3 players, personal DVD players, etc. That's why here in the states I wound up doing a search and finally found the one I linked in the first page.

Oh yeah, definitely use good adaptors and if you need a transformer, use a good transformer, not a cheapie travel one!

Just to update, I decided to forgo the really expensive one that was at Circuit City based on its shoddy reviews.  After we got to Leeds, we just went to Maplin and they had one with a fuse for £5.  It works with 3-prong US plugs as well as 2, but it has kind of a lip around it, so you can't have whatever you're plugging into it flush against it (like the brick of a Mac charger), but you can use regular plugs   Thanks everyone!

we just went to Maplin and they had one with a fuse for £5.  It works with 3-prong US plugs as well as 2, but it has kind of a lip around it

Sounds like the one I linked to above:



Another way which might be better for some applications is to bring a couple of 3-conductor  U.S. extensions with you, then just cut off the plug and wire on a U.K. plug instead.  It's easy to do, although you'll need to "translate" the wiring colors on the plug instructions:

U.S. <--> U.K.

Black -- Brown
White -- Blue
Green -- Green/yellow.

Yep, that's the one (the linked one I was talking to was one of the first links and was like $19).  I think I'm too afraid to fiddle with cutting them open and rewiring!  Sounds like an experiment for my husband Thanks again!

I saw that exact adapter on a Macbook at church today.  I suppose that means it works

I ordered mine online here:

http://www.boxwave.com/products/plugadapters/universal-to-uk-outlet-plug-adapter.htm

The easiest thing to do is, as others have said, to get a figure-eight lead when you are in the UK.  That plugs straight into a MacBook / Pro power brick.  What you can't use is a three-prong grounded lead (like what plugs into the back of a desktop PC.)  Although the Apple extension cord you have in the US is three-prong, there's nothing stopping you using a generic two-prong figure-eight cable even in the US.  I do this all the time.

I have a Sony Vaio, and we just went to Maplin and I purchased the figure-eight part for £6.99.  We figured if I was going to be moving eventually, I'd need it anyway.

I'm also planning on picking up a Nokia Charger for the UK for my N810 and an iPod charger at some point.