Mobile phone question
#1
Mobile phone question
Can anybody advise me if a plug adaptor is all I need to bring my UK phone/charger to the USA? Somebody at work told me I need an electrical transformer to change the voltage too but I am not so sure.
#2
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2002
Location: Atlanta via Dubai, Belgium, Greece, Saudi Arabia
Posts: 953
Re: Mobile phone question
Most phone chargers operate on a wide input voltage range 100-240v, check on the area of the pins it is usually molded into the plastic.
#3
Re: Mobile phone question
The answer is probably on your charger 'brick'. Take a close look and it will say something like 110-220 or just 220v. If it is 110-220 (most are) then you just need a plug adaptor (£5) rather than a transformer. If you do need a transformer, my advice would be to buy a comparable 'brick' power supply when you get here. Probably cheaper.
#4
#8
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Joined: Nov 2007
Location: Carson City, NV
Posts: 789
Re: Mobile phone question
Regarding the adapter, some power supplies I've come across recently have exchangeable plugs (my older iPhone one has one, several Motorolas I've had have them, my wife's Crackberry has them, too) so instead of having a rickety adapter that'll fall out of the wall on a regular basis, you might be able to just switch plugs on the wall wart.
#9
Re: Mobile phone question
Regarding the adapter, some power supplies I've come across recently have exchangeable plugs (my older iPhone one has one, several Motorolas I've had have them, my wife's Crackberry has them, too) so instead of having a rickety adapter that'll fall out of the wall on a regular basis, you might be able to just switch plugs on the wall wart.
The US plug is still hard wired in and those tabs to remove the US plug is fixed
#10
Re: Mobile phone question
Someone has finally gotten smart.
#11
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 7,605
Re: Mobile phone question
Really smart would be building houses with +5V and +12V DC rails, alongside the AC, so as to eliminate power bricks all together.
#12
Re: Mobile phone question
Problem with that is that the runs can not be too long, the resistance in the wire would cause the voltage to drop too much. It could also be a big potential fire hazard if you have a short somewhere inside the wall. Low voltage DC is not as harmless as you may think.
#13
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 7,605
Re: Mobile phone question
Problem with that is that the runs can not be too long, the resistance in the wire would cause the voltage to drop too much. It could also be a big potential fire hazard if you have a short somewhere inside the wall. Low voltage DC is not as harmless as you may think.
#15
Re: Mobile phone question
but you wouldn't need it all over the house, I've seen it in offices where they have it around a media station, my guess just wired out from the normal plug socket and a few usb type sockets in the wall where your puter/console will be set up to power the periperhals...was a custom built office mind