I have a friend who is going to Australia in September for a month and they are wanting to take their laptop with them. They asked me to find them an adapter that will work overseas but I do not know what to look for that guarantees will work over there. Also I don't know if I will need a step down converter to convert from 220 to 110. Any help in pointing me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Most modern laptop mains adapters/battery chargers are "auto-ranging" from 110 to 240 V Ac (and 50 to 60 Hz).

Check the actual adapter.

You will need a physical adapter from the "US" plug to the AUS one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AS_3112

.

But even if the power adapter is only 110V/60Hz, you'd better (easier, faster, more economical and "safer") get a replacement charger/adpater for the laptop capable of covering the range ( or a spare 240V/50Hz one) rather than a "generic" converter from 230/240V to 110V.

jaclaz

- Or, you just take the laptop to Australia and get a new cable there (from walloutlet to PSU, not including the PSU), might/will be easier. 99% Of the PSUs do indeed autoranging from 100 to 240v 50/60Hz like jaclaz stated already (he wrote 110, but it's 100).

If I get the model number of the power adapter she had can I check online to see if it has built in auto ranging?

99% it has or it must be a very old notebook (the other 1%), what's the model of the notebook? Most of the time you have 2 cables;

with 3 holes (with earth-pin)

_o_

o_o

-or-

with 2 holes (without earth-pin)

o_o

and she can buy one of those in a local store in AUS. Most modern notebooks use the 2 pin powercable that goes into the PSU.

with 3 holes (with earth-pin)

_o_

o_o

If you mean something like this:

The industry term is the "Mickey Mouse plug"

The industry term is the "Mickey Mouse plug"

Maybe down under , where they look at it upside down :

o_o_o_

it's name is "C5", actually IEC "60320-C5":

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/IEC_60320_C5.svg

but a number of laptop mains adapters/charger are in "double insulation" and may use the 2 connector one (without earth), called "C7" or "IEC60320-C7":

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/IEC_60320_C7.svg

More:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60320

jaclaz

P.S.: Among the nice features of the board it seems like .svg images are prohibited.

That looks like a C5 to C7 than, but indeed, the plugs you guys mentioned (lol @ Mickey Mouse )

She said it has the three pins aka Mickey Mouse plug.

Local AUS store will have that for a few dollars, did she see what it said on the label of the PSU?

That looks like a C5 to C7 than, but indeed, the plugs you guys mentioned (lol @ Mickey Mouse )

Well, to be picky that is C6 (male) adapter to a C7 (female), i.e. a way to use a mains cable terminating with a C5 on a device that has a C8 ("Appliance inlet").

And yes, the good guys at IEC missed the lessons about "making easy mnemonics" at school.....

The socket on the device is always male (and then maybe it's not even a "socket") while the plug at the other end of the cable connected to mains is alway female (and then maybe it is not even a "plug") , represented like this starts to make motre sense then with words:

mains socket -< <- plug ----cable ---- <- C5 -< <-C6 device

mains socket -< <- plug ----cable ---- <- C7 -< <- C8 device

jaclaz

Ow for F... sake, , yes you are right, they did that to not use the word male or female as in times like these we may not discriminate between male and female (or do we? ), so just let us give it numbers and the whole thing is solved... right...

Ow for F... sake, , yes you are right, they did that to not use the word male or female as in times like these we may not discriminate between male and female (or do we? ), so just let us give it numbers and the whole thing is solved... right...

But you see, all Female connectors have odd numbers (evil) and all male have even ones (good), so they actually failed at failing!

jaclaz

Thanks all for the great help. I will let my friend know that to find a store in Australia and they should have the plugs there. Thanks again.

Thanks all for the great help. I will let my friend know that to find a store in Australia and they should have the plugs there. Thanks again.

¡ʇı llɐʇsuı puɐ ʇuoɟ pǝʇɹǝʌuı uɐ ʎnq oslɐ plnoɥs ǝɥs/ǝɥ ʍoɥ ɹǝqɯǝɯǝɹ

jaclaz