[JessBirardi]

Moving from NYC in a month and know there's some debate in terms of trying to make US electronics work in HK.

Should I bring any of these (e.g. will a converter/adapter work for these)?[*]flat screen[*]DVD player[*]ipod docking station[*]laptop[*]printer[*]air purifier[*]blow dryer[*]alarm clock[*]lamps

Thanks!!!

[JessBirardi]

Moving from NYC in a month and know there's some debate in terms of trying to make US electronics work in HK.

Should I bring any of these (e.g. will a converter/adapter work for these)?
flat screen
DVD player
ipod docking station
laptop
printer
air purifier
blow dryer
alarm clock
lamps

[jahoga]

No. Don't bother bringing anything but your laptop. For that, the power supply will convert the power automatically and you will only need an adaptor.

Hong Kong power is 220 while US is 110. That means everything you bring would have to run on a transformer.

Why trust your daily life to a transformer? You'd need to make sure you had the correct wattage and then check to make sure you weren't running too many things off it at the same time. Then, if the fuse blows, you have to wait until you can make it to ye olde electronics shoppe to buy a replacement.

You can find everything you mentioned in Hong Kong, probably cheaper, and quite possibly at a lower price than shipping over items you already own.

[jgl]

If you are can ship your gear cheaply, just ship it and get some inexpensive tranformers from Apliu Street in Sham Shui Po. Obviously, this is only worth doing with the higher value items like the TV, DVD player, printer and maybe air purifier (depending on whether it's a fancy one). Most of these can probably share the same transformer if you get a decent capacity one.

For cheap things like lamps, alarm clocks and hair driers, don't bother. Just get new ones.

Also, check if any of your devices can take dual voltage. Laptop adaptors can typically take both 110 and 220 volts. Your ipod docking station might do the same.

[Jon.E.Kong]

I run my desktop, subwoofer/speakers, external hard-drive, phone/fax machine, and random battery chargers on a transformer.

The fuse has only blown once in 2 years, and it took five minutes to fix. The transformer weighs a bit though.

You can have my transformer as I'm moving in September. PM me if interested.

[JessBirardi]

This is very helpful. I'm going to share with my husband -- the real gadget pro - and see what he wants to do.

[jayinhongkong]

Check your appliances. If they say 110-220V on them you don't even need a converter. Some appliances don't work even with a converter (e.g., some American-made hair clippers like the Andis T-Outliner).

Also you need to make sure the total Amp draw of your appliances does not exceed the output of the transformer. If one says 3A and another appliance says 10A and the transformer's rated output is 10A, you're going to have problems at some point.

[jahoga]

Originally Posted by jayinhongkong

...

Also you need to make sure the total Amp draw of your appliances does not exceed the output of the transformer. If one says 3A and another appliance says 10A and the transformer's rated output is 10A, you're going to have problems at some point.

That's exactly what we ran into when we first came over here. I brought back a bunch of electronics and some kitchen stuff I had at home in the US and found that they were overloading. So now I just run the Nintendo off it!

[Sleuth]

Aren't the TV standards different here? I thought you could not bring a US TV here (but could probably bring a HK model back to the US)?
Our movers told us shipping a big TV was inviting it to be broken.

[Jon.E.Kong]

Most new tvs will accept a PAL or NTSC feed. Mine does. It usually isn't worth it to ship a tv unless it is really expensive though. Once you insure it you'd be better off buying a new one here.