Electrical items - What works? What doesn't?

I realize that any electrical items I'm better off selling before moving to England. I'm more curious about DVD's and the little personal items.

I have a nintendo Wii that I'm taking because I can buy a cord to convert to UK Standards.

Will Canadian DVDS work in English DVD Players?

Only if you have a regionless DVD player. They're on a differen't system there. They're also somewhat expensive.

The best bet is to either buy a cheap portable DVD player and a simple converter package, or if you have a laptop, bring that--so long as it plays DVD's. Then just get cables to hook it up to a larger TV.

You -could- buy a regionless DVD player if you want, but as said, they're generally really expensive.

If you bring your Wii over from canada it WILL NOT play any games you purchase in the UK . You will however be able to import north american games to the UK it just may cost you a little more.

If you do decide to bring your Wii or DVD player over and they are north american models you will need a step down adaptor. This will convert the UK Electric current to one north american appliances can handle.

If you are taking a laptop you probably won't need this as the power supply generally has an adaptor already built into it.

It's important you look at the voltage your wii etc draws and get a step down adaptor that matches. For instance my Ps2 draws 75 volts therefore I would need a step down adaptor that can handle that amount of draw or more.

Little Maps,

I sold all my appliances (including our DVD) before moving to UK however I brought all my DVDs from Toronto in UK. I bought a multizone (or regionless) DVD for £37.00 in London and I am very happy to watch any DVDs from the world. To find this jewelery, don't go to the big stores like Currys, etc. I bought my DVD on Tottenham Court Road in London.

Don't know about Nintendo.

Regionless DVD players cost peanuts. They're all made in China. The problem is that they're crap, either because they're just crap or because of the output because Region 2 is designed for PAL and Region 1 is designed For NTSC. Sometimes you can hack the firmware but not on anything decent.

Personally I wish I'd kept my region 2 DVD player when I moved to Canada. Yes you need a step-up transformer but I had to buy several anyway.

I think buying a media centre PC and sticking another DVD player set to Region 1 in it might actually be the best way.

The UK is 240V and Canada is 110V so basically nothing will work in the UK that's electrical. You can buy step-down transformers if you have to.

Some electronic devices say on them "100V ~ 240V input", so that means you just have to swap the cable over or get an adaptor plug (most laptop computers are a good example, some PCs also). However anything ordinary like lamps, kettles, toasters, etc. you'll either have to replace or have an electrical shop rewire them.

I moved to the UK about six weeks ago, and yeah. Laptops are usually okay as long as they have power-adaptors, but you'll need an additional plug since the outlets are shaped differently. My hair-dryer (purchased in the United States) actually does work here with the extra plug, but that was a big surprise.

I've also found that it's better to buy adaptors and plugs over here; I bought two back in Canada before travelling (one a basic plug, one a 'voltage-converter' for smaller devices), and neither one ended up working in UK outlets. Oh yeah, and if you use rechargeable batteries, buy new chargers over here, since recharging through extra plugs is supposed to be really inadvisable.

Just be careful plugging certain electronic devices in to the adaptor if there isn't a power converter also attached. A couple of our things (flat iron, shaver) blew fuses. Oops!

Can anyone recommend a decent step-up transformer to buy in the UK for using N/A goodies? When we move in the fall, we'll have sold everything we own except our clothes and my wife's serger and sewing machine (they're the expensive industrial kind, plus they were willed to her), as she figurees she can do alterations on the side for cash-in-hand, but we'll need a powerful enough converter (and adapters, of course). How much would one run us, and where would I find one?

Ooh good question from cordobaman - I have a sewing machine too that was given to me, and would love to bring it over - thought I would have to put it in storage though, as what I have heard so far, is that it's inadvisable to try and plus the sewing machine into a converter, but I'm hoping there are people out there that have managed to do this, as I would like to be able to bring it with me!

You need a step-down transformer for the UK, not step-up, you're going from 240V to 110V. The frequency is important on motorized devices, a sewing machine might be a tad more complex than other electrical appliances. Remember it's 110V at 60Hz you're looking for as the output, the input is 240V at 50Hz. A lot of transformers don't change the frequency. If you plug a 110V motorized appliance into something running at 50Hz instead of 60Hz, it may well not run at the correct speed.

Bear in mind that Canadian outlets are actually 220V with a splitter on them, that's why they're nearly always dual outlets. You do get dual 240V outlets in the UK as well but they're separate feeds off the ring main. Never really been clear why the frequency is different though.

But it's pretty straightforward to wire a Canadian house for European 220V appliances if you know what you're doing, the other way around though is more complex but I'm sure any competent electrician could do it, if you don't mind making a mess of the wiring in your house. Not 100% sure it's legal though.

No idea who to get transformers from anymore, it used to be Tandy's (Radio Shack) but they've gone out of business in the UK now. Maplins maybe?