Charge my Handspring Visor Edge in Europe?

[sun818]

Leaving for Europe in a two weeks. I want to take my Visor Edge with me. Is the different voltage an issue with charging? Do I need to buy a special charger? Or can I use a 220-110 converter with the charger? Are there any small travel chargers that are compatible with the Visor Edge?

[mivox]

Make sure you get a transformer that not only converts from 220 to 110 volts, but also that takes care of the frequency difference (60Hz US, 50Hz Europe) in the electrical supply.

Powercords.co.uk has a lot of information on electrical variations all over the world... but if your Visor Edge is still under warranty, the first place you'd want to look is Handspring.com. ;)

[sun818]

frequency difference?

[mivox]

220 and 110 are the voltage of the current (V=volts). Alternating current (AC) also has a frequency, meazured in Hertz (Hz)...

Think of alternating current electricity as a repeating wave: The voltage measures the height of each peak and valley in the waveform... The frequency is how many waves there are per time period.

US "standard" power is generally 110V, 60Hz. European power is generally 220V, 50Hz. We got faster waves in the US, but European waves are bigger.

For sensitive electrical equipment, you want to make sure your power converter straightens everything out properly: voltage and frequency.

[mivox]

Here [handspring.com] is the official Handspring "travel charger" for the Visor Edge...

They say it will handle any AC outlet from 100V to 240V. You could email them to confirm it will handle 50Hz power also.

Re-reading my last post, I think I gave a really stupendously oversimplified explanation... if you want to know the truly painful details of it, this [pcguide.com] explanation is more complete.

[sun818]

thank you mivox. I didn't know Handspring made one! I found one on eBay for half the price shipped. It didn't come with an American to European converter, but I imagine it wouldn't be "too" difficult to find.

[mivox]

I'd think once you got the bit that attaches to the Visor, the "wall wart" converter could be found really easily... Nice that you found one at a discount! ;)