ipods in Europe

May 1, 2004 8:50 AM

Can I take my American iPod to England and (with nothing but an an adaptor to correctly plug into a British socket) plug it into the wall for recharging? Will it accept UK power? Will it blow up? I want to listen to music while I'm there, but I don't want to break an expensive piece of equipment. I tried Google and Apple.com, but I couldn't find anything about this.
posted by grumblebee to Technology (9 answers total)

Look at the AC adaptor. It will probably say '100-240V~' or something similar. If it does, you're fine and it'll work with just a plug adaptor. Most laptop AC adaptors will work on all votages between 100V and 240V, too.
posted by zsazsa at 9:00 AM on May 1, 2004

What zsazsa said. I stressed about this a great deal in the past. But since then I've plugged in lots of pricey electronics in Ireland using the U.S. AC cords. No problem.
posted by y6y6y6 at 9:06 AM on May 1, 2004

my adapter says 100-240v (it also says Apple Japan, which is funny)--15gig 3g ipod. It'll work. There are all sorts of graphic symbols on the adapter too--maybe one of those means it definitely will? There's a checkmark in a circle, and a square in a square, and a N in a circle, and large C and E, and a YL in a circle. Also, a plastic tab i was supposed to remove says Remove, Enlever, Entfernen, etc, so there you go. : >
posted by amberglow at 9:24 AM on May 1, 2004

Yes, you can. I live in the UK and I bought my current first-gen 5GB iPod in the UK. Recharging works perfectly fine here using a standard plug adaptor.
posted by adrianhon at 9:53 AM on May 1, 2004

Whoops. I mean I bought it in the US.

Also, I believe pretty much all Apple chargers work internationally because they're all based on the same block design that accepts 110-240V.
posted by adrianhon at 9:54 AM on May 1, 2004

The US-style plug slides off the iPod charger, and you can buy a World Travel Kit that contains plugs for other countries. Kind of pricey, though.
posted by kindall at 10:04 AM on May 1, 2004

Two-pin female "portable tape deck" cables fit into the iPod charger (and all the other Apple white bricks) and work fine. You can pick one up for buttons in almost any country with electricity, IME.
posted by bonaldi at 11:34 AM on May 1, 2004

Another yes here. In fact here being Flagstaff, AZ & me with iBook, dig camera & mobile all purchased in the UK there's no problem t'other way either.
posted by i_cola at 1:08 PM on May 1, 2004

Yes --- I just had mine in the Philippines and Hong Kong with no problems.
posted by nathan_teske at 4:11 PM on May 1, 2004