Accessories Taking my Dinc overseas... how do I charge it?

[Ginge]

I am going to be in the UK next week and I am going to bring along my DINC so I can make use of wifi spots (and hopefully text with Google Voice).

My question is regarding power and charging the phone. I have a UK USB charger that I got off of eBay, can I plug that into the DINC safely to charge it? Or do I need to convert the voltage somehow? I am not sure if USB voltage is universally the same, or if not, does the DINC accept dual voltage? Do any of you guys have experience with this?

Thanks...

 

[Sevreth]

I am going to be in the UK next week and I am going to bring along my DINC so I can make use of wifi spots (and hopefully text with Google Voice).

My question is regarding power and charging the phone. I have a UK USB charger that I got off of eBay, can I plug that into the DINC safely to charge it? Or do I need to convert the voltage somehow? I am not sure if USB voltage is universally the same, or if not, does the DINC accept dual voltage? Do any of you guys have experience with this?

Thanks...

Despite being in another country (with different power supply {UK is 240V AC}), you should have no problems as long as you have access to USB.

The adapter you bought will convert the 240V AC to 12V DC for charging your phone. No mobile phones that I have come across charge from AC

No worries at all. It is the AC plug and converter that is necessary for large things (i.e. laptops, toasters, tea kettles).

Cheers,

-Sev

 

[wayrad]

Despite being in another country (with different power supply {UK is 240V AC}), you should have no problems as long as you have access to USB.

The adapter you bought will convert the 240V AC to 12V DC for charging your phone. No mobile phones that I have come across charge from AC

No worries at all. It is the AC plug and converter that is necessary for large things (i.e. laptops, toasters, tea kettles).

Cheers,

-Sev

12V???

The US charger has a DC output of 5V, 1A according to HTC. It has a microUSB connector. Any UK charger with the same connector and output should work. Alternatively, buy a voltage converter/plug adapter kit (NOT just the plug adapter) of the type sold for traveling abroad, and plug your US charger into that. Or just use USB.

P.S. I've never been in the UK, but it's not uncommon for European hotels to have a US-type outlet in the bathroom for the convenience of American guests.

 

[iowabowtech]

I was looking at this:
http://www.amazon.com/VCT-VTM-150UK-Converter-Products-Chargers/dp/B0014XCK8W/ref=sr_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1307646604&sr=1-2

Maybe a person can just get by with an adapter IDK. Seems like most electronics these days would be 50/60 Hz compatible.

 

[wayrad]

I was looking at this:
http://www.amazon.com/VCT-VTM-150UK-Converter-Products-Chargers/dp/B0014XCK8W/ref=sr_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1307646604&sr=1-2

Maybe a person can just get by with an adapter IDK. Seems like most electronics these days would be 50/60 Hz compatible.

That's the sort of thing I was thinking of, handles both the voltage conversion and the different wall plug. You can buy plug adapters alone, but using one of those would probably not be advisable . That said, my original DInc charger fell apart months ago so I can't check it to see if it's dual voltage, but from the small size I really doubt it.

P.S.. I take it back, the HTC site says 110-240 V. However, there's no picture of the charger and in the past I've seen pictures that show a different one than the fairly minimalistic one I got. If the OP's charger covers both US and UK voltages (voltage requirements should be on it somewhere) and is 50/60 Hz as described on the HTC site, all they need is a plug adapter.

 

[JoeSchmoe007]

Original DInc charger is dual voltage. You do not need any voltage converter, just an adapter from US AC plug to UK AC socket

 

[cp1]

If you already have a USB charger then it will work fine. I have a universal charger from Kensington, it has 4 different plugs that you pull out depending on the country, and a USB output + "regular USA" output for your laptop. Works great. As said above the HTC charger is 100-240 V , 50-60 Hz, so it will work fine with just a plug adapter.

You shouldn't ever really get a voltage adapter.

 

[Ginge]

Thanks for the replies guys. I was pretty sure it would be an easy thing, I just didn't want to accidentally blow out my DINC...haha. I'm leaving tomorrow and I am going to use my LG Charger (model STA-U12WS) which is dual voltage along with an US to UK plug adapter. From everything I've read... it shouldn't be a problem.