my question has to do with electricity. does australia use 220v or 110?

it really ties in with a cell phone. usually when i travel to europe, i have to use a converter for the voltage, plus, the wall plug ins are different between europe and the usa. do i need something similiar in the australia as well?

thanks for your help, as always,
Berina

Hi Berina,
240v in Australia. You'll need a converter.
We use 3 prong 'slit' type plugs.
/ \
l

Some small appliances only have 2 prongs.

Here's a useful worldwide table.
http://www.kropla.com/electric2.htm

do you really need a converter with your cellphone in Europe? Almost all my electronics (cellphone, ipod charger, PDA charger, digital camera battery charger) come with dual/multi voltage. Right on the plug it says something like 110v-240v. So when I go to Europe I just need a plug adaptor. So I'm curious what kind of charger you have, if its not dual voltage?

china cat, i guess, it's more of a plug adaptor, than a converter, becuase i have used it for both my cell phone and my laptop.

thanks bokhara2, i'll check out the website. hopefully i can just get the converter here in the us, before i leave next week.

You can get them in Radio shack, I think.

Just make sure you use the right term when buying the gizmo, i.e. plug adaptor, not converter, and you should be fine.

As you've used your mobile phone* in Europe I assume it works on the GSM system at 900/1800 Mhz frequencies as used in Australia.

* (This term rather than "cellphone" is used in Australia FWIW.)

thanks Bokhara, i'll check at radioshack.

neil_oz, yes, i know, it's a plug adaptor, not electricity converter (i think i used the wrong term b/c i used to, use the actual electricity converter for different gadgets whenever i would go back to europe); sorry about that. my cell is a quad band, so i know it'll work.

ok, it's mobile phone (yes, like europeans call it too - can you tell that i am originally european?), rather than cellphone.. but you still seem to understand it though, right?

If you're going to be staying in hotels (3 or 4*), I'd simply wait until you arrived in OZ and ask at the front desk for an adapter.

We stayed at the Four Points Sydney, and they had them in the drawer above the frig.

Best, Dave

Hotels usually have them. A staff member let me borrow one when I requested to have my phone charged

Berina, you can even get the adaptor at Target these days. Usually they have a little travel accessory section in their luggage aisle.

thank you for all your replies. i will get it here before i leave. i am staying at a hotel only for a part of my trip and with friends the rest. that will probably then be my best bet.

thanks again!

Hello again, Berina. Yes, I think most Australians have been exposed to enough American movies etc. to understand "cellphone", but not all perhaps. The same way most of us probably know that US cars have hoods and trunks rather than bonnets and boots .... I just assumed that you'd prefer to use local expressions as much as possible when overseas.

Check out this website:
www.walkabouttravelgear.com
Click on the Online Catalog
Then, click on "Solving the Riddle of Global Electrical".

I found it very helpful and entertaining! But, then again, it doesn't take much to entertain me! \/

wow jewelhawg, that is very helpful and entertaining at the sam time.. yeah, it doesn't take much for me either