I am looking for a portable device for travel in Italy that has a money conversion chart, miles to meters chart and 24 hour clock. Any suggestions?

I beliive you can program a regular calculator to do that with the memory function. I learned to do that about 20 years ago in engineering school. Otherwise, check TechRepublic website: http://search.techrepublic.com.com/s...converter.html

Money and distance conversion is just simple arithmetic (division or multiplication). No chart could be accurate to the date for the money conversion, it would have to be receiving some daily updates or something.

Of course, any portable computer will do what you want, all you have to do is go to a website that has current info (like www.oanda.com). A computer will also have the current time, and you can convert anything on www.onlineconversion.com

Probably the best portable calculator is the one between ones ears. Euros to dollars, add 50% to the Euros - not exact but pretty close and the rate changes daily anyway. I do the same for miles to kilometers, e.g., 1 mile= 1.5 km. That will be about 100 meters short per mile. Or, 1km=.6 miles (about).
24 hour clock just add 12 to anything after noon, e.g., 3pm=15 hours.Between midnight and noon there is no difference e.g., 11am=11hrs.

And should you have problems converting between a 24h and a 12h clock, better don't let anybody notice it. People might get a false impression.

If you don't want to rely on the device between your ears, then write down some basic conversions on an index card.

I'm of the opinion you really don't need to convert - the faster you think locally the better. Will it really matter if you're reading a menu and you see a price for 10Euros?


1 sheet for $ to Euro for a range of prices. If you need to know the cost to the penny you're overthinking.

1 sheet for km to mi (although you really don't need to know that. If you're driving your speed will be in km/hr anyway, so converting to miles doesn't help.

1 sheet for 24hr clock. Better yet, practice for 1 week before you go so you are comfortable knowing that 19:00 opening time for dinner = 7pm, etc.

You are kidding on the 24 hour clock conversion-right-Right...lets see 20:00-12 = 8:00PM

Wilson, you alredy received good advices here, but what about conversion of °F to °C? Are you familiar with this?

I like this "No Tourist Left Behind" thread

don't forget about shoe sizes!!!

Go to www.travelsmith.com, and you will find what you need.

You do not even need to do any arithmetic-- like I said, program a regular computer using the memory function where you just enter the value, hit the memory key and you get the conversion. Euro to dollars and the 24 hour clock is so simple, though....

Hi W,

The euro is about $1.5

A km is 0.6 mi

Why do you need a 24 hr clock?

If the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 8, it is 08:00 if it is morning and 20:00 if it is evening.

Ira asks "why do need a 24 hr clock?"

Quite simply, if the calculator basingstoke2 mentions doesn't isn't up to the task then you may need a better model.

Opens a new possibility for medical tourism to Romania.

Good question. Beginner travelers always have troubles with conversion questions. Prepare a small notebook with 3 sections; Money, English to Metric/Metric to English and Time. Money - List conversions at latest rate.
Euro 1 = $1.60
Euro 10 = $16.00
Metric to English
List constants to convert
centimeters to inches unit x 0.393
kilometers to miles unit x .62137
English to Metric
inches to cms unit x 2,54
miles to kms unit times 1.6093
Time
List AM/PM times, opposite each note the correct military time value.
Midnight 12am 0000
1am 0100
Noon 12pm 1200
1pm 1300

You could also construct a table showing your home time and the time in Italy! Check on daylight savings times.

Hi GS,

>Prepare a small notebook with 3 sections;...

Here in the 21st C you are suggesting that someone use 19th C technology?

I would in fact be VERY careful not to let anybody know that you need some notebook to "convert" between a 12h and a 24h clock. It's pre-school level in the rest of the world about as exotic as being able to count from 1 to 10. It would be considered very! odd asking someone, really no need to expose yourself ;-)

Easy now...How about a Casio data bank watch? Time in military and usual, Time at home. Calculator for money and distances. Space to enter information for calculations.