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The reasons that hair driers (or anything else with a similar motor) will burn out in Europe, even if the voltage is converted, is due to the number of cycles. The US is 60 cycles and Europe is 50 cycles, so the motor strains because it does not operate at the proper speed. I learned this back in the old days of electric typewriters -- I had to get rid of my American one, because I could smell the motor overheating after about 15 minutes of use. An electric motor specialist finally explained this to me.

I finally bought a cheap European hairdryer after burning several "dual voltage" ones out. I throw it in the luggage even when I am home exchanging "just in case".

Thanks Kerouac for the explanation :).
I like the idea of buying a European blow dryer and leaving it in my suitcase for future trips to come...

You can buy one for $15 and forget messing with the converters. I found it to be a good investment because it stopped the worries over the hair dryer burn out problem.

I generally just pack two adapters on holiday trips to Europe. Since I generally home exchange, I am using my exchangers' phones and computers. I just need one to recharge my Kindle and camera battery. Exchanging simplifies a lot of things.