Traveling with digital camera...
 

I have never traveled to Italy with anything that requires being plugged in. But I am addicted to my digital camera and want to bring it with me. What kind of electrical converter is needed in Italy? Should I buy one in the US? If so, where can you find converters? The battery charger I have is a 2 prong (equal size/shape prongs) plug-in. Thanks in advance!

Almost all digital cameras have dual voltage converters. Look on the charger and see if it lists both voltages. (Both my Cannon and Sony do) Then all you need are the plug adapters which can be bought anyplace. (I bought mine at Target!)

Look at your battery charger. If it says anything like "120-240V" on it, all you need is a plug adapter and you're set.

If not, come back here with a description of what kind of battery the camera uses, and we'll figure something out.

My Sony Cybershot cameras both worked fine, and they take AA batteries. We just made sure we took enough batteries to make it through the trip to avoid needing to charge anything, but if you do, you'll want to follow the above advice for voltage settings on your camera.

For downloading and burning a CD, there are internet cafes (one near the Trevi Fountain we used and it went great), and you don't need anything but a cable with a USB port and download your pictures. The computers in Rome are in English just like yours at home.

Since we were on a cross-European trip from London to Istanbul, we downloaded and burned a CD of each city as we went along so we could clear our disks and start over.

Take a big flash memory and you won't have to worry about finding a place to burn CDs or waste valuable touring time doing it. 1gb CF cards are going for around $50.

If you DO decide to dump to CD, <i>make sure the CDs are readable before you erase your camera memory!</i>

These days 90 percent of the battery chargers that come with the camera accept any voltage (&quot;110/220 VAC 50/60Hz&quot;). That may not be the case with an off-the-shelf charger for AA batteries; check the label before you buy those.

So, then it's just a matter of plumbing -- &quot;Insert Plug A into Socket B.&quot;
Most European sockets take dual, round plug pins, unlike the flat pins in the USA. And some of these sockets will not accept larger-sized pins found in other countries.

If you buy a set of &quot;travel plug adapters&quot; from Radio Shack or K-Mart, you usually get five different dongles that have an American-type socket on one side and a foreign-type plug (for the wall) on the other. Two of these are usually of the type described above -- one with larger pins, one with smaller pins. The one with the smaller pins is the best, as it will fit into either the small or large sockets.

I left mine behind somewhere in Europe, and was able to find a replacement in an electrical shop in Venice for about $4.

Thanks for the great advice! I'll post a trip report with some pictures when we return!

Have a nice weekend!

AnnieF -- I look forward to seeing your pics. =) Have a great trip! - h.

The best deal in plug adapters is at

<b>http://www.mobalrental.com/sale/</b>

... for $10 (free shipping), you get adapters for UK and EU plus they throw in a Nokia 5110, 2 batteries, a charger and a SIM, all free.