With so much confusion, I think some people should bring a fire extinguisher with them as well.

The "Guide to Electricity" page referenced from the above citation should illuminate the discrepancy:

http://www.franzus.com/Merchant2/mer...&Screen=UE

&quot;Converters are for single volt Electric products with simple <b>heating</b> devices...&quot; - which tend to draw high power.

&quot;Transformers are for single volt appliances with <b>Electronic</b> circuitry (computer chips or integrated circuits)...&quot; - which tend to draw low power.

Yes, there are high-power electronics and low-power heaters, but the rule doesn't change: don't plug electronics into a converter.

Janak626, what do you mean by digital batteries? Are they AA NiMH batteries you use in a digital camera, or batteries designed to go into a specific model of camera? Or something else?

Your first step should be to follow the advice in the first reply, and check the specs on your charger. You may find you don't need a transformer or converter at all - just an adapter plug. I would have thought most camera battery chargers are multivoltage - both my digital camera chargers are.

You can get worldwide AA battery chargers through Amazon. You might also check with Ritz if they have an outlet nearby.

If, in fact, your camera takes special batteries, and your charger is 110V only, you will need to use a transformer. You should be able to find one that weighs less than 7lbs, though. Just make sure it is a step down transformer and not a converter. Also, don't leave it plugged in for long periods of time - only heavy duty transformers are designed for that, and they are far too heavy for travel.

This discussion comes up often and seems to get more confusing every time. A good explanation of electricity in Europe can be found at
http://www.enjoy-europe.com/hte/chap11/electric.htm

This is all too confusing to me but I will tell you that I took my digital camera to Greece last fall and just pugged the little black square-ish gizmo holding the battery into the wall outlet and charged it. Fire extinguisher, indeed..quite funny!

That's what I do too, eckscrunchy, but I usually check the specs first.

In my 30 years of using US appliances in Europe, I have had only two &quot;accidents&quot; - once, in a moment of sheer absentmindedness, plugging a 110V circular saw into 230V electricity with an adapter plug, and then, testing one of those aforementioned converters with a cheap electric fan. The converter went straight into the trash can, and I have never used one since.

For home appliances I use heavy duty transformers, and for travel I make sure everything I buy is dual or multivoltage.