Bought a Dell 600m in USA, bringing it to Spain, help plz...

[TJN23]

Just bought a Dell 600m and will have it out here in Spain come Christmas:

Inspiron 600m,
Intel Pentium M Processor 725(1.6GHz),14.1-in XGA,with 32MB Video
512MB,266MHz, 2DIMM (from 256MB,266MHz, 2DIMM)
30GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive for Inspiron 600m
Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Service Pack 2, English, for Inspiron
Internal 56K Modem and Integrated Network Card
24X Combo DVD/CD-RW for Inspiron 600m
Dell Wireless 1450 DualBand (802.11a/b/g) Internal Wireless
53 Watt-hour Primary Battery for Inspiron 600m


I know there are a lot of 600m owners out there, so my question is, is the charger world compatible in terms of watts? Will I just need to power cord with the correct European (Spanish) plug socket to go from charger pack to wall? I don´t want to break my $1200 toy...

TIA

Tim

 

[Abhi]

A friend bought his 600m in USA and used it without any problems in india. He is using the machine in the UK right now.

The charger is a world charger... It should work all over the world without a problem.

 

[Abhi]

Would just like to add, If you intend going to spain permanently you should transfer your warranty and Dell's warranty transfer was not an entirely smooth process for me.

 

[TJN23]

if the charger is world compatible, would i just need a different power cord? does anyone know where I can get one to fit a dell charger pack or are they pretty standard?

also i have a small "up to 50 watt" adapter...you plug in the american plug and it converts to a spanish plug...says only up to 50 watts though...would this not matter as i would be protected with dell´s charger?

ok i will not be in spain permanently

 

[TJN23]

anyone?

tia

 

[DocDon]

The power cord probably uses a US standard 2 prong plug. Not exactly sure but European plugs are different than the standard 2 prong plugs. Go to a "travel store" (every mall has one -- also Brookstone) and purchase conversion plugs for US to European.

 

[EvanAdams]

I just got back from one month in Granada and three in Madrid. If you have any questions let me know I am pretty familiar with the country. We brought our Gateway 450xl. Don?t listen to tech support. They are all idiots and I got ten different answers.

1st thing you need a basic plug adapter that you buy at any travel store, rei, or anywhere. We had a targus one that was a package deal. It had all the plugs for our month going everywhere else.

WHAT YOU DO *NOT* WANT IS A CONVERTER. A lot of people get these mixed up. Some people think you need a converter and are misspeaking and all you need is a plug adapter. A Converter is major, heavy and useless unless you are running something totally proprietary. In fact, a converter WILL hurt your electronics. All you need is a plug adapter.

The way to tell if you need a "converter" vs. an "adapter": Look on the power cable, power supply, or on a laptop it is the brick (the AC to DC transformer) that connects the wall plug to the power wire. Look for the input stat. For example my DV1000 has input: 100-240V ~1.7A 50-60Hz. In the USA our wall plugs are 110V 60Hz. In Europe it is usually 220 at 50Hz. As you travel you will notice this change. Nations that had a major US influence in building their power systems will have 110 while others 220. But Europe is a pretty standardized. As long as your stats are within the input rating on your laptops transformer you are aok. You will only need a converter if it is outside of that range (usually commercial stuff. Lighting rigs etc. but it is rare today). Even gateway tech support told me I needed a converter. Don?t trust them. They don?t know their terms.

For Spain there are two types of plugs. And you CAN NOT be sure which one you need. There are the two and three prong plugs. The three are newer and will be in newer buildings. Same way we have one and three prong plugs. Grounding seems to becoming universal finally.

Just plug in and go.

All the stuff I just said applies to any power thing. For me it was also my digital camera chargers (had two digital camera from two different manufacturers.... will never do that again!)

Don?t expect to use that laptop in internet cafes in Spain. That is just about impossible unless you want to pay 4x as much as using their stuff. Get all the files you might need use of onto online file storage (gmail, my dsl has an online file thing) Get a good online e-mail setup and get your contact info online.

The national telephone network is telefonica. They have some great internet cafés throughout the country if you can find them, they are cheap. The other big chain of cafés is BBCG I think. They are a European chain and their prices change city to city.

Seriously let me know if you have any questions. I love Spain. Really wish I could go back. School... blah!