Take your Apple global: integrated plug adapters for your MacBook or Powerbook (Apple World Travel Adapter Kit)

Member Name: jamesontheroad

Product:	Apple World Travel Adapter Kit
Date:	19/01/09 (172 review reads)
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Advantages: Compact, versatile and beautifully designed to compliment your Mac

Disadvantages: You loose the cord length between the power adapter and the wall socket when using these plugs

I have, elsewhere on DooYoo, already reviewed my brilliant 12" Apple PowerBook G4. This machine is now getting on a bit - I bought it in 2005 just as Apple's fortunes with their line of high performance laptops was improving and just before the company shifted allegiance from their PowerPC range of processors to Microsoft Windows compatible Intel chips. So in a sense, I missed out on the last major leap in Apple's development, with a non-Windows compatible mahine and an obsolete machine size, with the dinky little 12" screen that is larger than a netbook and smaller than Apple's now standard 13" compact laptop format.

But I don't regret that decision one bit. Like others, I think Apple have missed a trick setting the standard for their small laptops at a 13" screen, because my little 12" machine is precisely the size of a US sheet of paper. Its size is its best asset: a full size keyboard and screen in a compact body that doesn't cut corners to be a netbook.

That portability has taken my laptop with me to dozens of countries and hundreds of cities. It is reasonably robust and despite being almost four years old still gets admiring glances when I pull it out for a presentation. But the greatest asset in traveling with this machine is not its size; it's this amazing little adapter kit from Apple.

The World Travel Adapter Kit was, initially, a necessary purchase since I bought my laptop in Canada but needed it at home in the UK. I was delighted to discover that the compact power adapter that comes with the machine can convert voltages on both sides of the Atlantic without any damage to the computer. And it was designed with the traveller in mind, since the cord from the adapter to the electricity supply can be detached from the unit and replaced with any of the six simple plug adapters in this kit.

The kit contains adapters for Australia, China, Japan, Hong Kong, North America, the United Kingdom and continental Europe. Sliding your normal plug off the adapter is easy but re-assuringly requires a firm tug. A large petal bolt connection holds the adapter plug tightly in place and provides a fool proof connection between the plug and the supply pins. With the new plug in place, you just plug it in to the wall and you're off.

The kit comes in a well packed box, but you can easily leave that at home and carry the plugs you need with you in your luggage. The only point to note is that you may be used to your computer having a certain length of power cable: the length of the cord from the computer to the adaptor plus the length of the high voltage cable from the adaptor to the electricity socket. Note that the adapter plugs replace the latter cord entirely, so that the power adapter itself sits plugged into the wall. Be aware that this shortens your effective power cord length, although if using this for occasional travel purposes this shouldn't be too much of an inconvenience.

Summary: Essential gear for the Apple on the road

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