Buying an MP3 player in the USA-power/voltage

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CCOVICH

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I am heading to the US in a few weeks and will probably be buying an MP3 player while I am over there. Even with any potential VAT/Customs issues, it will still work out much cheaper than over here, or anywhere on the web that I can find.

I am looking at [broken link removed]. I was absolutely raging that I missed it when it was half price in Argos during their Spring/Summer catalogue clearance. C'est la vie.

Anyway, what I want to know is this. If I get a European/UK charger, will I be able to plug it directly into the mains over here to charge it? My friend bought a Creative in the US last year and the guy in the shop told him he needed a convertor for the charger. I would have thought that the voltage issue is with the charger as opposed to the player itself, and that if I can get my hands on a European/UK charger, I won't need the voltage convertor. As a wprkaround, I think I can charge it through the laptop anyway, but this won't always be possible.

Any thoughts?
 
From what I can see the mp3 player you are looking at is charged from a USB port on your computer. I bought an mp3 player while in the states easter gone and this was also the case for me. I found it a bit awkward to have to charge off the USB all the time so I bought a charger here. Maybe you should check if you can get a charger for that model here before you go.
 
most are just a standard charger, we got 2 ipods last year in orlando and the irish charger is the same.
 
Ron Burgundy said:
most are just a standard charger, we got 2 ipods last year in orlando and the irish charger is the same.
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So how do you charge them over here-do you use the US charger with an adaptor, or have you bought a UK/Irish charger?
 
we have one of each as we lost the us adapter and it works fine on both, have a car charger too so its all good.
 
The charger I have is standard yes. Something to watch out for across the board for anything battery powered electronics that you buy abroad... there is probably a bulky transformer on the power lead that you would use that transforms the voltage to the appropriate voltage required to charge the battery. If you have a look at the small print on this you should see the vpltage rating for that particular charger i.e on my charger for my laptop I can read...Input AC 1.2A 100-240V 50/60 Hz Output 24V dc. The input is what you are concerned with and because in Ireland we have 230V 50Hz then I know that it will work. USA have 110V 60 Hz I think. This detail should be on all these transformers and applies across the board, camera, ipod, laptop, phoneetc,etc. It might be worth looking at a few chargers that you have around the house to familiarise yourself maybe
 
Thanks guys-I have a charger for a digital camera that would probably do the trick for the MP3 player if I could plug the lead from the player into the transformer (there is a separate lead from the transformer to the mains).

I have e-mailed Creative to see if a UK/Irish charger can be bought separately. One problem I can foresee is that the model I am interested in buying could very well be discontinued at this stage (hence the price reductions).
 
CCOVICH said:
Thanks guys-I have a charger for a digital camera that would probably do the trick for the MP3 player if I could plug the lead from the player into the transformer (there is a separate lead from the transformer to the mains).
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Sorry thats not what I was suggesting, I dont think it would be advisable to use your camera charger for your mp3 player.
 
Con said:
Sorry thats not what I was suggesting, I dont think it would be advisable to use your camera charger for your mp3 player.
Click to expand...

Any reason why? If both use the same voltage/power? I read on a Creative forum that a PSP charger could be used with one of their players.
 
Once the connector type, polarity (e.g. positive centre/negative collar or vice versa), voltage are the same any charger should charge any device.
 
ClubMan said:
Once the connector type, polarity (e.g. positive centre/negative collar or vice versa), voltage are the same any charger should charge any device.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that's pretty much as I thought.

I will wait to see if Creative offer anything themselves.

In the meantime, I have found on Pixmania (also available on www.7dayshop.com)
 
I agree with clubman if the output is the same and jack is the same then it would work.

That USB mains adapter looks good, I didn't know such a thing exists..
 
You should be able to get 5V/500mA from a powered USB port. For example I use a simple USB to Nokia charger connector cable to charge my phone off my PC/laptop. I bought it for about €2 including P&P on eBay. It does nothing other than route the USB power and ground pins to the phone - i.e. there is no data transfer involved. Any device that can be charged off 5V and up to 500mA should work with such a cable once it has the correct device connector.
 
I think that the player will actually come with one of the USB chargers/sync cables (at least in Circuit City). I would still like to have some way of charging it through the mains, especially for holidays etc.
 
CCOVICH,
I don’t think you will need anything other than a converter for a US plug. The input Voltage for the charger is 100 240 volts.. I would think that Creative just alter the unit with a plug to match where the unit is sold. The output from this unit piggybacks on to the usb cable.
 
Yeah - if it's rated 110-240V/50-60Hz then all you need a plug adaptor (not a stepdown transformer or anything fancy/bulky like that) or snip off the US plug and wire on an Irish one. I did this with the power supply for my laptop which was purchased in the US. Universal power supplies/charger transformers are quite common for portable electronic devices these days.
 
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