Originally Posted by michi kipper
Thanks Peter, I didn't realize you could buy the adapter on the plane. I didn't want to leave it up to last minute. I don't need the adapter or headphones for the trip over and I'm traveling for 6 weeks, I didn't want to cart them around.
I am flying out of Kunming-PEK to EWR... with time spent previously in Shanghai and Beijing. I suppose I was thinking China would be like Japan with access to good electronics. I'm not a slave to big brand names.
Thanks for the info--
Are you looking for the AC/DC adapter? This has a plug that fits into a cigarette lighter or the Empower jacks on an airplane and goes to a box that has a standard 110V plug --- then you can just plug your normal AC adapter into that. You can find those as Radio Shack, or on board. The nice ones are quite expensive. You can find low powered ones at auto parts stores sometimes, for much less.
Trying to find a DC power adapter exactly for your laptop is probably harder and more expensive.
China has tons of electronics, but trying to find good quality isn't always easy. Tons and tons of cheap stuff that works OK for a couple days (I'm talling adapters, cell phone charges, etc). In Japan, you can pretty much bet that whatever you buy will last for a while.
Headphones: sorry, no real advice there. I bought a $35 Maxell noise reduction headset at Staples and it works fine for the cheap price, but after an hour or two, there is a dull noise that gets to me. They also make earbud ones that would be quite small to carry --- but this is something where you almost have to try it to even know if you like it.