Some places to go to see what you need to stay powered...

Most FTers know about SeatGuru for some airlines' cabin configurations, including which seats have electric power and the type of outlet - but they have recently added the very helpful "The Ultimate Guide to In-Seat Laptop Power Ports" as well. SeatGuru includes helpful hints like:

"Will there be enough power for my device (how many watts can it handle)?

Most airplane power systems are limited to approximately 75 Watts of power draw per seat. This means that your new 17" laptop, with the power-hungry processor, might not get enough juice to operate. Sometimes the laptop will know not to charge the battery and will just operate via the power, but other times the laptop won't work at all, or will work for a short period of time before tripping the power circuit. You can try taking your battery out all together, or buy a smaller laptop.

Will my battery charge while I'm plugged in?
Don't count on it. Again, because of the limited amount of power draw per seat, it is possible that your laptop won't get enough power to both operate and charge. Some airlines, like Continental Airlines, specifically state that battery charging is not allowed and ask you to remove your rechargeable battery from your device."


Other helpful Road Warrior gound-level power sites for when you have arrived include:

Electricity Around the World tells you what voltage and frequency (Hertz, or cycles per second,) are used around the world, both single phase and three-phase (and how many wires,) as well as what plugs are in use. This site even lists - and illustrates - some of the more arcane plugs in use, and describes items like transformers, adaptors and converters.

Even tips are included here, like: "Trick to know the local voltage - In case you forget to check what the local voltage is in the country you’re going to: here’s a small trick. Just take a look at the glass of an ordinary light bulb or stop at a supermarket and note what is printed on a light bulb packet!"

Steve Kropla's "Help For World Travelers" site is another excellent resource, which includes a World Electric Power Guide and Table of Electrical Systems used worldwide" and a very abbreviated list of "Sources for Telephone/Electrical Travel Accessories." Steve includes information on world telephony (including a world phone plugs table and guide, country codes plus international and national prefixes, a country finder in which you enter the phone number to determine country of origin, Internet roaming, world television standards and more.

Voltage Valet sells adapters, transformers, converters and the like, and has a handy page that lists what plugs you will need for various countries, as well as the most likely voltage and frequency used.


What I use to stay powered is my iGo Juice, from iGo. It plugs in anywhere with the right adaptor, has worked for me in autos, various 'planes and on the ground from Japan (100 V / 50 Hz) to Australia, Indonesia... and it can, with the proper plug tips, power DVD players, iPods, and even charge my Nokia (at home) or Sony Ericsson (global 4 band GSM) cell phone while it is powering my laptop. In May and June (2006) I also lent it to two different people who had fried their Kensington devices so they could edit video and charge their laptop batteries.