Mains Frequency

[Steve]

Odd question, I know - that's why it's 'Off The Topic"

If were to buy a laptop from a country which operates a 240V domestic electrical network, but runs at 60Hz rather than our 50Hz, would it work ok?

Any expertise would be appreciated.

[barefoot]

laptop

i have a american spec laptop the charger works from 105 volts to 250v 50 or 60 hz no problems, have a good break

andy

[simon_t]

Most power supplies for laptops these days are designed to run from 100v-240v at 50-60Hz, so you should be OK, but best to check with the vendor. There may be other pitfalls in terms of operating system 'localisation', and even DVD localisation - again seek advice from the vendor.

Simon

[Steve]

Cheers for this.

I'm not too bothered about localisation as I can wipe it clean and reinstall Windows from scratch without too much bother.

[Gaza07]

If it was a problem which i doubt very much it would,
A uk spec power pack from maplin would`nt be that much if you saved a lot on the price of the notebook

[Raptorite]

It will work just fine, most if not all laptop power supplies are designed with flexibility in mind for just this sort of reason. I used to travel much of Europe in a previous career and always took my trusty IBM Thinkpad laptop with me. The power in each country is a little different but it worked fine in every different one I used it in.

At one time I was permanently on the move, or at least thats how it seemed, I very often found myself in as many as four different countries in the same week.

The only thing worth checking is if the country you intend purchasing the laptop from use the same voltage, beyond that, there will be no problems.

Cheers,
Pete.

[Mack]

Hi Pete
Can you or anyone else clarify this for me. My mother-in-law bought a HP laptop here in the UK. She took it back to South Africa with her and the screen would not work properly. There was no HP agent there, but she was told that it was a northern hemisphere laptop. When it got back here, it worked 100%. Never heard of this before.

[Raptorite]

Mack,

I too have never heard of this problem. I have seen laptops brought to the UK from places like Australia, New Zeland and Japan work in the UK with no problems, so by the sounds of it, it is quite an unusual problem.

If I were to have a guess, I would think it would be something to do with the way the liquid crystal display works, again this is pure speculation, but it might just be something to do with the fact that if you took a full sink of water and pulled the plug out, in the Northern Hemesphere the water would spiral anti-clockwise as it drained out, and in the Southern Hemesphere it would spiral clockwise. Maybe this reaction is having some sort of effect on the liquid crystal display too.

Just a thought:)

Cheers,
Pete.

[Gt450s]

Hmmm... So what laptop do you buy if you live on the equator ?:confused:

Reast assured, the coriolis effect whilst having much impact on some things like the weather has no effect on the water spinning down a plughole as the force of the water is far greater than the coriolis effect. That is to say, depending on the shape of the sink and the direction if any the water was moving in and feeding into the plughole at the outset is the cause of the direction which can be either direction both north and south of the equator. :rolleyes:

My guess is a dodgy connection in the laptop hinge between screen and processor (base) which may have been exacerbated by the heat/humidity in South Africa.

Mark

[Steve]

Ok, internet auction (not eBay) purchase has been made.

The current excellent exchange rate with the US and Canada makes purchasing from over the pond very favourable.

Provided I don't get scammed and the thing actually turns up, I've just purchased a very nicely specced, brand new-in-the-box Sony Vaio notebook for a grand total of £239 including postage and insurance from Canada.

The exchange rate made the deal worth $544 CAD to the seller, and he seems to be happy with the auction price. Fingers crossed, I've got myself a bargain.

Here's waiting for delivery.......

[chappers]

heres hoping you dont get done for import tax?!