American laptops and Japanese AC power

[Crispy]

Can they inter-operate? How about vice-versa?

[sukebekuro]

Well, I can't speak to laptops specifically but I can say that I brought my desktop with me from America and it works fine, no transformer or anything. As well, I brought my TV (hey, I'm fucked okay) which is one of these big rear-projection suckers and I was almost sure I'd need to do something to get it to work properly on the different current, but it too works like a charm without need of transformers and the like.

[ultragaijin]

I haven't heard of anyone having a problem with a laptop going either way (Japanese laptop in the US or US laptop in Japan). Japan is 100V vs. 120V in the US, which is a slight difference.

Some people have to buy a step-up or step-down transformer for certain appliances, but I think most laptop AC adapters have a built-in tolerance for slight voltage differences (in fact, they may be built to work in both countries, so they can sell the same part in both countries and cut down manufacturing costs).

[Crispy]

Thanks, that's one less thing to think about. Now, I wonder if my PS2/Dreamcast/etc will work...

[ultragaijin]

PS2 will work, but games and movies you buy or rent over there won't work. And if you buy a Japanese-market PS2 console, your US game discs won't work in that either.

So you can take your PS2 and games with you and play them fine on a Japanese TV, but you couldn't buy any games over there (unless you buy a second PS2 in Japan).

I'm not sure about Dreamcast.

[cstaylor]

It depends on where you're going.

Eastern Japan uses a different cycle rate than western Japan (I think it's 60Hz in Kansai, 50Hz in Kanto, but I could have it reversed). That's why Japanese equipment works well in the U.S.... it has built-in tolerance to cycle changes.

IANAE (I Am Not An Electrician), but this was told to me by someone who was more electrically-inclined.

[Crispy]

My DC is modded, my PS2 might soon be. I'm thinking I'll have a professional do it, I am frankly amazed every time I boot my DC up and it works, I figured my horrid soldering skills would have killed it.

There are different AC cycle rates in different parts of Japan? How do TVs in the area that works at 50hz conform to NTSC broadcasting standards? How the hell did it get that way?

[ultragaijin]

My DC is modded, my PS2 might soon be. I'm thinking I'll have a professional do it, I am frankly amazed every time I boot my DC up and it works, I figured my horrid soldering skills would have killed it.

Yeah, actually modding is the way to go (but we're trying to minimize the discussion of that sort of topic here).

There are different AC cycle rates in different parts of Japan? How do TVs in the area that works at 50hz conform to NTSC broadcasting standards? How the hell did it get that way?

That's a really good question. I hadn't heard about that difference with TVs before. The only issue with 50Hz that I've heard about before is that maybe a US clock radio (or other electric clock) will not keep correct time on 50Hz power. The TV's in Osaka look the same to me.

From the Japan FAQ (http://thejapanfaq.cjb.net/):

The broadcast frequencies in Japan are different. AM Radio is the same, but FM is only 76-90 MHz. TV frequencies are different as well--starting in the US upper FM radio bands.

[sukebekuro]

somewhat OT, but i'll throw it in anyway...regarding tv's, while my TV works fine on the electrical current, I can't see any channels on it unless I have it hooked up to a VCR and tune it via the VCR, something about the way channels are set up here.

also, regarding DVD, I bought a region-free Malata player in the states (well, actually i bought it via mail-order from Canada) before I moved here and brought it over with me, so that I can watch both my existing collection of Region 1 DVD's (about 150 of 'em), plus any new DVD's I may buy here (here being region 2). I'm glad I did too because after some checking around, region-free players appear to be mighty scarce here. I'm assuming any work, ahem, that you might do to your PS2 so it can play Japanese games would also enable it to play Reg. 2 dvd's.

[Harvey]

just to back stuff up, I brought my American laptop over to Japan when I was there, used it for a year on japanese power, and it still works fine.

The laptops do have a device on them that allows them to adjust to a variety of voltages.

One thing, if you buy a device with a rechargable battery, and no voltage converting thing (what are those called, transformers?), be careful when bringing it back to the states. (MD players, mp3 players, pda's whatever)

The voltage in the states is higher, and it can damage the rechargeable battery permanently if you plugged in over here.

Hrm. Yeah. My 2 cents.

[kamome]

I currently use an old Dell laptop I bought in the States in Japan and it works fine.

For higher end AV equipment, I would recommend a transformer as insurance against gradual deterioration in quality due to the different currents.