What do I need to use electrical outlets in Vietnam if from Canada: an adaptor or a currency converter? ?

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MojaveDan

Iâ€™m an IT consultant that travels to Vietnam regularly with lots of electronic equipment. Vietnam AC power is 220 VAC as opposed to the U.S., which is 110 VAC. The plugs are also different.

Make sure your power supply can handle 220 VAC. I just happen to be working on two Dell laptops for my parents right now, and both of the stock power supplies can handle 220 VAC. Unless your laptop is real old, you should be good to go.

You will want to have one or two universal plug adapters as well. I highly recommend the following:

http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=INPA

This unit is small, lightweight, rugged and easily configurable from any plug to any plug. I have three of these units myself and I never leave the country without them. You can find these at most major electronics stores (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.).

Have a great trip!

l d

A dell laptop

my junky, sorry, no hardware comments

my US sourced Dell laptop plugged into the 220 mains without any problems. In my house I even had wall sockets that took either the US plug or the 2-pin round Vietnamese standard plug.

Get an overpriced adapter to convert your 2-flat pin plug to plug into a round pin socket. If you have a 3-pin grounded plug, get one 3-into-2 flat-pin to round-pin converter.

Once you get to VN you can go "window shopping" and get a dirt cheap power strip that will accept just about any plug you want to use.

You need the flat to round pin adapter when in transit.

The wall sockets I ran into were usually 2-pin, small diameter round pins. My house, and some other places, had 2-pin wall sockets that would accept flat or round pin plugs - but only 2, not 3-pin grounded plugs. There are also some heavy duty oversized sockets, but they are rare.

nguyenthanhtungtinbk

This is the sockets people use in Vietnam (220V):
http://saleoff.com.vn/Upload/Items/Resize%20of%20cong%20tac-o%20cam.jpg
And you would need plug adapters to fit that, perhaps like this:
http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=INPA

To spend money here, it's better to carry some cash with you (Vietnam Dong - VND), sometimes USD is also be accepted. There are some ATMs here which accept MasterCard/VisaCard but normally only in the big cities like Hanoi or HCMC. The exchange rate USD/VND is stable at about 1USD/17,000VND so that you may not need a currency converter if you know the exchange rate between USD with the other currencies.

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