Will UK electrical devices work OK in oz?

[Guest S A !!]

We are planning on taking a whole rook of stuff with us to save on spending etc.

 

Big question is will the devices be OK on OZ mains ?

 

A freind I have in Melborne reckons he exchanged a UK lpug on an extention lead for an OZ one andit worked ok ?

 

Advice / experiences please !!

[Guest loopylisa]

As far as Im aware the voltage is the same so it should be ok. My netbook and phone charger worked fine. I think there is a problem with dvds, so if you take it you might only be able to play those dvds you brought in the UK and would have to buy a new one to play those you brought in oz and then you'd have two dvd players!

[Guest S A !!]

Great many thanks Loopylisa.

 

Just checking if we use he Washing machine, Iron and Microwave at the same time would mean we will be at the fuse box all day !!

Aware of DVD regions etc !!

[Guest The Dimmocks]

All our electrical stuff has worked fine since we got here and had no problems, just change plugs and away you go. We brought a cheap DVD from K-mart when we got here and it plays all our UK DVD's fine as well.

[spanners]

Everything works fine but we had to get the DVD player unlocked. You could do that in the UK or I used Gawler TV Repair in, funnily enough, Gawler. TV digiboxes / PVR recorders (harddrive recorders) should work OK and pick up Australian digital TV if you set the tuning region to Germany - apparently Germany has the same frequencies as here.

[Hutchy]

Everything works fine but we had to get the DVD player unlocked. You could do that in the UK or I used Gawler TV Repair in, funnily enough, Gawler. TV digiboxes / PVR recorders (harddrive recorders) should work OK and pick up Australian digital TV if you set the tuning region to Germany - apparently Germany has the same frequencies as here.

Thanks for the advice regarding the tv's, I brought two new digital tv's over from the UK, and thought I was gonna have to buy a digibox. Cheers

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

You can check online whether your dvd machine can be de-zonned. I bought some LG dvd machines for the houses (in Oz) and they had to be de zonned to play overseas dvd's.

 

You cang get a travel adaptor to convert a UK plug to an Australian one but your best bet once here is to go to a local Bunnings hardware and buy loads of plugs for $2.70 each and change all your appliances over to Oz plugs. It's also a good idea to pick up some surge protectors to protect computers and tv's at the same time.

 

Tamara

[jim and adel]

A good tip is to bring a UK extension board with four or five sockets and put an Aussie plug on it when here - means you can use your UK appliances straightaway without having to change all the plugs.

 

Relatively few DVD players need to be chipped or have hardware modifications to be region free - a quick google search shows how to unlock most makes and models. You could end up paying someone just to press three or four buttons on the remote in the right order ...

 

Jim

[spanners]

I would just go to Bunnings and get 50 or so Aus plugs. I tried the UK board with an Aus plug but it become a pain. iF Aus is your home just fit the proper plugs. As mentioned earlier, get some surge boards. I'd never heard or them or used them in the UK but here its more of an issue and your Aus contents insurance will apparently not cover surge damage.

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

That's right about the insurance. you could buy a new tv and without surge protection it could blow and you'd be out of pocket.

When I arrived a salesman from Harvey Norman showed me what he called "browning'. Too technical for me but apparently the frequency of the current is all over the place...up and down. The surge protectors save your applicances from power spikes and you can get them inbuilt into powerboards (multi pin adaptors).

 

Tamara

[jim and adel]

I would just go to Bunnings and get 50 or so Aus plugs. I tried the UK board with an Aus plug but it become a pain. iF Aus is your home just fit the proper plugs.

 

I wasn't suggesting it as a permanent solution, just a way of being able to use all the appliances you bring over as soon as you arrive. Obviously it would become a pain if you lived like that permanently, but that's not what I was suggesting.

[Guest Sachertorte]

Everything works fine but we had to get the DVD player unlocked. You could do that in the UK or I used Gawler TV Repair in, funnily enough, Gawler. TV digiboxes / PVR recorders (harddrive recorders) should work OK and pick up Australian digital TV if you set the tuning region to Germany - apparently Germany has the same frequencies as here.

 

Now I can't wait to try tuning the region to Germany and see what happens! Will report back

 

Cheers guys:wink:

[PetenLainy]

Bringing a UK extension and fitting an Oz plug was one of the most useful tips we were given when coming over, remember phone chargers and other molded plugs can't be changed. If you want to set your DVD to play any region check-out this site http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks it's free and completely legal.

 

Peter

[orrelljet]

Have a look at the sticky...

 

http://www.pomsinadelaide.com/forum/household/8705-electronics-computing-should-i-bring-will-work.html