Moving to the EU, some questions on electronics

[Spike]

So I'm relocating to the mainland EU in about a month, and in a couple of weeks I have the pre-move survey where the movers come and look at everything I want to move. I have some electronics related questions that I'm hoping people here would know.

1) PC's. I seems like all modern PSU's can take whatever voltage/freq you want, at least as far as the US/UK/EU ones are concerned. Can anyone verify this? The pc's I'm taking are all fairly modern.

2) Monitors. I checked a few of mine and they all said 120-220, 50/60 hz. So I assume I just need the two pronged EU cable and I'm good.

3) TV. I would like to bring over my newish LG 55". It also said it would be good with the power, what I'm curious about is actually watching TV. I use an HTPC hooked up to it and can always get a TV tuner for the pc if I need to. I'd like to be able to watch OTA digital channels, will that be an issue?

4) Wii-u. I see 120-220v AC adapters for sale on amazon, so I assume I just need to get one of those and it should work? I'm fairly sure the software is regionally restricted, so I'll only be able to play US purchased games, but thats not an issue.

5) Anything else I should worry about? Any other advice for making the plunge?

I'm currently in the UK for the next couple of weeks so I won't be able to check the stuff at home, it just occurred to me that my time was running out so I better start asking.

Thanks.

 

[feralkid]

Congrats!

Everything you mentioned will work, voltage-wise, but the TV won't be able to show European video.

Europe uses PAL, while the U.S. uses NTSC.

There are video converters available, but I know nothing about them.



edit: Looks like it's no big deal to convert video signal:

http://www.amazon.com/XD-990-Multi-System-Digital-Audio-Converter/dp/B0062BS09O


Some cheaper ones on ebay as well.


Good luck!


.

 

[Rakehellion]

Do TV signals matter when everything is digital?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Do TV signals matter when everything is digital?

Yes. Think of drivers.

 

[Ichinisan]

Do PC power supplies still have the switch to select input voltage? Is it still possible to fry a PSU in Europe by connecting it with the switch set to select 120v input?

 

[Mungla]

Modern PCs are fine. They autoselect the voltage. I run 220v in my datacenters and occasionally hook up PCs and monitors with 220v and the correct power cable.

 

[Brainonska511]

Check all your brick power supplies/electronics - many of mine (USB-wall warts for phones, laptop PSU) all say 110-240V & 50/60Hz, so all they need to work properly is some sort of adapter to change the plug (be it a new cord for a PSU or one of those adapter wall warts). I did this with my phone and camera battery chargers when I recently went to London.

As for your PCs - I'd probably check to make sure it doesn't have manually select the voltage and that it will, in fact, autoselect it.

One thing you could probably do too - get a wall adapter and use a power strip with US-style plugs for your electronics, assuming you'll use them in one general area of your new living space. You could then keep using the same cords you already own and limit the number of adapters you need to purchase.

 

[Spike]

Check all your brick power supplies/electronics - many of mine (USB-wall warts for phones, laptop PSU) all say 110-240V & 50/60Hz, so all they need to work properly is some sort of adapter to change the plug (be it a new cord for a PSU or one of those adapter wall warts). I did this with my phone and camera battery chargers when I recently went to London.

As for your PCs - I'd probably check to make sure it doesn't have manually select the voltage and that it will, in fact, autoselect it.

One thing you could probably do too - get a wall adapter and use a power strip with US-style plugs for your electronics, assuming you'll use them in one general area of your new living space. You could then keep using the same cords you already own and limit the number of adapters you need to purchase.

Good idea with the power strip.

Thanks for all the info guys, it sounds like things will work just fine. I still need to check all my PSU's, but everyone I checked before looked ok.

Now I just need to finish all the other minor things like renting/selling the house, selling my two cars, closing down all the utility bills, etc...

Fun fun

 

[Spike]

Congrats!

Everything you mentioned will work, voltage-wise, but the TV won't be able to show European video.

Europe uses PAL, while the U.S. uses NTSC.

There are video converters available, but I know nothing about them.



edit: Looks like it's no big deal to convert video signal:

http://www.amazon.com/XD-990-Multi-System-Digital-Audio-Converter/dp/B0062BS09O


Some cheaper ones on ebay as well.


Good luck!


.

What about if I just get an EU tv tuner for my HTPC, does that PAL difference matter then?

 

[JimmiG]

Does PAL vs NTSC still matter these days? As far as I'm aware, it's just the analog color encoding scheme that was used with legacy analog television.

At least in Sweden, the PAL analog service was shutdown in 2007, so we're using DVB-T now. However, most get their TV via a digital set-top box over cable or fiber and connected via HDMI or similar.

 

[feralkid]

What about if I just get an EU tv tuner for my HTPC, does that PAL difference matter then?

Can't help you with that one, sorry.

 

[zinfamous]

good plan to bring over everything you already have. Electronics are effing expensive in the EU.

 

[feralkid]

One thing you could probably do too - get a wall adapter and use a power strip with US-style plugs for your electronics, assuming you'll use them in one general area of your new living space. You could then keep using the same cords you already own and limit the number of adapters you need to purchase.

Very smart...I always think of things like that after I'm already abroad.

Thanks for the reminder!


Oh, just to clarify for everyone...we're talking power strips , NOT surge protectors.

I'm not sure how well a 120v surge protector would get along with 220v.



.

 

[feralkid]

Does PAL vs NTSC still matter these days? As far as I'm aware, it's just the analog color encoding scheme that was used with legacy analog television.

At least in Sweden, the PAL analog service was shutdown in 2007, so we're using DVB-T now. However, most get their TV via a digital set-top box over cable or fiber and connected via HDMI or similar.

Apparently, it still matters. Frame rate issues:

http://hometheater.about.com/od/televisionbasics/qt/ntscpalframes.htm

 

[Spike]

Apparently, it still matters. Frame rate issues:

http://hometheater.about.com/od/televisionbasics/qt/ntscpalframes.htm

This is my TV, supposedly 120hz native.

www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-55LB5900-55-Inch-1080p/dp/B00KVLT08G

Anyway I can determine if it will have issues with 50hz content? Again, I plan to view almost exclusively content from my HTPC (streaming services via VPN to the US, plex from the home server, steam game streaming, etc...) but I'd like at least the option to view OTA digital signals.

I'm assuming I can just use a EU tv tuner and then force the tv to 50hz from the pc? Or will that damage it and just not be worth it?

So much still to figure out and not a long time until the move.

 

[Spike]

Double post, sorry

 

[DealODay]

the TV is a no go, you'll need a converter for that or any major appliance. Otherwise like everyone else said, adapters will do the trick. If you're going to live there, why not try to sell your stuff here and not deal with the whole converter thing.

 

[Spike]

the TV is a no go, you'll need a converter for that or any major appliance. Otherwise like everyone else said, adapters will do the trick. If you're going to live there, why not try to sell your stuff here and not deal with the whole converter thing.

Actually, most have said the TV is fine. Are you talking about a converter for the signal or power? The TV can take 120-240v 50/60hz power. It's only the signal I'm worried about.

Why are you talking about other major appliances? I'm not asking about those. The TV is already looking to work for 95% of what I need, right now I'm just curious about OTA content.

 

[ReggieDunlap]

Im not 100%, but if the TV has an integrated Digital Receiver, it might work with OTA broadcast, you would just have to synchronize the digital receiver. My Sister In Law bought a TV in the UK when she was living there and then brought it back to Italy and it still worked.

If the TV is fairly new (within the last 4 years or so) then it should work. Most of the major players, Samsung, LG, Philips, I think use the same HW for the systems whether they are EU or US sold.

Then again Im probably wrong. I moved here to Italy back in 2007 and didnt bring anything with me.

 

[Lorthreth]

The thing with a tv bought in the UK has DVB-T capability. Europe uses DVB-T/T2 these days. So it would work in Italy fine.

A tv from the US would use ATSC if any and wouldn't work at all.

Getting a DVB-T2 tuner and hooking it up via HDMI would work just fine.

 

[Spike]

The thing with a tv bought in the UK has DVB-T capability. Europe uses DVB-T/T2 these days. So it would work in Italy fine.

A tv from the US would use ATSC if any and wouldn't work at all.

Getting a DVB-T2 tuner and hooking it up via HDMI would work just fine.

Could I get something for the HTPC as a tuner or would I need to go into the TV itself?

 

[Lorthreth]

There are plenty of PCIe or USB DVB-T2/T/C tuners available. Even ones which support multiple tuners or CI cards if needed.

For example, Digital Devices for PCIe.
Or there's a chinese USB DVB-T2/C cheapo tuner that's under 20€ on ebay.

 

[Spike]

There are plenty of PCIe or USB DVB-T2/T/C tuners available. Even ones which support multiple tuners or CI cards if needed.

For example, Digital Devices for PCIe.
Or there's a chinese USB DVB-T2/C cheapo tuner that's under 20€ on ebay.

Thats perfect, I'll look into getting one of those.

thanks!

 

[feralkid]

This is my TV, supposedly 120hz native.

www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-55LB5900-55-Inch-1080p/dp/B00KVLT08G

Anyway I can determine if it will have issues with 50hz content?

I'm assuming I can just use a EU tv tuner and then force the tv to 50hz from the pc? Or will that damage it and just not be worth it?

I'm not sure what you mean by 50hz "content"?

50hz is the frequency of the electrical power at the wall outlet.

The US uses 120 volts at 60Hz.

Europe uses 220 volts at 50 Hz.

Your Television works with both.

http://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-55LB5900-led-tv


From the specs on that page:
POWER: Power Supply (Voltage, Hz) 100V ~ 240V, 50/60 Hz
Standby Mode 0.3W

 

[Ichinisan]

I'm not sure what you mean by 50hz "content"?

50hz is the frequency of the electrical power at the wall outlet.

The US uses 120 volts at 60Hz.

Europe uses 220 volts at 50 Hz.

Your Television works with both.

http://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-55LB5900-led-tv


From the specs on that page:
POWER: Power Supply (Voltage, Hz) 100V ~ 240V, 50/60 Hz
Standby Mode 0.3W

Games, TV shows, and broadcasts in Europe and PAL regions are typically 50fps. A hold over because CRT TVs sync with the frequency of the input power. The exact same reason why our content in USA / Japan and other NTSC regions is produced and broadcast in 60fps.