Hello, My uncle understands that the price of a laptop in the US in US dollars is much lower than what he would pay in Ireland in Euros. He was wondering whether or not I could buy a laptop for him here and bring it over to him in August. However, Ireland uses a different electrical outlet than the laptop power cords of the US. Does this mean he must carry a transformer with him at all times? Or is there a power cord that we could buy in Ireland that would work with a laptop to erase the need of a transformer for the US cord? Are there any other caveats we should watch out for? Thanks

Sure, plenty of countries have high taxes even with all this "free trade" talk. As a general rule. ALL modern electronic gizmo's are made for 99% of the worlds grid. Most have either an auto detect feature or they offer a country special power pack such as laptops may or may not have. Read the owners manual online. They may offer the power range. All 50 hz devices normally will be ok on 60 hz but 60hz can never be used on 50hz. A 50 on 60 uses a bit more power. (in fact almost all transformers are wound for 50 hz anyway) A 60 on 50 may overheat and burn out. Be warned that customs may charge you a heafty tax. Be sure you know the laws on such a transaction. Many countries allow used devices without tax. All you'd have to do is have someone open the box and plug it in once and maybe put a note in to say that. I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you goober.

I just bought a used musical product from Ireland from e-bay and I was also sent the 220V A/C adaptor. When I got the product, I plugged in another A/C adaptor from the same US unit I had here and VOILA it worked great! No need to buy an electrical conversion adaptor to run the unit. I'm saying there probably isn't any problem in your uncle buying a laptop here. Also, they have electrical conversion adaptors which are really inexpensive to buy. Take the laptop over to the old country and say it's your personal laptop for travelling, there should be no problem at all. Good Luck Hopefully my advice will help you...Please post back with your results....thanks

the power supply on my HP laptop says 110-240volt and 50-60hz so that would be fine in Ireland, Europe USA etc., only thing I'd need is a plug adaptor or a replacement cloverleaf power lead to go from mains power supply socket to the laptop power supply. I would think that most or all laptop power supplies are like this. When you buy one just make sure you check. They will all have a label on the power supply stating voltage/Hz.

further to my previous answer. I live in UK (not Ireland), here, if you bought it into country and declared what you were brining it in for, or they challenged you and found out,then you would pay 17.5% tax on the UK value of the item. If you brought it into UK brand new packaged in box then it is more likely this would happen. If it was not boxed and looked like one you just had with you for your own personal use then I would imagine you would not have a problem.