Sharper Image Dual Watt Converter (FZ508)

Customer Reviews:

Be Careful [Posted on 2007-11-30]
I bought this product to charge a cell phone and operate a hair flat iron in India. The cell phone did not need the converter because like most cell phones now it is dual voltage. I read the instructions two days before leaving and discovered that the converter cannot be used on curling irons over 25 watts. I called the manufacturer and was told it could also not be used on flat irons over 25 watts. Mine was 75 watts. I doubt there are any under 25 watts. I also was told that it should not be used on any device with electronic circuitry, which includes PDAs, and a number of other things. The result of using it on a device for which it should not be used is that you will fry the device. It is not just that it won't operate. I ended up not taking it and bought a flat iron in India, which I left behind as it would be useless here. But had I known fully the limitations of this product I would have bought a dual volt flat iron in the United States before leaving. I am grateful for some of the negative comments in this list because they made me read the instructions carefully and then call the company for more details.

worked great for me [Posted on 2007-12-24]
this product worked great for me when I traveled to Europe. I visited England, france, Austria, Germany and Switzerland. I figured out later that I probably could have just bought an adapter kit instead of a converter because I was mainly using small electronics (iPod, cell phone, camera) all of which were rated to handle 220 volts or higher. Nevertheless a great product. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because it is a little pricy.

Learn the truth about "Dual Watt Converter" and don't get burned [Posted on 2008-03-24]
This item offered here (Sharper Image Dual Watt Converter) is actually two different converters built into one package. At LOW setting (up to 25W), it uses a small AC transformer to convert 220V sinusoidal waveform into a 110V sinusoidal waveform. This is the preferred approach which works well for any low power appliance.

To handle higher power, however, the AC transformer must be made bulkier and heavier (around 20 pounds just for 1000W). This makes it impractical as a travel voltage converter for large-wattage appliance. Therefore another method is used by this converter...

At HIGH setting (26-2000W), this convert simply uses a solid-state switch inside to chop off part of the 220V sinusoidal waveform. The resulted waveform, as seen by the appliance, is highly distorted and is far from an 110V sinusoidal AC voltage.

For a purely resistive appliance (such as travel iron or water heater) it works just fine irregardless of different voltage waveform. But if you ever try to power an electronic appliance (such as TV, computer or battery charger) with this distorted 220V waveform, it will probably be fried in an instant!

The product manual did warn against using the HIGH setting for any electronic appliance exceeding 25W. So legally the company is covered. My advise is to stay away from this potentially destructive product - unless you are really, REALLY careful about what to plug in. Chances are, sooner or later somebody will forget about this warning and plug a Xbox into this "converter" - only to get a big BOOM!

If you must bring electronic appliances with your oversea trips, make sure they are rated for universal voltage of 100-240V AC. That way, you can safely use them in other countries without the need for a volatge converter. Power supplies for most portable electronics (laptop, camcorder, cell-phone, electric shavers, etc.) are already designed for universal voltage, although some may require you to physically flip a switch.

But don't forget, even if you don't need a voltage converter, you still must bring a set of plug adapters for foreign countries.

Voltage converter [Posted on 2008-03-25]
This product performed exactly as promised. It converted the voltage in both Spain and England.

Horrible Product [Posted on 2008-04-13]
I bought this product for a trip to India. It seemed to work well for those items needing the low setting but when I tried to use the converter with my hair dryer on the high setting the hair dryer got red hot and blew up within a few seconds. I really hope I can find a travel converter that can work better than this.

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