Insten Universal Worldwide Travel Adapter for 150+ Countries, International Power Charger, European Adapter, Wall Charger Power Plug for USA EU UK AUS Compatible w/ iPhone, iPad, Samsung Galaxy & More

I purchased this item in anticipation of our vacation to Europe, with stops in Germany and in England. The unit worked well in both locations - I had no problems using it to power my laptop and recharge my iPhone. It came with a small storage bag as well, which was reasonably well made, and protects the unit from grit & etc. It is small, about the size of a typical wall-plug power supply, though not as heavy: easy to pack!The usage of the adapter is very straightforward: pick out the appropriate plug you need for your current location on the front of the adapter, then plug your unit into the correct jack on the back. It is a two way Adapter, allowing you to adapt in either direction. (From any country's standard to any other, for the standards supported by the unit.)As an added bonus, the unit is also a "surge protector" - though I cannot vouch for its capabilities in this area, as we had no problems with surges during our trip.The unit arrived from the vendor (Dreambargains) within a couple of days, much faster than what was promised.All in all, a good unit, sold at a good price. I have seen some reviews here which say the unit is "cheap-feeling" and "prone to breaking" --- I would disagree. It seems reasonably robust, given its' intended use, though I wouldn't recommend flinging it around or twisting the prongs (when extended).I'll give it five stars: it does what it is intended to do, is well engineered, and all at a reasonable price.Added Note (March 28, 2010): I recently loaned this unit to a friend travelling to Australia. She reports that it worked fine for her needs while she was there - powering a phone charger and a laptop.

it worked really well, its real gem when you need it and totaly worth against its money value, go for it if you need it

This adapter works well and supports a number of different types of outlets. Not every country uses the adapter you might expect, so a universal one gives you a margin of safety.Some reviewers say all you need to do is unlock the latch and plug it in. That's not quite all, because you have to move the switch back to the lock position once the plug pops out. If you don't, it should plug in anyway but you're likely to have symptoms that some other reviewers described. (popping or crackling sounds, or needing to pull the plug back out a bit for it to work.)One thing to watch out for is that many UK style outlets have switches next to them to turn the outlet off. Since this adapter is big, it's possible that it could overlap the switch and disable the outlet if you aren't careful. Aside from that, it should work just as well as any other plug.The plugs pop out easily but retracting them is a minor inconvenience. You will need to press and hold each side of the plug with a fingertip and then slide the locking switch. That's necessary because the spring needs to be strong enough to pop the plug out all the way when you unlock it and both sides need to go all the way back in to lock it closed.These days, many portable items such as computers, phone chargers, or shavers work with 110-240V. This device does not convert voltage, but as long as your device's power supply says it works with 240V, you won't need a voltage converter.If you will need to plug in a few things at once, and are certain you will be using only one type of outlet, it might be cheaper, easier, and far less bulky to get a few converters for that type of outlet only. This converter is likely to be discounted so much that cost won't be an issue, and it would be good to have one on hand in case you are not completely sure what outlets will be available.

I took this device to italy and used a separate Double USB charger for charging my various Phones etc. First off, as others have stated, this is not a power converter, so make sure what you plug into the unit is both 240/110V compatible which is most "charging" type adapters nowadays (ie USB chargers, electric razors etc). Your device should state what voltage is needed on the Plug.As far as the plug adapter, I have only used it in the USA (just to confirm it worked) and in Italy. It worked just as it should. The main benefit of this device over others is its compact design and there are not any "detachable" plugs to be lost. Very convenient.The only potential issue I might see is that when plugging a 110V plug into the adapter, it is not a super tight fit. So, when plugging a 110V charging brick that is too deep or heavy into the device it may not stay plugged into the adapter well? It was NOT an issue in Italy for me as the outlets were in a veritical postion (at least where I stayed). It may not be an issue at all, just something I noted. Regardless, the 110V device potentially falling out would be an issue with any of the similar looking devices (numerous on Ebay/Amazon).

For the price this is an amazing buy. These can retail up to 4-10x it's price and it's all the same thing! I've taken this with me to so many places.. Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, England, France, Taiwan, Japan. I found out that even if the country you visit doesn't need an adaptor this it still functions as a two-to-three prong plug adaptor (CLEVER right???), also all you really need is one adaptor plus an extension cord and now you've got plenty of usable outlets (GENIUS amiright??). Also, I've had this literally for years and it has yet to fail me. In fact, one time I did short it out (or whatever the technical term is) when I used an extension cord and was using a hair dryer on top of charging two devices. I thought it was done for but then lo and behold a few hours later it was working again as if nothing had happened! Maybe I thought this was so great because I just don't understand the physics behind it but hey, I paid 5bux for this thing years ago, used it so many times and it still works like a charm. If this were to go bad somehow I would totally buy another one without a single hesitation.