Customer Reviews

Kensington 33117 International All-in-One Travel Plug Adapter

5 star:		(79)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(40)

 

 

AUUUUGH!!!

After hours of rattling through website after website, learning the difference between a converter and an adapter, having a crash course in watts and volts and hertz and computers and hair dryers and coming to the brink of insanity because, it seems, there isn't a website in existence that gives enough information about these accessories to learn what a 4-second encounter with the actual item in its package in a brick and mortar store would tell you (for instance: CAN I STICK MY COMPUTER PLUG INTO THE DAMN THING?!), I found this beauty. Here. And all my questions appeared to have been answered. So I, being the trusting soul that I am, purchased it.

Well, I didn't know what I didn't know until the product arrived.
Now I know what I didn't know.
I am livid.

THIS PRODUCT WILL NOT WORK WITH YOUR PLUGS THAT HAVE 3 PRONGS!
NOT EVEN IF YOU PRAY REALLY HARD!
NOT EVEN IF YOU SACRIFICE A GOAT.
NOT EVEN IF YOU TRY IT ON A BOAT.
IT WILL NOT WORK WITH THEM ON A TRAIN
IT WILL NOT WORK WITH THEM ON A PLANE
IT WILL NOT WORK WITH 3-PRONGED PLUGS
IT WILL NOT VACUUM ANY RUGS.

Back it goes, to the place where junky products (that more information would have saved me the trouble of purchasing) go.
With PC Mover and that other adapter I bought from Dell (the one that was also, obviously, manufactured in a world where all the plugs have 2 prongs).

Did I mention AUUUUUGH!!!!!

So.
On the off chance that this review will not get buried under the pile of reviews written by people with, apparently, no 3-pronged devices, I submit it to Amazon with a prayer for all of those people who are lucky enough to own portable computers or other electronics that come with 3-pronged plugs AND who are fortunate enough to be embarking on some sort of international travel:

BUY THE BELKIN UNIVERSAL JOBBIE...THE WHITE ONE.
(it's probably above this review in the place where other recommended products live. The Belkin comes from a world where 3-pronged devices exist and are plentiful, roaming the land with their electronic devices in tow, happily converting electricity from 120 to 240 and back again as they enrich their owner's lives with electronic goodness.)

Thanks for reading.
I don't know about you, but I feel better now.

If you travel overseas you will definitively love this adapter. Unlike other travel adapters that have several pieces that you need to carry around, this has all the plug connectors integrated into one compact self contained cylindrical unit in which you select the type of plug used in the country you are visiting. Absolutely the most practical unit I have used. It is also safe to use since it has a built-in fuse.

This may seems obvious but you need to know that this device does not convert the voltage so don't plug your electronic devices unless its power units states that the Input voltage ranges from 110 to 240 VAC @ 50-60 Hz (probably the most common around Europe, Asia and America).

Absolutely a most have if you travel with your laptop, digital camera, cell phone and other suitable devices.

I've used this adaptor to run my laptop in China, France, Italy, England, and Ireland. Although it's made of plastic and feels a little fragile, it's really quite hardy and it's worked like a charm in every location. I've purchased several as gifts and always been treated as a hero afterwards.

One popular (and funny) one-star review on here claims that the adaptor doesn't work with grounded plugs. That's 100% wrong. It works with them in a hotel, it works with them in a motel. It worked with them in France, and when I used it to iron my pants. (Well to plug in my iron, anyway.) I've never used it on a boat, but it helped my computer write a note.

Okay so I'm not as funny as he is. But this thing really works.

used 2 of these while we were on vacation in egypt for 3 weeks. Never had a problem and they were flawless. To the gent that noted they fell out of the socket on him and they were to big...I can only say if you don't push them all the way in they and any other device you use will fall out...and there big because they can be used in th EU, Japan, Africa, US, ect... if you wish to spend the money on an all inclusive solution and travel to various parts of the world...then this is a good choice rather than having a hodge podge of adaptors lying about.

I have read a review that says this product also works in INDIA but came to know that neither of the given 4 different power plugs doesn't fit indian power outlets.

I bought this item for my trip to China. It did not work. Luckily the hotels that we stayed in had an adapter we could use. I called Kensington about my adapter, and they said I could return it and would refund my money since they have a 90 day return policy. I bought the adapter in September and sent it certified mail within their time frame. This is currently January and have not heard from them. My advise to those thinking of using it for China. Don't waste your money on this item.

I understand that some people had some difficulty getting this plug adapter to work with 3-prong plugs. I did, too. However, to say that it doesn't work with 3-pronged plugs is absolutely false.

There is a hole in the back of the unit where the grounding prong goes when you plug in a North American plug into the unit. It's a very tight fit. So tight, in fact, that the back cover of the unit came off when I was trying to remove the test plug I put in there. But once the back cover came off, I noticed that it was nothing more than a hole. This plug adapter does not ground the item you plug into it. So it doesn't electrically connect to the grounding plug.

Therefore, I used my brain just a tiny bit and expanded the size of the hole for the grounding plug, first with a pocket knife, and then with a drill bit. Presto, 3-pronged happiness.

The most important things to take away from this are:

1. This unit does not ground the device you're plugging into it.
2. A little bit of brain power goes a long way.

Now, back to the plug adapter. It's not grounded, but it is fuse-protected. And the fuse is very easy to get to (on the front side is a small screw cover that opens to reveal the fuse), plus it stores a spare fuse in the back, behind that little cover that I accidentally pulled off when my 3-prong plug got stuck. It comes with one spare fuse.

Other than the issue with the grounding prong hole, the unit is very well designed. As you slide each adapter forward, small dust covers appear and close the slots for the other adapters (very well thought out). Compact, easy to use, and well designed with the exception of the grounding plug hole.

Read the fine print on this -- this product does not convert or reduce electrical voltage -- essentially what this does is provide a physical way for (insert your country's) plug to fit into (insert destination country's) plug. So if the country you are visiting runs on, say, 220, make sure that the device you want to plug into it can handle the 220 volts so that it doesn't blow up -- and that information will (typically) be handily located on the device itself (i.e., look at the small print on your phone charger, and see if it says 100-240V 50-60Hz)

I reckon this is a great product. All the power inserts you'll ever need, in one neat lightweight unit - and it has USB. No world traveller should be without one.

Several people have said that this adapter does not work in China. I just got back home from a two-week trip encompassing Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong and this adapter worked in every single place.

It is true that some outlets (the ones with diagonal sockets) have a sort of "trap door" which makes it difficult to plug the adapter in, but I found that it's easy to work around that. What you need to do is angle the diagonal prongs downward as you insert them into the socket, and gently tap at it until the trap door pops open and allows the plugs in. It does take 5-10 seconds of jiggling around to make the door pop open, but the adapter _IS_ 100% functional and works totally fine once you get it into the socket.