Gadgets and Power

One charger, offline everything, and the battery rules that now apply.

Updated

This is where the archive dates fastest, because the devices in these reviews are gone. What replaced them is simpler than what they replaced.

One charger runs everything

A single high-wattage USB-C charger handles a laptop, phone, camera, headphones and e-reader, often two at once. Check the small print on any charger you already own: if it says 100-240V it is dual voltage and needs nothing but a plug adapter anywhere in the world. Practically everything made in the last fifteen years qualifies.

A voltage converter is only needed for things that make heat, which means a hairdryer, a travel kettle or curling tongs. Buy dual-voltage versions of those or use the ones in the room.

Prefer country-specific plug adapters

Two small adapters beat one universal block with sliding pins, which is heavy and falls out of worn sockets.

The airline rules, which are newer than most of these reviews

What makes technology work on the road, none of it a gadget

And a paper copy of the first night's address and a phone number. Immigration sometimes asks and a flat phone cannot answer.

Kept current

The reviews (62)

Written at the time, about gear that in most cases is no longer made. Useful for what the writer noticed, not as a shopping list.