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Studying abroad in France, chargerGAF help

Regiruler

Member
I've already read dark10x's thread on the matter: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=453813 , I felt like it wasn't conclusive enough to prevent me from being paranoid as balls.

Apologies for the amazon links. If anyone is concerned I have removed all reference data from them. IIRC Neogaf automatically adds its own referral info anyway.

On that note, specific product recommendations are welcome and appreciated.


For 3DS:
I have two paths here.

I know I can have things shipped to the campus even if it arrives early, but it adds up to roughly $30 in combined costs if I choose an option that is likely to arrive when I do, or at least the same week. I missed out on it being on Amazon Prime france yesterday, curse my luck. This should have the benefit of working with my charging stand though.

Outlet to USB to 3DS is the other option. USB 3DS chargers aren't first party products, and I can't say I've ever heard of any of the companies supplying them. That leaves me reliant on reviews. USB outlets have more options, but there seems to be figurative minefield of potential problems, from dying in a few days to just being abysmally slow. Half of them also seem to be sponsored products which really messes with the search.
The combination I found is about half the price of ordering the adapter.

-This was the USB charger I was leaning towards: the material looks nice, but it only has 7 (albeit positive) reviews: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NCIPUGC/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Nothing else looked promising.

-In terms of plugs, this was what I was looking at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GJI3L7Q/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Only a single plug and rather large for it, but there doesn't seem to be any issue immediately jumping out at me from the reviews.


For Switch:
As a note, I'm fairly certain the rooms at the campus don't have a TV, so I won't be bringing my dock. With that in mind, I can be a bit more flexible with charging solutions.

The european adapter is currently being sold as a prime exclusive item, so I would just need to get a trial (it's bizarre that my own prime doesn't carry over). This puts it at about $30.

Same deal with plugs as above. The usb to usb c I found was this in particular: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A6F3WHG/?tag=neogaf0e-20
The only real issue I'm concerned about is speed, but I'm sure I could probably just adjust my playing habits.
Super Mario Odyssey
Initial release date: October 27, 2017
er...
 
This charging plug wont be powerful enough to power your Switch and charge it.

Just buy a charger when you arrive in France at Fnac or Micromania. These are like super widespread.
 

redcrayon

Member
You'll find a wealth of options available at the airports, and if you're considering paying for shipping because you need it quickly, the mark-up for buying at a travel shop will probably cancel out.

I wouldn't worry about it, any combination of US-EU-UK plugs and USB adapters is going to be easy to find at universities and airports, certainly in a country that's a bit of a travel hub like much of Western Europe. Any reasonable electronics shop sells them, often chemists do too as it's one of the popular travel accessories.
 

otmane

Member
No need to buy new chargers. You can find cheap plug adapters on Amazon, at the airport or in any Fnac store and you'll then be able to plug your US chargers into the converter then into the French plugs.
If you're worried about the 110 vs 220v difference, you shouldn't, all game chargers work with both voltages ( I travel a lot between US and Europe and I've done it this way several times)
 

notaskwid

Member
No need to buy new chargers. You can find cheap plug adapters on Amazon, at the airport or in any Fnac store and you'll then be able to plug your US chargers into the converter then into the French plugs.
If you're worried about the 110 vs 220v difference, you shouldn't, all game chargers work with both voltages ( I travel a lot between US and Europe and I've done it this way several times)
I don't think the 3ds one works?
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
This. There are lots of places in France that sell consoles/accessories.

Unless you are going to a really remote area?

I don't think the 3ds one works?

No, 3ds isn’t multivoltage. Don’t know about switch, but Nintendo so maybe not. USB is my go to when travelling, but if you’re staying for a while it might be worth getting a proper 3ds charger - can’t be more than about 10 Euro from a game store?

Switch likewise - get an AC charger. It’ll charge in handheld mode from a decent 2A usb charger (so that’s useful to have for flights etc), but a proper charger will charge faster and gives you future options if you get a TV
 
Bienvenue! Where will you be studying?

Others here have given good advice. Another avenue to explore is leboncoin.fr which is the French equivalent of Craigslist. Just click on the part of France you'll be staying and type in: chargeur dsi / 3ds.
 
Worst case just go out to any game store and get a charger for each console. Shouldn't cost too much and you'll be set.

Plus then you can travel all around Europe and to several other countries with those same chargers :)
 

Irminsul

Member
Switch is multivoltage, so no problem there, you just need an adapter. For 3DS, just buy one when you arrive in France. That one also works in most of Europe except the UK (but even there, it's just an adapter you need).
 

saturnine

Member
If you're patient, you can always order a 3DS charger on amazon fr once you've arrived. They're 8 eurobucks. Just search for "chargeur 3DS".
 

kami_sama

Member
If you're patient, you can always order a 3DS charger on amazon fr once you've arrived. They're 8 eurobucks. Just search for "chargeur 3DS".
God dammit, eurobucks lol
It's like saying euroeuros.
On topic, he could algo go to a micromania or almost any hypermarket to buy it. It will cost more, but it will be faster.
 

Theonik

Member
My solution when I was in a similar situation is bring a power strip from home and buy a converter and in this case a stepdown transformer and permanently hook it to some socket to use your US devices.
As for anything multivoltage (check the label for 50/60Hz and 110-240V), you can make due with just an adapter or better a cheap cable to change the ends.
 
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