Buying electronic goods from US

Apparently electronic and computer related stuffs are relatively cheap in US. More over one gets the latest version in US before being available in other regions. Certainly there are differences in standards followed in US and in other parts of the world. This post tries to capture those differences and ways to bridge those standards.

1. Input Voltage

• US standard: 120 v 60Hz
• Indian standard: 240v 50Hz

Input voltage standard is completely different. In order to match this up, one need to use a step down transformer. The transformer should be capable of handling the wattage. If the transformer couldn't handle the wattage, then it starts warming up. Sometimes if the transformer is not of good quality, you could see output voltage fluctuations which apparently could harm your delicate electronic stuff, or cause other repercussions like poor performance.

Recommendation:
Try to have a transformer which has a wattage of 40 to 50% more than the required wattage. For instance, if your equipment requires 110v x 0.4A, then don't plug it using a 50W transformer, instead use 100W transformer.

2. Pin format

The Pin format between US and India are incompatible. However the alternate is to use the Pin converter. Try using Flat to Round model.

3. DVD Region

DVDs created/bought in US will be encoded to Region 1. Similarly the players bought in US will only support Region 1. If you have to use it in India, check if the player supports multi-region. Or else if there is anyway to change the default region.

4. Wireless standard

In India, the wireless standard that we have are IEEE 802.11b and still we do have standard IEEE 802.11g standard widely available. So see that your device supports both.