220v - 110v

Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
we have an iMac 17" 1Ghz

it's european so to speak, as it uses 220V for power.

Can we bring this baby back to Canada with us in a few years by replacing the powersupply? Or is it better to sell and buy a new one?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    You don't need to replace the power supply - it can handle both.
  • Reply 2 of 11
    g_warreng_warren Posts: 713member
    Most electrical devices, certainly all laptops etc, will say on the powerpack that they will work between 110v and 220v. All you need to do is get a plug adaptor.
  • Reply 3 of 11
    As G_Warren said, you will need to replace the cord that comes with the computer (that usually is a simple as going to a hardware store and picking up a standard computer power cored for a few dollars... or whatever currency you are working with), in some cases you will also have to flip a small switch on the power supply, but recently Apple has started using self-switching power supplies, so you don't even have to think about that.
  • Reply 4 of 11
    Make sure that you check your peripherals closely - not all of those will be dual voltage.
  • Reply 5 of 11
    will check it up close then!

    thanks for the answers guys!
  • Reply 6 of 11
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sparhawk

    we have an iMac 17" 1Ghz

    it's european so to speak, as it uses 220V for power.

    Can we bring this baby back to Canada with us in a few years by replacing the powersupply? Or is it better to sell and buy a new one?




    Which iMac is it? If its the old model, I'm pretty sure they're dual voltage. On the other hard I think I read that the G5 iMacs are voltage specific to the intended market, i.e US and Canada 120 volts, the rest of the world 220.
  • Reply 7 of 11
    Quote:

    Originally posted by OldCodger73

    Which iMac is it? If its the old model, I'm pretty sure they're dual voltage. On the other hard I think I read that the G5 iMacs are voltage specific to the intended market, i.e US and Canada 120 volts, the rest of the world 220.



    If it is a 1Ghz, then we can assume it is not a G5. Too bad about the power supply in the new iMac's though. I am thinking of buying one right now to replace a Cube, and I would like to spend some time in Europe. I guess if I wind up doing both I will have to try and get a replacement power supply for over there. *sigh*... such problems



    PS... my guess is that they did this because the power supply has to be small enough to fit into the case and making it dual-voltage was going to eat up too much space.
  • Reply 8 of 11
    Quote:

    [i]If it is a 1Ghz, then we can assume it is not a G5. [/B]



    You're right, my bad, I didn't read the original post closely enough, even when I quoted it.
  • Reply 9 of 11
    Quote:

    PS... my guess is that they did this because the power supply has to be small enough to fit into the case and making it dual-voltage was going to eat up too much space.



    I don't know why they made the decision but it couldn't be due to space constraints as the UK model has the same size power supply but works on 100-240 volts.



    Seems like it's only the US that gets the crippled model for some reason.
  • Reply 10 of 11
    sparhawksparhawk Posts: 134member
    had to look hard, but it's on the bottom of course and there is a circle of text so to speak. But white on metal is darn hard to read! 110-240 50-60Hz So yup, we can bring this baby home to Canada

    Needed to know as well for investing some money in this one. Like memory and HD (probably firewire, because there are no real macdealers on this shit-island, yes one, but they are not allowed to do repairs etc and they are crooks as well...)



    As far as the USA-Powersupply is concerned. It's a huge market, with the same current. The chance that someone really wants to have dual voltage is small, so it's a easy way to save on components and therefor money. Also less components, less heat i suppose. Also better airflow mabye...
  • Reply 11 of 11
    Quote:

    Originally posted by OldCodger73

    Which iMac is it? If its the old model, I'm pretty sure they're dual voltage. On the other hard I think I read that the G5 iMacs are voltage specific to the intended market, i.e US and Canada 120 volts, the rest of the world 220.



    As far as I know it was only the first shipment of the iMac G5 to the US that only had 120 Volts. All iMac G5s should now have 120-220 Volt. When the iMac G5 is in for service for a powersupply failure it will come back with a 120-220 Volts where ever in the world you live.

    So if buying an iMac G5 and you have plans of bringing it to Europe check the sticker on the box to make sure you don't get an "old" iMac G5.
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