Playing U.S. GBA SP in Continental Europe HELP!

[Eternal Champion]

I know Nintendo recommends buying the GBA SP in the country you intend on playing it because of voltage differences, but I've taken stuff to Europe and used it there--some appliances will work in a range of voltage, like a Braun electric shaver, or a laptop computer--internal transformers can deal with it.

ANYONE KNOW ABOUT USING A U.S. GBA SP IN EUROPE???I.e., what is its voltage, do you need a converter, etc.
(I am going to CZ for 2 years)

THANKS!

[Anonymous]

You can call Nintendo and check on the voltage of your particular country, and if it's the same then the SP will work. All gameboys (unlike every other console ever) are designed to work in any country, with any country's games. Power is the only issue you have, and a power converter should take care of it if absolutely necessary. The only issue might be that the batteries may be different in each country, but all the versions so far have the same battery so I doubt it.

[Eternal Champion]

Well, Nintendo couldn't tell what wattage the GBA SP outputs, only that I need to get a downconverter for the voltage--from 220V socket to 110V. There are a variety of converters--for up to 50Watts, up to 85 Watts, up to 1600 watts. The 50 and 1600 say for "heat" NON-electronic devices like hair dryers, the 85Watt say for electronic devices and is significantly heavier, which is a concern.
The Nintendo rep I spoke to said the SP is "probably" at least 25 watts. This is all confusing to me. WTF?? :?

Batteries aren't an issue--the original GBA can be used all over Europe because they use the same type of batteries we do.

On the plus side I saw a non-functional demo of the SP and I can't believe how tiny it is. Like an old Star Trek communicator!! I think the design is really damn cool, I found it quite comfortable despite its size.

[Anonymous]

What the rep was saying was that you need a converter to plug your AC adapter into the wall. The converter will bring it down from 220v to 110v. However, regardless of the voltage, all electronics pull a certain amount of wattage. for example a TV pulls about 300 watts (regardless of the 220 or 110 volt rating). If you plug a TV into a converter that is only rated for up to 50 watts, it will blow the converter (and possibly the TV). With the GBA SP you really don't have to worry about it. If the converter is powerful enough to handle an electric razor, then it can likely handle the GBA SP.

Hope that clears it up a little bit.

[Mayhem]

Or just buy the power adapter in Europe for it...

[Eternal Champion]

Is there an advantage to buying a power adaptor in Europe??
Other than not having to carry an additional gizmo...
Ale nevim...where to buy such a thing in Praha...if that's possible, that would be great.
THANKS FOR THE FEEDBACK!!

P.S. I found an article that said the battery charger on the GBA SP requires a measley 7 watts! Well, when I buy it the AC transformer unit will give me all the numbers I need, I'm sure.