hey all, first I know this is not really a gaming subject but in my case it relates to it.... 

here it is!

after 7 year leaving in the states i have built up a nice entertainement set up. now unfortunately i'm moving back to my home country france.

so i have a samsung hd tv, a nice harman kardon digital amplifier for my 5.1 and a US XBox360

as you must know the power format is 110V at 60Hz in the US and 220V at 50Hz in France

and the video format is NTSC in the US and PAL in france.

my problem is my amplifier is rated only 110V @ 60Hz and my TV also

I know you can convert 220V to 110V quite "easily" but for the frequency it's another issue. while i know a motorized appliance could usually take it (at performance, efficiency and wear cost) but no clue on electronics.

if i find a way to have that work the NTSC / PAL issue is cleared.

on the other hand if i end having to part with the amplifier and the TV i then need a solution for the NTSC / PAL convertion.

while paying a couple undred to have everything to work electricaly is not a problem. I only found NTSC to PAL converter for 400 or so in HD

so can i make my set up work in france or do you know a cheaper solution for the video format if the TV and amplifier can't be fited to the French power standard?

thank you my fellow gamers

Sell the tv and buy a new one. That part is simply too complicated. For game consoles, just buy new power cords once you get to France. Same with any laptop. The amp should be researched. It may be like the consoles or you may need to buy a power regulator to change the volts and Hz.

you should ask yourself if the hassle of shipping all that stuff and paying extra for conversion that may or may not work really worth it.

i'd opt for selling everything and buying it again in france.

well i still end up with the video format issue from the US xb to the French tv......  i haven't looked at european TVs in ages.... does anyone know if most major TV brands are multi video format now a day in EU?

i'm shipping by boat already other stuff... the thing is all together my set up was over 8000 dollars new 5 years ago.... while i don't mind about the TV.... the sound system alone is an other story.... it's not like they get new tech every 2 years on sound system..... a single klipsch speaker are 300 dollar a pop still today.... my amplifier is an H/K AVR 745 it's still around 2000 bucks but the thing is while the thing is still a beast today it's a pain in the ass to sell on the second hand market and then finding an other one for cheap is hard.... so bottom line i'd like to keep the tv for the video format compatibility with the xbox.... and the sound system for the huge loss in trading value i would have to take.... shipping by boat is really cheap actually... around a 1000 for half a container.... i was suppose to take my car too but the toyota dealership is taking it back for 500 less than i paid for new in dec 2010... that is a deal i'm fine with :)

I did the same the other way around. Hz doesn't matter for the amp, it's all converted to DC inside anyway. If your amp doesn't have a switch to set it to 220v then you need to get a transformer with sufficient wattage.

http://www.aedinternational.com/voltage_converters.htm
I got the VC-2000 for sub-woofer and amp, enough to cover surge power consumption when turning the units on. I have a 12 year old Yamaha DSP-AX1, Rel subwoofer and Pioneer laserdisc player plugged into it and it all works fine. Don't forget to bring a power bar though to plug in multiple devices.

European tvs pretty much all accept 60hz ntsc as well, however I noticed that my tv here doesn't accept pal. It should be in the specs somewhere. Don't bother with a ntsc to pal converter, not worth it.

Shipping is cheap, for the minimum volume I could get I even took my crappy cabinets. I think I spend about the same as you on my surround setup and I'm glad I took it with me. Still sounds lovely after 12 years.

yep the Hz part won't affect electronics because o fthe DC conversion. It only matters for motors as they are frequency driven (some can handle the change some can't and will ware out quicker).

A normal step down transformer from 240V/110V will do. You just have to make sure the Power output is big enough size for your appliances (ie rated watts output)

buy adapters

You should buy a step-down transformer for the voltage drop. The frequency, however, may or may not cause a problem. 60 Hz and 50 Hz are relatively close so the human eye may not be able to notice the difference. Because it is a slightly lower frequency, the picture will be displayed at a lower rate which may or may not make the screen flicker. Since the frequency is at a lower rate it should not harm any of the electronics (I am not making any guarantees though). Generally speaking with electronics and most electrical equipment, if you go lower than the rated value they are fine, you just can't go higher. I would say if you just buy the proper adapter for the voltage you should be ok, but again there are no 100% guarantees.

EDIT:  But I noticed you said you have to pay a couple hundred for the NTSC to PAL converter so you may be better off just buying a new TV.

you guys are awesome, as much as we have console wars and flame thread year round... i believe this VG community to be one of the best arround today.... i knew i would get help fast here...

anyway that's what i was looking to buy before i started wondering about frequency and forgot electronic works on DC... i tried to find that specific brand for price without success any idea where i can buy this?? or if they a consumer brand ??? i was looking at that one http://www.amazon.com/Power-Bright-VC1500W-Voltage-Transformer/dp/B000MXZ2XK/ref=sr_1_29?ie=UTF8&qid=1339627590&sr=8-29&keywords=220v+to+110v+converter but with more Watts cause just the amplifier is rated at 600W .... i have no idea what are the quality brands

thanks again all