I liked the first one of these so much after it worked for my son who was heading for a job in Germany, and for me in a couple of visits to the UK--that I bought two more to bring with us to the UK when we moved there for four months. By the end of our first week they were both dead--anything you plugged into them just got no current. All I can think is that there was some kind of fuse built into the device that blew. why it would have blown, I have no idea. The replacement adaptors I bought to use with the same items worked fine, and UK plugs are themselves fused.

Great idea, great price, five stars if it had worked. But it didn't, after one week.

UPDATE: After writing the above I looked at other recent reviews and found one by a fellow named Bennett who reported a similar problem--and also the solution, which is to not push the adaptor all the way into the outlet. He's right. Trying them again (I fortunately had not pitched them) I indeed find that when I push them flush against the wall they do not work, as originally described. But if I pull them out slightly, just slightly, from the wall, they make the connection and supply current.

I would describe this as a defect, but not nearly so serious as not working. I also suspect this is a problem only with the UK outlets, not with other ones. So I raise my rating from 2 stars to 4. And--thank you Bennett!

Initially ordered this product for price but needing for upcoming travels. The product price was very reasonable compared to other similar products so took a chance even though it was not directly from Amazon. Amazon did not have direct information to track shipping. I mistakenly panicked when Amazon's web site was posting a long lead time for delivery and it changed 3 times in 1 week. I then contacted Amazon and the seller via Amazon after 9 days regarding the lengthy expected delivery posted on Amazon. To my surprise late in the same day the product was delivered.

Lesson learned is the seller was offshore and it would take longer for shipping, however not bad coming from Hong Kong and arriving in 9 days. The other thing learned is apparently Amazon not being the actual seller and not having direct shipment information must post arbitrary expected delivery dates. This is not to condemn Amazon just to note I personally never experienced this type of situation.

Bottom line
- the product looks just like I wanted, but have not had a chance to try it so cannot tell on performance so cannot provide the 5th star at this time.
- The Seller provided much feedback after contacted concerned of my satisfaction. No negative review for seller from this buyer.
- Amazon has always provided great service and my initial concerns was NOT due to seller or Amazon it was my lack of experience in a particular situation like this and the panic of needing the product for a near future travel.

First off, this is NOT a voltage converter so if you have 110V appliances, make sure the power plugs for those are universal (i.e., accept 110-240V) before using them with this overseas. Also, the pics on Amazon sort of make it seem like you get three adapters, but they are really just different modes of the same adapter -you only get one adapter.

I like that this adapter is compact and lightweight and it comes in a small cloth carrying case. This was important to me because I didn't want anything too bulky or heavy. And unlike other adapters you don't have to carry around all these other plug extensions (i.e., one for each plug type). You can flip a switch on either side and either a UK, Europe, Asia, or US plug will surface. You can then flip or press the other plugs back into the device so that only one plug type is sticking out (just like in the pictures). I used this in Europe with no problems - as you can see, the Europe plug juts out more than the other modes. This is very important since many outlets in Europe are inset, and without that extra length on the plug, the adapter would not reach the outlet.

Also, this adapter is universal on both sides. So you can plug virtually any type of plug into it as well. All in all, a great product and a great value.

I originally bought this adapter to get an order to $25 for free shipping and because I knew I was going to be spending some time in Spain in the coming months. Fortunately I didn't forget about it and now I've been using it for about a month and I'm perfectly content with it. For those of you who are concerned about the quality of such a cheap adapter with moving parts, let me put your fears to rest: everything feels well-attached and sturdy! It's much better than the one I bought since I've been in Spain, which tends to disassemble whenever you remove it from an outlet.Although the adapter is a fairly large box, the prongs are more than long enough to reach into the recessed outlets here in Spain, and honestly that's about all it needs to do. Additionally, I'll be able to use it if I ever get around to visiting my friends over in the UK.

Another note; this adapter basically just changes the shape of your plug, and that's all you really need if you're using it for electronics. It's true that different countries have different frequencies and peak voltages, but as long as you're using a phone/laptop/ipod/tablet/etc. charger, the "brick" that came along with that should be able to handle it. Just read the tiny writing on your current charger and look at the ranges of frequencies and voltages that it can accept for input, and compare that to the power grid specifications of the country you're traveling to. While I suppose it's possible that you might find something outside of that range, I don't think such a place would be considered a first-world country, because those power adapters are made to be shipped everywhere. HOWEVER, if you were hoping to use a hair-dryer or other cheaper kind of electrical things, you will probably be out of luck with this adapter because your appliance probably doesn't have a built-in voltage converter.

This adapter works well and supports a number of different types of outlets. Not every country uses the adapter you might expect, so a universal one gives you a margin of safety.

Some reviewers say all you need to do is unlock the latch and plug it in. That's not quite all, because you have to move the switch back to the lock position once the plug pops out. If you don't, it should plug in anyway but you're likely to have symptoms that some other reviewers described. (popping or crackling sounds, or needing to pull the plug back out a bit for it to work.)

One thing to watch out for is that many UK style outlets have switches next to them to turn the outlet off. Since this adapter is big, it's possible that it could overlap the switch and disable the outlet if you aren't careful. Aside from that, it should work just as well as any other plug.

The plugs pop out easily but retracting them is a minor inconvenience. You will need to press and hold each side of the plug with a fingertip and then slide the locking switch. That's necessary because the spring needs to be strong enough to pop the plug out all the way when you unlock it and both sides need to go all the way back in to lock it closed.

These days, many portable items such as computers, phone chargers, or shavers work with 110-240V. This device does not convert voltage, but as long as your device's power supply says it works with 240V, you won't need a voltage converter.

If you will need to plug in a few things at once, and are certain you will be using only one type of outlet, it might be cheaper, easier, and far less bulky to get a few converters for that type of outlet only. This converter is likely to be discounted so much that cost won't be an issue, and it would be good to have one on hand in case you are not completely sure what outlets will be available.