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I normally don't carry anything when traveling that will be cumbersome or prone to being stolen, so I never had to worry about this. I have a relative overseas that needs a laptop. Are the adapters sold in the US suitable for use in the former USSR? Do I need anything more than a plug adapter? I don't want the thing to explode or burn his house down.
Russia uses 220v outlets. You will certainly need a plug adapter, but you probably won't need a transformer. Almost all laptops these days have power packs capable of taking the full range of 110-240 volts. You do want to check this to be sure (it should be marked on the black box that's part of the power cord), but I'd be very surprised if you needed a transformer. A brief google search indicates that the usual European round two-prong plug adapters should work in Russia. If the laptop is going to live in Russia permanently, you may even be able to do without the plug adapter with a different cord. Many laptop power systems are segmented, with the plug section being removable from the transformer section. If that is the case, you could probably buy a separate cord section with the proper plug attachment, then use it with the existing transformer. That said, there's nothing wrong with using a device permanently with a plug adapter. I've done it for years at a time without any issues.
This is what I thought. I remember just plugging in imported things into an adapter and not really thinking about being shocked to death. Then again, I was younger. Thanks.