new imac -- universal voltage or not

I know that people from Europe have had problems with the previous imac purchased in the U.S. with it not having universal voltage and that it was considered a way to discourag imports.

However, I've heard that the new revision of the imac released in November DOES have universal voltage unlike the previous model, i.e. it will switch automatically btw 110 and 220. Can anyone please confirm whether or not this is true. I need to know, because I live in Russia where the power is 220V and want to purchase the new imac when I visit the US this January.

According to the Apple website tech info:
Line voltage: 100-240V AC
Frequency: 50Hz to 60Hz, single phase
Maximum continuous power: 180W

Badger said:

According to the Apple website tech info:
Line voltage: 100-240V AC
Frequency: 50Hz to 60Hz, single phase
Maximum continuous power: 180W

Click to expand...

cool, it does seem to be universal then
what does maximum continues power mean - Not sure what "W" stands for. Would that pose a problem for Europe I wonder.

W = watts. It's the measure of actual power consumption. Watts equals voltage times amperage. For example 110 volts at 1 amp = 110 watts; so does 220v at 0.5 amps. With 220v input and 180w consumption the iMac would draw about 0.8 amps.

Badger said:

W = watts. It's the measure of actual power consumption. Watts equals voltage times amperage. For example 110 volts at 1 amp = 110 watts; so does 220v at 0.5 amps. With 220v input and 180w consumption the iMac would draw about 0.8 amps.

Click to expand...

thanks a lot for the info, I appreciate it.

I have to say I was a little alarmed about reading lots posts on different sites from people whose imacs had overheated and in some cases melted. Have they worked these issues out with the latest revision? I'm more than a little concerned because if I buy it in the states and take it back to Russia with me, my warranty won't work here. I already checked. Only powerbooks and ibooks get coverage because they are considered mobile devices. Even the AppleCare coverage doesn't work here - it's supposed to be worldwide, but the local authorized dealers said it won't work here. So I need to know how reliable these things are before I make the investment, otherwise it might be better to pay 30% more here and at least have a warranty that works.

According to a reliability survey done by Macintouch the rev 2 iMac has shown a substantial increase in reliability over the rev 1. Here's the link: http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/index.html. That said, about 10% of the rev 2 models require warranty service. Only you can decide if the extra cost of buying locally is worthwhile.