Travel voltage converters..

Hey guys,

Goin on a trip soon,and picked up a couple of international voltage converters. 240->120V.
They say they are rated 50W and 1600W. What's up with the dual rating?
Maybe 50W max for electronics,and 1600W max for resistive loads (hair dryers,coffe makers,etc) ? Pretty big jump in the numbers.

These particular converters are small,REALLY small..
I assume it's some kind of switching converter,or something.
I know the old ones used transformers,these obviously don't -they're the size of a small box of matches,with prongs out one side,and holes in the other.They weigh..Pfft..a couple grams maybe?

Any idea what's in these things? Maybe a triac circuit of some kind? (not much room inside!)

There is a warning against using it for laptop computers,and other similar items (which is what I wanted to run from them! Doh!)
Dare I risk it? (New laptop,PSP,cellphone charger,etc,etc.)
I'm not sure the 50W rating would be enough for the laptop anyways. Bah!
Guess i've got to find a 'transformer' type converter either way.
.

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