Tools

This is a list of tools which are useful from my point of view. I own them myself. The links in this page are affiliate links. I receive a small provision when you buy something via these links; however, that does not cause you any additional cost.

Scanners

Germany is the country of paper work. That's what people from other countries tell me when they move to Germany. From government agencies, banks, and insurances you get lots of paper. There is no way you can keep all of this paper. So, I scan the less important stuff and put it then into a shredder. However, it's a lot of work to scan each page of a document separately. Fortunately, there are document scanners. They take a bunch of paper and within seconds you have a PDF document on your pc.

I use document scanners since 15 years. My first document scanner could only scan one side of each piece of paper. The scanners which I recommend here, are capable of scanning both sides. Furthermore, they include a software which creates searchable PDF documents.

Canon P-208II Hi-Speed USB 2.0 document scanner

This document scanner is very portable. I can easily put this scanner and my notebook into a bag and drive or even walk somewhere.

Canon DR-F120 Dokumenten-Scanner

This document scanner is less portable but more comfortable. It also includes a flatbed unit. So, you can use it for scanning images. However, it's much more expensive.

Shredders

Germany is the country of paper work. So, you also have to get rid of a lot of paper documents you no longer need. I know people who tear their papers into small pieces and throw them away. I do not recommend this. There are people who grab papers out of wastepaper containers. I have a shredder since I was a student. My first shredder created stripes. That's less secure. Shredders which create particles are better. I recommend the following product:

Dahle Aktenvernichter PaperSAFE 22084

I own this shredder since many years. My previous shredder did not work any longer after a few years. But this product is very stable and reliable. It creates particles and it can also cut credit cards and CDs into pieces.

Travel adapters

The first country I visited which uses another plug system was the UK. So, I bought a travel adapter at the airport. This allowed me to use my German electrical devices in the UK. Later I travelled to the USA. I found out that for this country I needed a different travel adapter. Instead of buying a specific adapter for the USA I decided to buy a universal travel adapter. I recommend the following travel adapter:

Milool universal travel adapter

I personally own the Uvistar travel adapter. It looks like this product is no longer available. However, I have found something which looks like exactly the same way. In fact, I believe it's the same product and they just changed the brand. This travel adapter is really universal. It supports the UK, the EU, North America, South America, and Australia. It allows me to use my German electrical devices in any of these regions. Furthermore, it allows my guests from other countries to use their electrical devices here in Germany. This adapter does not convert the voltage. So, your electrical devices need to be able to do that.