I have the same kind of camera and share your enthusiasm for it but I cannot
explain the "fried" aspect concerning the charger.  The charger nameplate
says "100-240V" input and I have used it all over Africa and Asia without a
problem by using an "adapter" to allow me to use their electrical outlets.
Perhaps the "converter" is the problem and should not have been used.  I
don't know what a "converter" might do to the wave form of the output
voltage.  It might change it to DC which would fry your charger.  Just pleg
the charger into the outlet after procuring an "adapter" to configure the
geometry.

I plugged my battery charger for my Sony DSC-f828
into an outlet in Europe, with a converter, and
... I fried the charger and the battery. Now, I cannot
find that charger anymore. I would appreciate some adsvice
on which battery charger I should get for the F828, and
which ones are the best and more lasting batteris for it.
Is a Mach 1 charger a good choice?
I usually shoot thouands of pictures on my trips and I want
to spend as little time as possible in recharging my batteries.
By the way, I love this camera so much, I bought a second one
last Christmas.
Thank you so much!

maria