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 Rotating Plug Nice - Not Enough USB Power for Some PhonesNov 16, 2009
I love the design where you can rotate the line voltage plug in order to place the surge outlets and/or the USB charge ports in a convenient orientation. Little details like this make a big difference in a product's usability. The USB charge ports meet the USB specification of providing 500 mA, however some mobile devices are designed to require more power for charging. Our Motorola Droid phone would not charge properly with this power adapter. The OEM charger for this phone outputs 850 mA. I liked the overall design, but the USB charging problems with our devices was a deal killer.
 Worked great for 3 days!Oct 22, 2009
Purchased the product so I could charge my Blackberry Storm with it's USB cable. First received the product and was slightly disappointed to see how huge it is. It makes up for the large size with the rotating outlet. This allows you to almost always find and orientation that will allow it to be used. Just make sure you eat you Wheaties before rotating outlet. You'll need to push the release button with all your might before the plug will actually turn. All of this is just an annoyance though.
The real reason for the 2 star rating is this product worked for a whopping 3 days. Just last night I was almost asleep when I was disturbed by a bright light that kept flashing on and off. My Blackberry was charging for 10 seconds, then not for 10, charging for 10, then not, repeat, repeat, repeat. The indicator light on the Belkin was doing the same thing. It was constantly cycling power to my phone, causing it to light up and dim constantly. Very annoying.
I contacted Belkin about this. They want me to ship the unit to them so they can send me a replacement. And I have to pay the shipping cost. Its hardly worth my effort. I guess I'll just use this for the three standard plugs on it and forget about the USB chargers. Disappointing.
iPod Touch Charger + a nice bonusOct 21, 2009
I brought this product to charge my iPod Touch 2G, instead of the $30 charger from Apple. The item shipped and was delivered as promised. As stated in previous reviews, the button to allow the prongs to swivel is finnicky. The charger works well with my iPod Touch. It's nice not to be dependent on my computer to charge it. A nice addition that I didn't read anywhere was the included mini-USB cable that I can use with my Motorola cell phone and Garmin navigation device. It will be very convenient on trips where hotel rooms have a limited number of outlets.
Not Good Enough To RecommendOct 20, 2009
I bought this and use it for travel. Hotels often don't provide enough plugs. Especially in Europe, and then you will need a plug converter for each device...or just one if you use a power bar like this.
I used to travel with a cheap power strip which would give me six plugs, but I didn't need all six, and I didn't have surge since the surge adds weight and size. With a power strip in one's travel case, one can often plug it into the single desk outlet that hotels provide, and instantly have enough outlets for your laptop, phone, headset, media player, etc.
I got the Belkin to reduce the size, and add surge. In particular, I like the notion of the USB ports, since I can then carry small/light 12 inch USB charge cables for my gadgets instead of bigger AC adapters. Before, I would often leave my laptop on to get powered USB ports.
From my high expectations, these were the setbacks:
- The USB ports are under-powered. The specs say it will deliver .5A to each port, but I think it does less. In fact, I think it only delivers decent current to one of the ports at a time. When I plug in two WinMo phones, in the morning, one is always charged, the other always dead.
- It's big. Maybe not too big, but big. OK, it has surge, but because of the plug layout, and the power limitations mentioned above, it turns out to be a two-plug, one USB device...and it's too big for what it offers.
- Won't charge iPhone reliably, since iPhone wants 1A, and this offers .5A
- The outlets are too close together for inserting AC adpaters. They could have designed this better by placing an outlet one of the blank sides of the unit.
Cheers!
djk
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Did you know?:
Soon, laptops will be shipping with USB ports that are powered-up even when the laptop is off. It is called "Sleep-And-Charge". It is in response to the growing number of devices that recharge from USB ports. Cool. At that point, I'll get rid of this Belkin. But bear in mind, it will still be mostly the 500mA standard power limit that doesn't satisfy iPhones.
Power utilization, ergonomicsSep 29, 2009
There's already an excellent review for this product, so I'll just touch on two things that I was curious about before I bought it.
1. I wondered how much additional power the USB 5V charger of this surge protector would use when plugged into the wall without charging any USB device. I left it plugged into the wall for 24 hours though a Kill-a-Watt, without anything else plugged into it (USB or AC). It shows a usage of about 0.03 kWH (resolution of Kill-a-Watt is 0.01 kWH), or wasted power of 1W. Leaving it plugged in for a month would cost you under 20 cents (depending on your local electricity rate, of course). Not fantastic, but not excessive either.
2. The plastic cap to protect the power plug also doubles as a balance mechanism - you attached it to the other end, farthest away from the plug, so that it rests against the wall, preventing the adapter from flexing too much when you plug in a device. Unless your wall outlet is completely flush with the wall, however, there'll still be some flex. But having a place to attach it while in use, so that it doesn't get misplaced, is good.
3. Turning the plug is difficult on my unit. Extremely stiff and there is not much to grip. The button to unlock the plug is small and doesn't provide any tactile feedback.
Overall, a good product, and with so many devices that uses USB for charging, the two USB power outlets are really nice to have.
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based on 79 reviews
