Update:  USB Car Adapter Charger Review

We recently did a write up about the Brando 3-in-1 USB car adapter, but they had it all wrong. Three cigarette plugs and only one USB port. Today we found a USB adapter better suited for our needs.

The car adapter is small, light and provides two useful USB ports. Not much to report on specs - you get what you see. LEDs for port activity and power output is DC5.0V / 1000mA +/- 5%.

Roger of USB Fever put together a special deal for GetUSB.info readers, free shipping any where in the world (about 7 day transit time). At just $13.95 and free shipping, it’s an excellent deal.

Roger also has a universal charger that is a cut above the rest. Typically chargers only support three markets, the UK, US and EU. However, Roger’s charger includes support for Australia and China. ($16.99)

If I where to design this product the ratio would be reversed. I’d create a 3 USB port adaptor with one cigarette plug. After all, I only need one car frig to keep my beer cold at the baseball games. But I do have an MP3 player, phone and camera I’d like to charge up while on the drive over.

The Brando 3-in-1 car adapter with USB port is definitely a good idea. There have been several occasions where I’ve wanted one.

UberGizmo brings up a good point - it might not be the best idea to daisy chain some USB hubs off the single port to power everything you’ve got. Might strain the car battery too much over a long period of time, none-the-less, an excellent item to have for those long hauls.

Brando has them for $20 and ships to the US (and globally) very quickly and inexpensive. (more…)

There are times when digging around for a charge cable becomes extremely frustrating. The tangled mess of cables, the inconvenient location of the power strip on the floor - what a pain in the a$$.

The Chargepod from Callpod is a welcomed charger which solves all this. The Chargepod is a slick design for charging 6 devices at once. The Chargepod comes with extra short cables to decrease the clutter of wired cables.

There is some engineering that went into this as well. Callpod made sure to put in Current Control (IC) logic so each devices gets the exact amount of energy needed for a charge. This is smart because it wont fry your USB gadgets and it reduces heat of the Chargepod itself.

So - an ideal product for the messy office or traveling professional the Chargepod is well worth the extra few bucks from your typical charger. $49 for the unit and accessory cables for just a little more.

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Forget about garage design Altoid Tin battery chargers, Sanyo has a slick USB charger pack that will replenish your thirsty gadgets, called eneloop.

Eneloop is the first USB recharger pack Sanyo - self proclaimed world battery supply leader - has introduced. The Eneloop name is a concept of recycling, or looping, energy. The USB recharger is compact in design and houses the USB connector when not in use.

What I like, and albeit common, are the batteries being ready for use immediately after purchase; there is no charge-up time needed. (more…)

USB is branching out into another standard, we first heard about China implementing USB the standard for cell phone chargers, now USB gets a new charging specification from the USB-Implementers Forum.

Power via USB is nothing new, but what the USB-IF did was increase the amount of energy which can flow to a USB device. To get our geek on, an example is current spec is only 100mA of electricity to a device, the new specification increases that to 500mA. In addition, USB-IF addressed the low-end too. The organization decreeds that devices which have completely dead batteries can charge at 100 mA. This allows dead devices to charge up even though they don’t have enough power to turn on. (more…)

So here is a simple project to groom your child into the geek parent you are. Over at Hacked Gadgets Alan pointed out a “how-to” on creating your own USB charger from Lego’s.

The charger uses a Lego motor to generate current which passes through a voltage regulator and off to the USB port. If you don’t already have the Lego motor you can pick them up at target and the voltage regulator at Radio Shack.

When all done, rather then sending your kid to time-out, have them hand-crank and recharge your favorite MP3 player.

Here is a picture of the hand crank with electronics already installed. (more…)

There is definitely an Altoids DIY underground. I bumped into an article on how to make an iPod charger from an Altoids Tin yesterday at Chris DiClerico’s website. After doing a little research I see there is a big following for Altoids Tin do-it-yourself projects. So, to service my reader group, herezzz the how to:

It’s a very easy project and a great one for beginners looking to tweak something. The goal is to make a charger from two 9V batteries and two AA batteries which should juice your iPod for another 10 hours. Then house that charger in a clean looking Altoids Tin. Couple things you’ll need: (more…)