Customer Reviews

iGo Everywhere130 PS00099-0008 Universal 100 Wattt AC/DC Notebook Adapter with Dualpower

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

The good news about the iGo Everywhere130 is that it's really heavy duty. The bad news is that it's really heavy duty.

I use my laptop as a desktop replacement and only travel occasionally, but usually for a week or more at a time. My laptop is in use 8 hours a day when I travel to do presentations.

I previously used a Kensington power adapter (Kensington K33197 120W Auto/Air Ultra Portable Notebook PC Power Adapter) which was much smaller and lighter weight than the iGo, cost somewhat more ($120 vs. $100) and had similar features. I love the convenience of having a power adapter tucked away in my briefcase and leaving my massive Dell power brick plugged into the wall. Just like the iGo, the Kensington worked on wall power, car power, or airplane power.

But after a little less than a year, the Kensington began intermittently failing - the charge light on the laptop would go on and off like the connection was loose. Turns out the cord to the laptop was breaking internally at the connector. I had to wiggle it to get it to charge. After a month it died altogether. Kensington, to their credit, offered to replace the cord for free. It took about 7 weeks and three more support contacts to finally get the cord, but I was happy - until another 8 months went by and the charger failed while on a week long business trip. Fortunately my client had a compatible Dell charger or I would have been up the creek. Yes, it was the same problem with the cord.

Since the Kensington had let me down again, I sulked for a while and then saw a mention of the iGo on some blog. Bought it from Amazon (usual perfect Amazon shopping experience) and it arrived in 24 hours with free shipping. Turns out the iGo is manufactured less than 100 miles from me.

So the iGo works fine and, wow, is it heavy duty! All the cords are at least twice the weight and diameter of the Kensington with very thick jackets and big heavy connectors. The unit itself is twice the weight and size - very brick like where the Kensington was flat and slim. To be fair, I should note that the iGo is still much lighter than the Dell factory AC adapter. Well, my briefcase is huge and weighs a ton anyway with my 17" laptop so the extra bulk and weight is not a problem for me. What's nice is that I have a lot of confidence in the durability of the very heavy duty construction of the iGo and its cables.

Another nice plus, that offsets the bulk and weight of the iGo is the "dual charge" capability that replaces my cell phone charger as well. For less than $10 I got an adapter for my Treo directly from iGo - also a good shopping experience on the iGo web site. Not having to take my factory Treo charger from its usual place under my desk is another convenience, plus one less thing in my briefcase, plus plus I can't forget to take it with me! I see that Kensington is now offering "dual charge" capability as well - but they want $28 more (it's included in the iGo) plus $10 for the correct tip for your phone (same as the iGo). That's $40 - for $25 I can buy a complete second phone charger!

I trust the iGo will last longer than my laptop - the multiple cables are so heavy duty they'll probably outlast the pyramids! I recommend this product - as long as an extra 10 ounces or so in your briefcase won't be a problem.

Update October 29, 2010 - As predicted, the iGo outlasted my laptop and continues to function perfectly and reliably with my new laptop after almost three years of use. Well done, iGo!

Tired of carrying multiple charging units, I purchased this power supply for a trip to Europe. When I arrived and attempted to plug it in, the unit shorted out. It sparked and shut off. I tried to find a shop in Barcelona that carried iGo. I visted them all and none did.

I called support and they sent a replacement for a cable that was shorting. The cable did not arrive before my departure a week later. I had to purchase a replacement power supply while overseas to charge my laptop.

When I finally got around to followiing up on the dead unit, I was told that I could get it replaced. However, I would have to pays shipping for the return. So let me get this straight...

iGo sells a defective product and I have to pay more for the replacement?! This experience has not been good. I cannot recommend iGo. Their product quality and support are not satisfactory.

I've had numerous iGo products, and this one has really dogged me the whole time I've owned it (or them, shall I say)

First and most importantly, it does work and its really the only unit like it that can power a decent 15"-17" laptop, plus charge blackberry, phone and MP3 player with 1 unit. That part is true, and when it works, it works well.

I travel about 300,000 miles per year, around the world. And the iGo 130 has been with me everywhere. Unfortunately, it doesn't have good behavior.

Symptoms and diseases are the following. The DC power out cable that goes to the laptop fails regularly. I have been through several units and these cables always fail at the connector to the transformer. You can think you're charging, just minding your business, but alas, no power is making it to the laptop.

Next, the transformer is a moody and cranky as a 5 year old child. It will just shut itself off. The blue light fades, and it takes 20 rounds of plugging it in and out to get it back to life. Why does it do this?.. who knows. The people at iGo know nothing about anything, they simply cannot help ever. So you just buy a new one is their response.

This transformer situation is really really bad. Most decent laptops (15" and larger) draw 70 watts and up, especially at startup. The iGo 130 is supposed to be able to handle that. But basically, it doesn't and shuts itself off. On certain laptops, it shuts off all the time and is useless. On others, you learn tricks to make it stay on.

Also, the tip situation looks great on paper, but in reality, is extremely frustrating most of the time. iGo regulates their voltage via the tip in a closed loop back to the transformer (hence the multiple wires in the DC wire). The tips they have fit/work sometimes, and sometimes they don't. I've been using a Toshiba laptop lately, and sometimes it works, but more often than not, it doesn't work..... the correct size tip from the sage wise people at iGo.... I've used these chargers on IBM, Alienware, Dell and Toshiba laptops over the past 4 years. It never works the same twice..

Also, for many phones and PDAs, when you attach the charging tip to them, they cry foul and say "not an authorized charger".... I see, so I need your permission to charge the battery in the device I already paid for. Now this isn't really iGo's fault, but it realy is.... They should deal with the Verizon's and ATTs of the world.

Also on this note, many notebooks simply will NOT work with iGo tips because they don't look like "authorized" chargers to the notebook. Many Dell notebooks have this issue. They will power the notebook, but NOT charge it... ridiculous.

iGo customer service/support is incapable of providing real support or answers, always blaming the device vendors. The device vendors say they are not required to support iGo (or any other universal power supply company for that matter).

All in all, using the iGo 130 is a massive compromise and will require you to think at all times. It does indeed work, and usually works fine. But there are lots of things that it does that will irritate you.

First of all, it is very heavy. Secondly, it is poorly made. A few days after I bought it, I took it with me while on an overseas flight. It was a brand new unit, and yet it didn't work on the airplane (there was nothing wrong with the power connection at my seat. My neighbor had another iGo unit. He plugged his into mine, and it worked for him). I had to sit through a 16-hr flight without my laptop. When I returned, I tried to contact the manufacturer for a warranty replacement. I had to fill out a form and fax back the receipt to approve my purchase. I then had to return the defected unit at my own expense. Then another month went on, and I still didn't receive the replacement unit. I called the company, and was told that they had no record of receiving the package, and therefore refused to send me a new unit. I was very disappointed with both the poor quality of the product and the poor customer service that I received.

The iGo does exactly what it says it will do - and does it quite well. I needed an additional adaptor for my laptop and decided to get the iGo rather than another adaptor from the manufacturer. The iGo works well and is easy to setup.

Although it is pretty heavy and large, I've found that this is offset because I can get rid of BOTH my laptop adaptor as well as my mobile phone adaptor. I also don't have to carry around the auto/plane adaptors if I want to save a bit more space. Plus, if I switch to a different PC or phone in the future, I can just pay for a new tip and keep using the same adaptor.

My only problems: weight (not a big deal if you have more than 1 device) and tracking down the tips you need (I had to buy two new tips - and for one of them I had to go to the iGo manufacturer website).

If you have two or more devices to charge, you'll find the iGo is helpful to have with you.

This product has so much potential. It does everything I want it to. But it packed it in within 6 months. Others I know have had the same experience. The iGO people need to address their quality issues.

These may not be an issue for everyone. Yes it is heavy.... so now it sits at home as a backup for my laptop. I would consider it for road trips, but not plane trips.

And since I am using it at home, the next problem affects me where it might not someone else, but when my laptop is plugged into my stereo, there is a bad buzz in the audio from this thing.

Finally, disturbing that frequently plugging and unplugging will trip something to make it shut down. Unplug and replug resets it, but a nuisance nonetheless.

So we use oodles of these at my job for a number of laptops, mostly Toshibas. And you know what? They fail at a spectacular rate. The light fades. They stop charging. Sometimes if you move them around you'll get a charge. Sometimes not. The points where the cables connect always seem to crack. or snap. or look fine but not, actually, work.

I don't want to libel anyone here, so I'll choose my words carefully - I have no actual EVIDENCE that the iGo was made by Satan and unleashed from Hell to ruin the lives of good, moral, IT staff everywhere.... But if that WERE the case, I, personally, would not be surprised by the revelation.

UPDATE: 1/8/2010:

So we've gone through EVEN MORE of these since I wrote this entry. I'm going to go back in time, and kill the man who created this product. Second? Hitler. But this guy? First.

This product is a problem solver. After hours of trying to work with Dell to figure out which of their recommended products would work for one of their computers, and getting only ambiguous nonsense, I gave up and went with Igo. For a reasonable price I have something that will charge my laptop in a car, in a hotel, in a plane, or even charge my phone (though remember to keep it off in the plane)! The cords well made and the connections pretty tough--this is not a piece of junk as are many others.

People have been complaining about the weight that it is (oh dear!) HEAVY DUTY. As in, it is well made. This isn't a minus. When you are traveling around a great deal, and your laptop is really like a shell to a snail, you don't want to take chances. A few ounces more or less won't kill you, while a cord that no longer stays in place really will. Not kill you, I guess--that's overstatement--but sometimes having that laptop die can be like watching your last line connecting you to the Apollo capsule if you were the great Edward H White II making a spacewalk. Goodbye photographs I was using to keep up my spirits. Goodbye music that distracted me from that unhealthy whine from the coolant system. Goodbye word processing program allowing me to work on reviews! Goodbye space capsule.....

I know I have a tendency to exaggerate but here I really think reliability is the only thing that is important. And now that I find myself travelling a great deal again, with nothing but this laptop as a constant companion, as my friend and my family, I would no more get a "light duty" power supply than I'd get a "light duty" defilibrator for an aged parent. Those of you who are settled, for whom it is no problem if you just wait till you are "back home," well I see you might have different priorities. Maybe there is an Istay out there for you. But for those of us forced to move on, the Igo is the way To Go. [54]

The iGo Everywhere 130 w/Dual Power is just what I ordered and works as advertised. It can be used in lieu of the power brick that came with your laptop as well as on a plane or call. Additionally I can charge my BlackBerry without leaving my laptop powered on so I could ue my laptop USB port; this is a real plus.

PROS- carrying case houses all accessories, can be used in home, office, plane, or car, cool styling, adaptable by design to power multiple devices through use of tips, power laptop and other small device at same time

psuedo CON- pricey but worth it