Customer Reviews

iGo EverywherePower 7500-Series Universal Wall/Auto/Air Power Adapter with DualPower Accessory for Notebook Computers (PS0069-10)

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

 

 

I bought this for a IBM T42, Sony Ericsson P900, and a Dell Axim X50v:

The charger is ENORMOUS. At least twice as heavy as the OEM IBM charger, and weighs more than the IBM, Sony, and Dell chargers added together. The cords are thick and extremely long. This is not the charger to bring on a trip.

The plug is a three prong plug which usually creates significant problems in a lot of foreign countries if you want to use plug adapters. You can buy cords to fit some plugs in foreign countries from IGO, but they are fairly expensive. Further, the cord to the IGO charger is, of course, proprietary - lose it and you are hosed.

It didn't work with the Sony phone at all. With the IBM Thinkpad, it charges the laptop when its in hibernation or off, but it doesn't work right if the Thinkpad is on - it switches off and I have to unplug it and plug it in again. It works fine for the Dell.

I'm not exactly sure who this is targeted for - its nice that I can plug in two devics at once, but at home I don't mind having everything plugged in with its own charger. This is WAY too big to carry on travel. I can't even imagine whipping this sucker out in the airplane to charge my laptop.

I've switched back to the OEM cable and two charge-and-sync USB cables for my phone and PDA that I found on the internet.

Summary:
With the i-go juice 70/90, you can power a notebook from car and hotel. Pay another $20 and get the adapter and it will charge your cell or ipod also.

Pros: One bag will carry it all. Contrart to what others say. Tips are available for almost every product from radio shack, etc. at $10 each. they have tons of them. The "monster cable" tips at Best Buy are interchangable.

Cons: You have to work to get it all in one bag. Not just one item as it looks. There is a power pack, a car cord, a house cord, power pack to notebook cord, and the optional cell/ipod charger cord.

Summary & my breakages:
Good product. The first I bought from Ebay and the wall cord worked every once in a while. The second had a problem that I couldn't figure out. The third was really my fault. I always left the cord from the power pack to the unit plugged in and just wound the cord around the power pack for storage. The pins on the end wore down and broke off within cord. I know that three breakage in 6 months is really bad; but, I do think that it is a good product worth buying.

The only real competition in the kensington that just came out. It appears flatter; but, still about the same size. Alot of people don't like it because the wall power cord is just 5". I look at that as a benifit because the power cord is bulky. The cord to the notebook is 10' long; but, it is a thinner cord so it is easier to store. I travel weekly, so the engineering here is very good in my eyes. To many, it seems stupid. I think they are not thinking clearly nor traveling weekly with the unit like I am.

I looked heavily into the Targus and Monster Cable units; but, they are re-packaged i-go's. They are the same and the tips are interchangable - just look at them and you will see.

I looked into the APC unit also. It looks awesome on the surface because the cable just wraps around the unit - and it has built in USB charges on the side. The problem is that there is a dial on the side - and YOU choose the voltage. Good luck getting it right. There is also a very big discrepancy on whether the tip will fit your computer. I searched the internet for 30 minutes and NEVER found a compatablity list. Try it yourself. It's not even on the APC website. I looked long and hard because I really liked the unit; but, in the end - it appears flawed. I do not want to choose my own voltage. I want somone to guarantee that this or that is correct - in writing!



I have had 3 i-go's in the past 6 months.

It did everything it says it would for me and it's a decent design, but this product is a POS quality-wise. As many others have reported, the build quality is very poor. I promise you it will break just about the time that the warranty runs out. At least they upped it to two years, so you may have a chance to get it fixed before it breaks.

I extended its life by using a rubber band to hold the cable in place better so that all the contacts would touch, but finally the cable end that connects to the brick just broke. You can now buy replacement cables now from the igo site, but $20 to replace a shotty part that costs a few bucks isn't very good.

The fact that these replacement cables are backordered tells me that many people have this problem.

Buyer Beware.

The sleek industrial design of the power unit belies the heavy-duty industrial "design" of the wires that connect to it: they are thick, heavy, and inflexible.

While other laptop adapters can manage with a thin AC cable and two-prong plug, the iGo uses a heavy cable with giant plugs at each end that would be better suited for powering a refrigerator than a laptop. The same is true of the power output cable: an unecessary heavy braided shield visible through the thick and low-flexibility PVC insualtion makes that cable hard to use. I've often had the adapter tip pop out of its socket on the laptop because the cable doesn't bend properly.

The power part works great, but I wish they'd offer replacement cables.

I was given this as a Christmas present. The idea behind it is great. I used it with my Averatec tablet. Soon after using it, the battery life dropped to about half. I purchased a tip for my phone. First time I used it, the charging was done in 10 minutes. The battery now only gets 3 days where I was getting 5. I replaced the battery and still get the same 3 days. I've sent emails asking about tips for other items and have not received a single response. In addition, I sent an email asking about the problems I had after using the device, again, no response. Use at your own risk.

While the iGo 7500 does everything it's supposed to do (if you carefully read the specs), it is not the panacea for business travellers that it is advertised to be. Granted, the sleek silver "brick" replaces at least two adaptor bricks that you would otherwise be carrying: the AC adaptor for your laptop computer and the airline/car adaptor for your laptop. It also accomodates an additional, smaller device (though the "tips" for these smaller devices must be purchased separately). Tips are available for iPods, digital cameras and many mobile phones. You can charge your laptop while also charging the secondary device. However, I found that trying to use both devices while plugged in caused the iGo to overload and power down. Thus, running a laptop and an iPod simultaneously will not work. So far, I've replaced 3 power devices with about 1.5 (as the "secondary" power adaptor that plugs into the iGo is about as large/heavy as the iPod's AC adaptor.

The really disappointing aspect of the iGo is its lack of "tips" for a number of common devices that I carry with me. In particular, no tips exist for my Blackberry, my portable HP 450 printer or my JBL iPod portable speakers. Thus, I still have to lug around power bricks for these devices. I had hoped that the iGo would have replaced all of these with a single power supply, but it was not to be. Perhaps more tips will be added as the device gains popularity. I have certainly registered my request with the company!

The 7500 works as claimed provided you can find the tips for it. Dell has redesigned their power jack to be incompatible with any non-Dell devices, and Toshiba support has confirmed that they "patent" their power jack design and my A105-S4021 Satellite is incompatible with ANY other device, even from Toshiba. Neither iGo nor Toshiba offered any help. Rather a poor showing of customer service!

As to the weight of an iGo - remember that it isn't just a transformer. To step up 12v to notebook voltages (15-20 V.) and to handle up to 240 VAC, it is an inverter also. More complex, heavier, and a bit more fragile, as well.

Overall, a very useful device, fragile, and it ages poorly (cords break, tips fall loose, etc.) Still, it serves its purpose about as well as anything else you can buy, and at a reasonable cost.

I purchased the IGo 7500 dualpower unit for a Dell laptop, but soon afterward bought a Compaq latop that IGo did not then have a tip for. I have written IGo 8 times asking if they intended to supply a tip for my new laptop. I have never, in six months, received a reply. I would strongly recommend you do not consider buying any product made by this company.

I bought the iGo Juice 70. Seems like a good idea with auto adaptor. However, the DELL adaptor does not charge the computer (it's "power only"). I can't think of reason why anyone would spend $100 on a mobile charger that doesn't charge the device. They don't make this clear through their website or their third party vendors. On top of it all their customer service wouldn't take the return and told me I should have known.

Every time I get a new laptop, phone, digital camera, pda, mp3 player or any peripheral for my computer I end up with another power brick. Should I also want to charge said new laptop etc. in the car, on a plane or while traveling there are accessories available but they will cost me extra. You can also be fairly sure that your new laptop will have a different propriety power connector than your old laptop uses. I have a box in my basement full of once expensive, now useless power supplies and adaptors for cars etc. It's is such a waste that the electronics and computer industry could easily do something about if they chose to adopt a common standard but that's unlikely to happen as the accessory market is such a cash cow to the industry - environment be damned.

The iGo Everywhere 7500 attempts to address this issue. The stylish power adapter will run your laptop at home, on the plane, in the car and abroad while traveling. In addition you can simultaneously charge your phone, camera or pda if your device is supported. The modular system works well. I never thought I'd get enthusiastic about a power adaptor but the concept and execution are solid. Choose the correct tip for you device and you can then leave the OEM power brick at home.

The only downside I have found so far is the lack of iTips available for the devices I own. E.g. a few Sony digicams are supported but not my F717; some mp3 devices are supported but none of the best selling Creative line (Nomad, Zen, carbon, etc.). Hopefully more of your devices are supported than mine but all the rest of us can do is wait until iGo choose to support our devices. I have tried contacting them about this just to find out if there are any plans or a schedule for releasing other iTips in the future; support just told me to subscribe to their newsletter but couldn't even tell me if my devices were being considered. Come on iGo; if you want to be THE comprehensive, portable power solution then support more devices please.

In conclusion; this is a quality piece of kit that makes using your laptop away from home very simple. I've enjoyed relegating my laptop's power supply to the fore mentioned box in the basement. I just wish I could do the same with the power supplies for my camera and mp3 player as iGo's advertising suggested I would be able to.