Kensington 33057 Universal Car/Air Power Adapter for Apple

by Kensington

Product Details

Product Manual [137kb PDF]

• Item Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000098UZE
• Item model number: 33057
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,269 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 16, 2003

Product Description

Ever get stuck on the road with a dead laptop battery and an hour's worth of work to do? Simply use the Kensington Universal Car/Air Adapter for Apple to plug your PowerBook or iBook into any car cigarette lighter or Empower-equipped airline seat, and you've got the power you need. Internal circuit protection prevents overheating, and a compact, lightweight design keeps you mobile. Universal Car/Air Adapter for Apple is backed by the Kensington 1-Year warranty

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lifesaver for long car trips!, December 30, 2004

By 

Stephen Siciliano "ctachme" (Traverse City, Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kensington 33057 Universal Car/Air Power Adapter for Apple (Office Product)

This product preformed as expected, that is, perfectly. I plugged it into the car and the adapter into my iBook G4, and it worked just fine. It appeared to charge the iBook as well as support its power draw. I don't know the technical specifications, but I know one thing: it worked.

It was very useful and allowed me to not be concerned about battery performance in the car. However, despite the perfect performance, there was a small issue with setup. I would guess that the power adapter plug that goes into the iBook G4 was actually designed for the iBook G3, because the adapter does not fit snugly. While the power adapter for the Apple supplied charger fits right in, the Kensington adapter leaves a few millimeters of the plug exposed. Additionally, there is no LED on the plug itself, so I have no idea if it is done charging or not (there is a one-color LED on the box of the adapter, but this does no indicate if the battery is charging or not.

Despite these little problems with the plug, I would certainly recommend this product to everyone with an iBook or PowerBook that takes long car trips.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst idea ever..., April 5, 2005

By 

Joseph Guendert "Nerd Extraordinaire" (Bristol, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kensington 33057 Universal Car/Air Power Adapter for Apple (Office Product)

I purchased this to expand the usefulness of my G3 iBook. I really wish I hadn't. The interchangeable plugs seem like a great idea, but the plug is significantly heavier than the original iBook power adapter's plug. It placed too much strain on the laptop's power port, and eventually caused something internal to snap, leaving me with a G3 paperweight.

4.0 out of 5 stars Handy charger for the car, April 25, 2010

By 

B. Van de Velde "technology adept" (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kensington 33057 Universal Car/Air Power Adapter for Apple (Office Product)

I bought this adapter a few years ago for my iBook G4. I have used it mainly when we go on long car trips with the kids and we use the iBook G4 to let them watch movies from the iBook hard disk.

Connectors: One side of the adapter cable connects to a car DC outlet (cigarette lighter outlet). The other side connects to the iBook G4. There is a small brick in between with a light. It lights green when it receives power from the car DC outlet. Unlike another comment mentions, there is no blue light and it does not connect to home AC outlets. I guess the person is describing another product from Kensington. This product only connects to car DC outlets or airplane DC outlets. When you remove the top 1.5 inch part of the car DC connector, it shows an airplane DC outlet connector. I haven't used it on an airplane. The connector for the iBook G4 connects very well to my iBook G4, even better than the iBook connector of the Apple AC adapter that came with the iBook.

The build quality is very good and the product is rather compact. I recently bought another car adapter for a more recent MacBook and that one is almost twice the size of the Kensington adapter.

It pulls enough energy from the car to also charge the battery while operating the computer.

The only downside of the Kensington product is that the brick gets very hot. Not burning hot, but just very hot.

We have used it for several years every time we went on a long trip and I am very satisfied with this product. If the brick would not turn that hot, I would give it a five star rating.