Customer Reviews

Kensington 33173 Retractable Laptop Power Supply

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Why do I spend time writing reviews of stuff? Because I hate crappy products that waste my time and money. So I try to save other people some grief or point out something I think they might really like when I come across it. This is especially important to me while I'm in Iraq, because if I have to deal with a crappy product here, it's a heck of a lot harder to get the item replaced, repaired, or whatever.

Anyhow, the Kensington power adapter I bought for my laptop is awesome. I originally bought it because I wanted something I could use in my truck back home, and I ended up liking it so much I've been using it as the primary power adapter and carrying it around in the war zone for a few months now.

What's great about it? It works with anything. Any computer at all. It came with a little black bag to carry it around in that has every kind of attachment for any computer that uses a power supply up to 75 watts. I like how small it is and I did like the self-retracting slimline cord a lot. Of course, I broke that part pretty quickly, and I think if you are a little bit rough on stuff, you will break that part too, if you buy one of these. But it hasn't mattered because the rest of the unit is really solid and has taken the beating I've given it with no problem.

Anyhow, the bottom line is this - the adapter comes with everything you need to hook up anywhere, whether you're at home, on the road, in a plane or fighting a war in a foreign country. I've used it several times to recharge a friend's laptop too, and that's pretty awesome. I would buy one of these again in a heartbeat, but if I did, I would want something with more wattage capability, because a lot of the bigger laptops suck more than 75 watts.

The Kensington Retractable Laptop Power Supply would get a Best of Show if it wasn't for that retractable cord minder breaking.

The lead from the power supply to the computer is defectively designed such that the wires at the supply end disconnect themselves with repeated use (at the rubber piece that bends). They do not sell this item separately from the product as a whole so you will need to re-purchase the whole thing.

Their tech support is sufficiently slow that it took weeks for me to even discover this information (We traded 12 emails back and forth on this issue) and I had to buy an OEM supply to work my computer in the interim. Finally they agreed to replace the lead under warranty, just in time to not help at all.

lifespan: 4 months

the best way to go. no reason to waste money on anything else.

This is a universal power supply, it does what it claims. I do like how simple it retracts. Sometimes I think a regular power supply is sometimes easier, but generally I like it. The fact that there is a disclaimer about the lead is no big deal to me. Many people in my class are extremely interested in one of their own.