Customer Reviews

Kensington Auto Charger for iPod and iPod Mini

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

At first this looked like a great purchase. The retractable cord saved on clutter in the car and I could easily remove the cord from the charger and connect it to my computer at work. Seemed like a very innovative design.

However... after about one week of casual use the cord started pulling out of the base where it connects to the ipod. The sound/power hasn't started cutting out yet, but I can already see exposed wires. I guess the retractable mechanism pulls a little too hard on the cord. Perhaps I got a bum unit, but I'm going to return mine for another type of charger which can stand up to more than a week's worth of use.

One of the elegant things about the iPod is its design, flowing lines, ease of use and no wires. Sadly, wires are required when charging, but you can keep tenticles to a minimum with this retractable cord charger. The cord only needs to be as long as you desire, no more 3 extra feet of twisted cord getting caught up in the passenger's foot-area. Having an LED indicator of the charging state is an added bonus. Works only with 3rd and 4th generation iPods with dock connector on the bottom.

I like the compact size and dual role for the chargers cord, but when the Ipod's battery is not fully charged while playing via the I-Tunes module, a very noticable whine or wissle is generated by the charger. It works well when the charging current is not required during play (it's just keeping the battery topped off), or if you are just charging and not listening to your Ipod, but if you want to do both at the same time forget about it with this charger.

I reviewed what other people said about iPod car chargers and decided based on the price and the build to buy this charger. I already had an FM transmitter, so I didn't need to purchase a charger with a transmitter. This was a great buy! The retracting cords keep this out of the way of anything else and now I can listen to my iPod on car trips without having to worry about the battery running low. For the price and convenience, I highly recommend this product.

When connected to my truck's power outlet a high pitched whine that is very loud makes my mini iPod unusable. I know I can install filtering to correct this but I have used car power adapters with other audio equipment in my truck without any noise at all.

DON'T BUY THIS!!! Instead of relying on the good reviews, I should have paid more attention to the one about the fried iPod. No mention or evidence of the "safety fuse" anywhere. Why is this not just installed at the factory? How stupid can they be?? I spent $16.00 plus shipping (!) on this **** for my son. It turned red hot and ruined his $300 iPod. DON'T BUY THIS!!!

I don't know if mine was defective or if I missed something in the packaging, but When I plugged my iPod Mini into this adapter, it fried it.

The screen turned brown, and it would not power up.

I returned it to Amazon for a refund.

According to the packaging, the unit is supposed to contain a safety fuse that would prevent this from happening.

Mine did not contain a fuse, either installed in the plug, or in the package.

If yours does NOT have a fuse, return it.

My favorite part of this is the retractable cord. Makes cord management pretty easy since you can shrink it down to a compact size without having to wind up and worry about a longer cord than you need. That adds a level of convenience that other similar items may lack. Otherwise, it's functional - does what I expect it to. I've been pleased with it so far.

This charger is flimsy. 1) As other mention, the "retractable" unit quickly became tangled, and without significant attention every single time (not feasible while driving), doesn't retract. 2) The plastic covering the wire at the base of the jack pulled loose, exposing the wires. 3) After a few months of very gentle use, the white plastic cover of the jack cracked and fell off. As a result, I'm back in the market for a charger, just months after buying this one.

This appears to be a great item. I like the retractable cord very much, but it did not work and heated up so it was too hot to touch. We will see how the next one works.