Customer Reviews

Targus APP20US Mobile Power Adapter

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

 

 

I've been using this for about 6 months, and I appreciate the design. I can use it stand-alone in my car to power an iPod or charge my cell phone, or I can plug it into a Targus Power Adapter anywhere.

The cable management design does make the whole adapter quite compact. The cable is essentially a ribbon cable covered with rubber, so it's flat. It wraps around the body of the power supply (with foam pieces in key areas of the power supply to hold the cable in place), then the short section that leads to the power connector folds over, to keep the cable from unwrapping. This design does take some work to get it to the length you want at the time, but it is quite a compact way of handling about 6 feet of cable. I am a little concerned about the ruggedness of the cable, though--for me the short end of the ribbon cable (that goes to the power connector) is fraying at the points where it is held in place on the power supply with plastic tabs, due to me repeatedly uncoiling and recoiling the cord.

It is true, the device itself comes with no tips. It's made clear on the Targus website, but it is misleading here.

Tips I use:
- iPod dock adapter tip B02 (more expensive than most)
- Motorola tip A10
- Palm m5xx tip A19

The problem is that there are not enough tips! A tip for my Canon digital camera would be nice, but none is available. Many Bluetooth handsfree devices use funky connectors for which no tip exists. But most importantly, Targus should make a simple female USB tip--you could just buy that and use any USB charging cable, which most devices have available nowadays. They also need a male mini-USB tip (though it wouldn't provide any more functionality that a female USB tip and a USB cable would have). These two tips together could eliminate the need for the more expensive iPod tip, many cell phone tips, tips for the latest PDA's, and the hands-free devices with no current tips.

The product itself is a 4, but if I were rating this together with the entire tip system as it is today I would give it a 2 or 3. I hope Targus adds those couple new tips soon, it would make this so much more useful and cost effective.

The advertising here is such misleading. It said it can used to most of the devices, but when I received that from J&R, I found only one adapter without any tips inside. So basically if I want to use it, I have to spend more to purchase the tips for my laptop and DC. This is just like a trap, to make you spend extra money, and you will never end with the product you want. So, go to another product, dont trust this.