On Wednesday 10 June 2009 11:12:53 Laurence Spiegel wrote: > IBM/Lenovo mobile charger vs multi-gadget charger: > > I'm considering a multi-purpose gadget charger such as IGO - you get a > small transformer which accepts AC or 12vdc and then add whatever output > tip the gadget requires. I believe you can also go directly from the 12v > plug to a low power device (phone), and there's a last-ditch piece which > charges small loads from a couple of AA batts and the output tip. That > beats having yet another charger for every d-mn gadget, plus it provides > a *smaller* ac brick and an auto/air adaptor for the thinkpad (though I > will rarely run the thinkpad off 12v, it's handy for a phone/pda). Right > now it will power a T40. A multi-charger would need only another tip to run > whatever thinkpad replaces it, while I might need yet another OEM brick for > the next Thinkpad. > I've seen the IGO gadget charger and accesories fairly cheap on eBay. I'd > imagine there are other multi-chargers as well. > Are these reliable? Worthwhile clutter savings? Is there a difference in > power quality, interference given off between that an the IBM / other OEM > bricks?
Occasionally there are problems with power quality, but I think that is becomming more rare these days. I mean, N volts DC is not quite rocket science. Still, I've used a volt-ohm meter on some third party units, just to make sure they did what they said they would. In my experience, its the mechanical reliability that matters the most. By that, I mean does the DC cord have proper stress relief at the base of the power unit, such that it doesn't kill itself over time. Things like that. Remember that a smaller unit is likely to be hotter, owing to the size vs. heat dissapiated. I'll be interested in hearing about others experiences with various models. I had a Targus car charger for my A31p and it worked well. Now that I have a W500 I could use a new one. --STeve Andre' _______________________________________________ Thinkpad mailing list [email protected] http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad
