Jason Dunn
09-20-2004, 05:00 PM
<img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/Juice.jpg" /><br /><br /><b>Product Category:</b> Power accessory<br /><b>Manufacturer:</b> <a href="http://www.igo.com">iGo</a><br /><b>Where to Buy:</b> <a href="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/search_deals.php?ofb.set%28keywords%29%26=iGo+Juice">iGo</a><br /><b>Price:</b> <a href="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/search_deals.php?ofb.set%28keywords%29%26=iGo+Juice">Varies ($88 to $119)</a><br /><b>Specifications:</b> Unit dimensions: 5.49"L x 2.21"W x 1.00"H. Unit weight: 6.79 oz. AC input: 100 - 230V. DC input: 11.75 -16V. Continuous power output: Up to 70 Watts.<br /><br /><b>Pros:</b><li>Excellent design aesthetics;<br /><li>Highly flexible and modular;<br /><li>Covers wall, car, and airplane charging scenarios;<b>Cons:</b><li>A bit bulky when packed in the carrying case;<br /><li>If you forget one piece, it's useless;<b>Summary:</b><br />If you have a laptop and a PDA or mobile phone, and you travel frequently, the iGo Juice is a handy power solution that allows you to simultaneously charge two devices at once. It also allows you to recharge from a wall plug, a car with a cigarette lighter, or even an airplane. The iGo Juice is a highly functional and useful tool for the mobile professional.<br /><br />Read on for the full review!<!><br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><br /><span><b>A Confusing Start...</b></span><br />A reader from Pocket PC Thoughts first told me about the iGo Juice, and I immediately began lusting after one – it looked fantastic! Unfortunately, I misunderstood what the iGo Juice actually did. I mustn't have read the product description very carefully, because I thought it was a portable battery that you could use to charge multiple devices. I had visions of being able to run my laptop for an extra 10 hours, and top up my Pocket PC at the same time. I requested one for review, along with an adaptor for my iPAQ, and iGo's PR people sent me the products. I plugged it into the wall, and the blue LED began to pulse. "Aha," I thought, "it's charging!". <br /><br />More than 24 hours later, the damn thing was still pulsing. I emailed the PR company, thinking that I had a defective unit. They sent me another one, and it did the same thing. After several email exchanges, we discovered two things: it's an AC adaptor charging kit, not a battery, and I'm an idiot. :lol: In my defence though, having it pulse blue while plugged in makes it seem like it's <i> doing something</i>, when it's actually not. The blue pulsing sure looks cool though! :-D<br /><br /><span><b>Enlightenment – And Satisfaction!</b></span><br />Once I clued in to what the iGo actually was, I wasn't quite as enthused (hey, a mobile battery would have been cool!), but after using it more than half a dozen times while travelling, I've come to appreciate what a great tool it is. The iGo Juice is an innovative power solution designed for mobile professionals, and it does what it does very well indeed. It's an AC power block capable of charging one or two devices at a time, and can connect to a wall socket, a lighter adaptor in a car, or an airplane socket (which I have yet to see).<br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/igocharger-1.jpg" /><br /><i>Figure 1: The iGo connected to the wall, then to my Fujitsu laptop, and bridged off to my iPAQ 2215.</i><br /><br />The main unit and all the cables are a stylish white, making it look more at home charging an iBook, but I appreciate the effort they put into making this a good-looking accessory. With the main kit, you get the AC brick with a connection socket on each end, a power cable that connects it to the wall, one that connects to the car adaptor, and one that connects to an airplane power socket. These cables connect to one end of the AC brick, and on the other end there's a cable for your laptop. This device cable is quite long (another nice touch) and has a small connection point about halfway down the cable. In order to power your second device, you need to purchase the cable separately, and plug it into this connector. iGo offers cables for a variety of PDAs, mobile phones, and other devices. These cables are sold individually for about $19.99 USD.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/igocharger-2.jpg" /><br /><i>Figure 2: The iGo connected to my car lighter adaptor.</i><br /><PAGEBREAK> <br /><span><b>Modular - Good and Bad</b></span><br />At the end of the main cable there's a modular end where you attach the adaptor for your specific brand of laptop. The laptop adaptor kit covers an assortment of brands including Apple, Fujitsu, IBM, HP, Compaq, Dell, and others. This modular approach allows the base iGo Juice kit to be sold generically, instead of requiring a whole kit for each type of laptop. This has the side effect of being consumer-friendly because you can keep using the iGo Juice if you change brands of laptops.<br /><br />The down side to the modular nature of this product is that if you happen to forget one of the three main pieces at home when you're travelling, the iGo Juice is useless. I was travelling down to Las Vegas for a conference, and somehow managed to forget the cable that connected the iGo Juice to the wall outlet. Luckily I was able to find a new AC charging kit at Fry's, made by Fujitsu no less, but it was an expensive mistake.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/igocharger-3.jpg" /><br /><i>Figure 3: My Fujitsu laptop set up on a <a href="http://www.coolpad.com">Coolpad</a>, connected to the iGo, which is connected to the lighter adaptor in the car. This is my typical setup for long-distance car travel – my wife drives, and I work. :-)</i><br /><br />The iGo Juice comes with a plastic carry case, big enough to hold the AC brick, the AC power cable, the laptop adaptor, the car cable, and a cable for your second device (in my case, an HP iPAQ cable). You might be able to fit the airplane adaptor cable in there as well, but it would be a tight fit. The carrying case when packed is quick thick, making it difficult to pack in a standard laptop bag. I would have preferred to see a longer, narrower carrying case – something that would be thinner when packed full.<br /><br /><span><b>Compared to Other Solutions…</b></span><br />Being the efficiency freak that I am, I've pondered whether it would be easier to use the power adaptor that came with my laptop – it's smaller than the iGo Juice brick – and a <a href="http://www.pocketpctechs.com">USB sync 'n charge cable for my Pocket PC</a>. That solution is smaller, but ultimately not as effective because USB charging is slower than a pure AC power feed. The deciding factor though is the car powered scenario – I have a power accessory that plugs into a car lighter adaptor and gives me a standard AC plug, but it's large and heavy. The iGo juice is a thin cable ending in a small adaptor, making it a much smaller and lighter solution. Plus, the iGo Juice just looks cool. :-)<br /><br /><span><b>Conclusion</b></span><br />If this sounds like the perfect accessory, that's because it more or less is – it does what it does extremely well, is thoughtfully designed, and looks great. Being highly modular, this is an accessory that you can keep using for years, simply buying cables for your specific devices. I highly recommend the iGo Juice for anyone who has power-hungry devices that they need to recharge in a variety of scenarios.