Comparing AC Adapters

--- begin forwarded text

From: Bob Guy
Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 04:34:00 -0800

Greetings from British Airways flight 343 enroute from Nice in the South of
France to London.

I found your comments on power adapters of interest as I use both the Apple
and the Madison Line models that you mentioned. In my work I travel almost
constantly and am currently on a 9 country trip(in two weeks) from my home
in Singapore, around the world via the UK, France, Belgium, Argentina,
Uruguay, Chile, Australia and home.

In addition to the issue of power adaptor (I seldom leave home without two -
Apple stores are not so common outside the US), I often have the issue of
the actual plug in the wall which varies by country. For this Apple has the
best solution where the power plug caps can be switched to suit the local
style of power plug.

Admittedly this is only possible with the addition of Apple's own
International power plug adapter kit which offers adapters for almost every
possibility. On this trip, I will use separate plugs including:

UK - UK 3 square pin style
France and Belgium - European two round pin style (which plugs into both the
recessed and the flat face plug)
Argentina and Uruguay - US style - 2 flat pin
New Zealand - US flat pin and Australian 2 angled flat pin depending on
location
Australia - Two angled flat pin (in use only in Australia and NZ)

This trip is with One World Alliance carriers (British Airways and Lan
Chile). These carriers have the special powered adapter plug on board (a
black pinned receptacle plug - green light on when operation) for in flight
use. The charger that I use is produced by a Minnesota company called Lund.
They make an adapter specifically for use on board aircraft (there is also a
car lighter adapter) with a handy carrier bag for various computer power
plugs. The plug from aircraft to power brick is the same while the
extension to computer varies with the computer model.

The Lund charger has a very 'industrial strength' feel about it.

This is handy on the long flights because even with a 2nd battery, the
charge will be exhausted in 3-4 hrs each, only a portion of a 15 hr flight
(Santiago to Sydney Australia over the South Pole. Lan Chile has just
upgraded their seat so we will see if the Lund style plug works in their
seats.

This same adapter works on United long haul aircraft (747 and 777), no doubt
others.

Singapore Airlines, with whom I regularly fly has new seats in First,
business and their new Executive economy where a typical US flat pin and a
regular charger (you must have Apples cord and plug as the charger and plug
(only) will not work. The executive economy operates on the non-stop
flights between Singapore and Los Angeles and Singapore and New York (the
world's longest scheduled commercial flight - 18 hours).

Overall, Apple Macintosh products work very well in international travel and
I regularly outdistance many Windoze users.

Recently on a long sector, the in-seat power (for the whole aircraft) wasn't
working and I needed to use the 2nd battery. I set all the systems down to
low use and was able to get 8 hrs work done while Windoze users were coming
over to see how I did it. No one saw me switch batteries and I didn't let
on that an 8 hr. charge was anything but normal operation for a Macintosh
laptop!

Thanks for the interesting read!

--
Bob Guy
Managing Director Pacific World Singapore/Pacific World-Destination East
Pacific World web site: http:/www.pacificworld.com

--- end forwarded text

--- begin forwarded text

From: Patrick McClure
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2005 21:06:18 -0800

On Oct 31, 2005, at 4:15 PM, TidBITS Editors wrote:
> The [MacAlly] adapter is a rectangular brick about the length of the
> Lucille, but narrower.

A couple of things that I would mention about the MacAlly adapter:

1. You state the price as half of Apple's, but it is available at
around $30 discounted while you can NEVER get a discount from Apple.
You can get almost three of these babies for the price of one of
theirs.

2. They DO have what I consider to be a major engineering improvement
(I do not know if any of the others you reviewed have this feature):
the metal ring at the computer end is a SOLID piece surrounding the
tip, making it much more difficult to accidentally bend or crush.

BTW, it does seem to get quite hot, but then almost every converter
I've owned does to some degree (no pun intended) or other. This bothers
me sometimes...I wonder if there is any way to tell if these things are
actually TOO hot at any particular time. I try not to lay them on
carpet, but on nice cool bricks or tile if possible.

Patrick

--- end forwarded text

Is anybody else irritated that power adaptors don't have a tip which comes out at a right angle rather than going straight into the PB?

As it is now, you can't sit with crossed legs and it on your lap without the power adaptor poking you in the leg and threatening to bend something. I can't tell you how many times I've yanked my PB off the coffee table because the cord was sticking out to the left and I hooked my foot into it when I got up to go somewhere. It seems like putting the cord in at a right angle would get the cord off BEHIND the PB rather than off to the side and reduce the chances of that happening.

I have a 12" PB right now which will not charge unless you hold the adaptor thingy into the PB *just right* because it's been accidentally yanked out so many times.

I know I'm hard on PBs, but it seems like a right-angle plug would at least help.

Dude, this is totally my article. I own, or have owned, all the
adaptors in the picture (the iGo, instead of the Kensington, but it's
the same thing). And I don't only own one of it each, but multiples
of the Apple. But I don't have a problem. I can stop any time I want
to.

:-)

I keep adaptors all over the place, where ever I might sit down with
my laptop. And I keep ANOTHER one in my bag, which I only use when I
am not home. If I had an office out there (I don't these days), I'd
keep one there, too.

So, why do I have all these different types? Well, the Apple AC
adaptors are pretty and all, but they are not small (13 ounces). I'd
rather have a longer narrower one than this square. it just doesn't
fit well in my bag. I used a MadsonLine micro adaptor for years, but
it died on me last year (on a train). And then a second one died this
year (also on a train). (I spent a lot of time on trains last year.)
They (MadsonLine folks) advised me that the 15" PowerBook wants more
power than their microadaptor can deliver, as Travis reports. So, I
burned had burned them out. Like Travis, I got a Lucille (10 ounces)
and had the exact same reaction. It's HUGE! And they no longer ship
the long input (from the wall) cord.
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=27039130&s=143441&i=27039120>

The iGo (my wife's actually) is just huge and heavy (23 ounces, and
we don't have the dual power accessories, I don't think). Not good to
carry all the time. Fine for her business trips. Not good for my
daily sojourns.

Which led me to get the MacAlly. After all, it is cheap. But, like
the original MadsonLine, it does not supply enough power both to
power my baby and charge its battery at the same time. And it feels
cheap. I expect it to burn out, too. So, I will try to avoid trains
for as long as I can.

What I'm thinking about these day (no, I DON'T have a problem) is the
kensington wall adaptor. It says 40% smaller. I'll bet that I could
us the Apple tip from her iGo (she uses it for her ThinkPad from
work), so I could get the cool looking black one. Or I could get the
white one that comes with the right tip. 40% smaller could be
lighter, too, right? I want it bad. Real bad.
<http://us.kensington.com/html/1421.html>

But I don't have a problem. I can stop any time I want to.

--
=alex hoffman

Wow. This is going to be my most active thread in TB-T in quite some time.

>2. They DO have what I consider to be a major engineering improvement
>(I do not know if any of the others you reviewed have this feature):
>the metal ring at the computer end is a SOLID piece surrounding the
>tip, making it much more difficult to accidentally bend or crush.

Nope. Mine is clearly a flat piece of metal bent around to form a
circle, but it's not a solid circle. It's just like all the others I
have had.

("Huh?" I sense many of you wondering. When the plugs at the computer
end get loose, the round metal ring that goes around
the...ummmm...male plug piece in the middle, that round ring loses
its tight circular shape. If you accidentally step on it or put
something on it, it can lose its tight circular shape. "Whatever," I
sense from many of you dismissingly. )


--
=alex hoffman

>1. You state the price as half of Apple's, but it is available at
>around $30 discounted while you can NEVER get a discount from Apple.
>You can get almost three of these babies for the price of one of
>theirs.

Alright. I gave in. I had not thought about the kensington 70w wall
adaptor in a couple of months. But this thread reminded me of it. I
gave in and ordered it ($65 shipped, from buy.com).

<http://www.buy.com/retail/searchresults.asp?querytype=home&qu=kensington+70+notebook+adapter&qxt=home&dclksa=1>

But I don't have a problem. I can stop. I'm stopping right now.

--
=alex hoffman

At 9:58 AM -0800 11/3/05, Sue Boettcher wrote:
>Is anybody else irritated that power adaptors don't have a tip which
>comes out at a right angle rather than going straight into the PB?

The MasonLine ones DO.

>As it is now, you can't sit with crossed legs and it on your lap
>without the power adaptor poking you in the leg and threatening to
>bend something.

Yeah. They used to go in the back, but the hinge design used in both
the iBook and PowerBooks today does not allow for that.

> I can't tell you how many times I've yanked my PB off the coffee
>table because the cord was sticking out to the left and I hooked my
>foot into it when I got up to go somewhere. It seems like putting
>the cord in at a right angle would get the cord off BEHIND the PB
>rather than off to the side and reduce the chances of that happening.

Hmmm...I don't know how much that helps. It doesn't entirely help the
sticking into your leg problem, because it is still sticking out
(just not as far before it turns at a right angle).

>I have a 12" PB right now which will not charge unless you hold the
>adaptor thingy into the PB *just right* because it's been
>accidentally yanked out so many times.

This has loosened the thin circle of metal in the plug. If you can
make it a tighter circle, it will stay in better, make better contact
and (almost certainly) charge better. Of course, once something has
been un-circled (dented, bent, etc), mere mortals like us cannot
return them to their original pristine condition. But if you firmly,
yet gently, take a small pair of pliers (I use needle nosed) and try
to restore it closer to a closed circle, it will help.

1) Make sure that it is NOT plugged in.

2) If the break is the circle is at 12 o'clock, first squeeze the
pliers a LITTLE bit at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions around the ring.

3) Turn it a quarter turn to apply pressure at 12 and 6.

4) Turn it a little bit and try to even out the circle. Repeat this
step around the ring.

It's like trying to turn an odd lump of playdough into a circle or
sphere. Apply the pressure from enough directions, and it kind of
evens out into a circle.

NOTE: DO NOT FLATTEN THE RING. You don't want to change it very much,
you don't want to reshape it very much. Just enough to make a tighter
circle.

I've done this a few time for various adaptors, and it works for me.
But I am not guaranteeing it for you or anyone else.

--
=alex hoffman

At 12:40 PM -0800 11/3/05, Alexander Hoffman wrote jokingly:

>This has loosened the thin circle of metal in the plug. If you can
>make it a tighter circle, it will stay in better, make better contact
>and (almost certainly) charge better.

Nope. There is no charging current going through the round shield around
the Apple Power plug. It's only used to provide a return for the current
that powers the LEDs. You can (and I have done so) make a very cheap
replacement plug by just buying a stereo micro jack plug (a size smaller
than the ones found on headphones) and soldering it. The wiring is strange
though. The blank wire needs to be on the frontmost tip and the shielded
one on the 'base', that normally is connected to the ground wire. At least
on the current and previous generation Power- and iBooks. The black
PowerBooks and the clamshell iBooks use the other tip, IIRC.
So if you buy a plug to be soldered it's a pretty difficult job making sure
the two wires don't touch each other. A little shielding with electrical
tape or shrink tube will do the job nicely. You don't need to worry too
much of short-circuiting though. Your PowerBook and the Apple chargers are
pretty well protected against that (I've done it multiple times...) With
this plug there won't be any LED lighting up Green or Amber but since it
only costs 2 dollar and can save you from buying a new charger (not
everybody is addicted to that!) you can't complain about that..

Of course if you PowerBook explodes after you did the above I don't take
any responsibility. But I've made several of those myself so I could use
old chargers that came with my PowerBook G3 for my PowerBook Titanium and
since yesterday. for its replacement (thanks AppleCare!), a 1.67 GHz
PowerBook Alu.

--
mare (http://www.peghole.com)

>At 12:40 PM -0800 11/3/05, Alexander Hoffman wrote jokingly:
>
>>This has loosened the thin circle of metal in the plug. If you can
>>make it a tighter circle, it will stay in better, make better contact
>>and (almost certainly) charge better.
>
>Nope. There is no charging current going through the round shield around
>the Apple Power plug. It's only used to provide a return for the current
>that powers the LEDs.

Strictly speaking, I did not say that that metal ring carries
current. I stand by my advice, as it clearly serves the purpose of
holding the plug in and aligned.

But I admit that had thought that it does carry current. Certainly
all of my third party adaptors have had them, and none have had LEDs.
And, the yo-yo adaptors had them, though they did not have LEDs,
either.


--
=alex hoffman

What I'm thinking about these day (no, I DON'T have a problem) is the kensington wall adaptor. <http://us.kensington.com/html/1421.html>

OK. It arrived today.

iGo (Juice): 70 Watt 23 ounces 113" Apple AC Adaptor: 65 Watt 13 ounces 142" Lucille (Madsonline): 65 Watt 10 ounces 93" MacAlly: 45 Watt 10 ounces 150" Kensington Wall Adaptor: 70 Watt 10 ounces 126"

The iGo and my new adaptor have interchangeable tips, but not with each other. I ended up getting the white one (designated for Apple). It comes with tips for the yo-yo generation and the newer generation (white iBook, Titanium and later), in addition to an iPod tip.

Clearly, the iGo is an inferior product for me. Too the heaviest and the second shortest set of cords.

Lucille is only so light because the cord is so short. And it is bulky.

The MacAlly wins on weight and length, but it doesn't supply enough power for 15"+ PowerBooks. I'd rather have the original Madsonline microadaptor (not listed). It is smaller and lighter than the MacAlly. But the MacAlly is the cheapest ($30, often). The others are all in the $70-$80, most of the time (iGos are even more expensive).

The Kensington has an unusual feature: the input cord (wall the brick) is VERY short. Clearly, it has to hang down from the outlet or plug into something on the floor. So the rest of the length is ALL in the output cable (brick to computer). This means that if you have it snaking across something (like where people walk), the brick is not in the middle of it. Plus, the brick should hardly be called a brick. It is quite flat. Frankly, it is more aesthetically pleasing.

All taken together, the oroginal Apple adaptor comes off pretty well. It is generally high quality. The only one with the LEDs to indicate charging status. And the second longest. However, the power cord is quite heavy, a thick cable. All together, it is up there with the iGo as the bulkiest (but with a longer cord and lighter than the iGo).

I'm telling you, _I_ should have written that article. Doh!

-- =alex hoffman

Has anyone tried the MacWizards AC Adapter?

Luis de la Rosa asks "Has anyone tried the MacWizards AC Adapter?"

No, haven't yet, but it looks the most interesting of the ones I've
seen: small, simple, yet supplies adequate power. I wonder how hot it
gets. BTW, OWC sells what appears to be the same unit (they say it's
60W) for a few dollars less:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Micro%20Accessories/ACADPTG4/

On 11/7/05 at 9:40 AM, ahoffmanAleDev.com (Alexander Hoffman) wrote:

(Sorry for the response delays; my company's been changing locations
this month, and haven't had much time to read/respond.)

> >At 12:40 PM -0800 11/3/05, Alexander Hoffman wrote jokingly:
> >
> >>This has loosened the thin circle of metal in the plug. If you can
> >>make it a tighter circle, it will stay in better, make better
> >>contact and (almost certainly) charge better.
> >
> >Nope. There is no charging current going through the round shield
> >around the Apple Power plug. It's only used to provide a return for
> >the current that powers the LEDs.
>
> Strictly speaking, I did not say that that metal ring carries
> current. I stand by my advice, as it clearly serves the purpose of
> holding the plug in and aligned.
>
> But I admit that I had thought that it does carry current. Certainly
> all of my third party adaptors have had them, and none have had LEDs.
> And, the yo-yo adaptors had them, though they did not have LEDs,
> either.

I'd thought the ring was a ground myself. That said, whatever the exact
mechanism, it definitely plays an important role in the charging
circuit; I've seen way too many individual adapters have problems with
intermittent charging/contact that show a ring that's spread apart at
the seam, and that were fixed by 'tightening' that ring back up.

Travis Butler
tbutlermac.com

On 11/7/05 at 9:40 AM, ahoffmanAleDev.com (Alexander Hoffman) wrote:

(Sorry for the response delays; my company's been changing locations
this month, and haven't had much time to read/respond.)

> OK. It arrived today.
>
> iGo (Juice): 70 Watt 23 ounces 113"
> Apple AC Adaptor: 65 Watt 13 ounces 142"
> Lucille (Madsonline): 65 Watt 10 ounces 93"
> MacAlly: 45 Watt 10 ounces 150"
> Kensington Wall Adaptor: 70 Watt 10 ounces 126"
>
> The iGo and my new adaptor have interchangeable tips, but not with
> each other. I ended up getting the white one (designated for Apple).
> It comes with tips for the yo-yo generation and the newer generation
> (white iBook, Titanium and later), in addition to an iPod tip.

I'd wondered if they were interchangeable with each other. I suppose
this has pluses and minuses; the iGo's tip connector design isn't as
good as it could be (I worry about the small pins), but distribution
through the Radio Shack network means you can find them just about
anywhere.

And of course, there's the lock-in issue. (How come people complain
about music formats locking you into a music player, but not about this?
:) ) After spending the money to accumulate a set of iGo tips for all of
my devices, I'm reluctant to do it all over again for the new Kensington
system.

> The Kensington has an unusual feature: the input cord (wall the
> brick) is VERY short. Clearly, it has to hang down from the outlet or
> plug into something on the floor. So the rest of the length is ALL in
> the output cable (brick to computer). This means that if you have it
> snaking across something (like where people walk), the brick is not
> in the middle of it. Plus, the brick should hardly be called a brick.
> It is quite flat. Frankly, it is more aesthetically pleasing.

That's one thing I admired about the new adapter when I finally saw it
in the store; a very small, thin brick.

> All taken together, the oroginal Apple adaptor comes off pretty well.
> It is generally high quality. The only one with the LEDs to indicate
> charging status. And the second longest. However, the power cord is
> quite heavy, a thick cable. All together, it is up there with the iGo
> as the bulkiest (but with a longer cord and lighter than the iGo).

To tell the truth, I almost never use the Apple cable on the original
Apple adapters I have; I either use the flip-out plug to plug the brick
directly into the wall, or else use the same generic power cords that
the Lucille/MicroAdapter use. (A couple of them date back to the
original black brick that came with the first Wallstreets.)

> I'm telling you, _I_ should have written that article. Doh!

You want to write it next time? :)

Travis Butler
tbutlermac.com