MacBook Magsafe DC Car Airline Adapters
By Mike Lee of
Introduction
Who
said there were no car or airline adapters for the Macbooks?
Back when Apple released the
Magsafe connector, it meant that thousands of Apple laptops will be saved from
accidental power cord yanks. Me included. But for some that also meant limited
third party adapters, because Apple has a patent on the Magsafe connector.
Apple will not license the
technology, and it’s not just a simple magnetic connector. It is a lot more involved
then just the magnetic aspects of it. Having gone through the patent process
myself with other inventions, I fully respect Apple’s patent and welcome it. It
protects the great inventions we have today from Apple.
So we’ve come up with a way to
offer users the full advantage of third party adapters - such as car or airline
adapters. We buy Apple adapters
and upgrade them for use with other adapters. Yes, we know it’s expensive, but that’s the only way we can
do it without making Apple upset. We then offer our own warranty on the magsafe cables, and we do have exchange
and buyback programs where we take your good condition Apple “brick” adapter
and forward it on to the next user.
One of the most frequent
questions I get is which adapter is the best?
Well, hopefully I’ll answer
them here. If you just want
something that will work, then we suggest the “Mikegyver Power Travel
Kit”. It is cheaper (we call it
the good model.). However, because we have to modify the patented Magsafe connector
from Apple, you’ll need to disconnect the Magsafe cable from Apple’s AC adapter
and plug it into the Car/Airline adapter. You’ll notice that we lock it at 16v, because in 97% of the cases you’ll
be just fine, and also, airlines provide limited power and 16v would be the
best setting without making the airlines upset.
The next set of adapters that
we sell are AC/DC adapters. We
call them our Better/Best selection. Please make no mistake, these are NOT inverters. Most people write me asking why it is
so much more expensive when they can buy an car adapter (it really is an
INVERTER) at XYZ place for cheaper. Without getting too technical, you are pretty much converting car power
into household power, then using the Apple adapter converting it back to car
power. Now does that sound
efficient? No! Is it wasteful? YES! (No, I’m not a
tree hugger, I just like being efficient).
I’ve heard stories where people would run out of power in no
time, and in some cases, they can’t even use their MacBook Pro,s since the
adapter trips the inverter breaker.
These AC/DC adapters have TWO
inputs. One can be used to plug
into normal household power. The
other, which is more important, is Car or Airline power. The second input just modifies
the DC power or Car power into the SAME power as your MacBook, just a different
voltage.
So, now, which of these AC/DC
adapter do I recommend?
First choice; We happen to like
the Kensington K33197 (US)adapters because they are slim and light. It also has a long cord and in most
cases, you’ll be sitting quite far away from the power outlet on your hotel
bed. It also has an optional Y-cable so that you can power both MacBook, and
some other accessories. One
feature that the iGo does not have, is that this adapter has a low power shut
off to save your car battery from going completely dead if you are running
purely off car battery. Speaking of accessories, the Kensingtons do have tips
for accessories, such as a USB power tip, but not nearly as much as the iGo’s.
Second up; The New iGo everywhereMAX. It is now smaller, but not quite as
thin as the Kensingtons, but indeed lighter and smaller then the iGo 130w
everywhere. As mentioned, it has
more tips for more accessories on the market. It also comes with the Dual power accessories for your other
devices (tips for those accessories sold separately).
Third; The Kensington 33403 AC/DC
adapter. It’s a little heavy and
big, but it makes the list, because it has a built-in USB port on its side. So, in a sense, that’s your dual power
port the iGo’s have. Most devices
nowadays use USB power, so this will work nicely for you. Since the iPhone 3G uses USB power,
this will work just fine.
Of course if you don’t notice
by now, ALL our adapters will come with the Magsafe cable, not to mention our
other accessories, such as external batteries for the MacBook line of
computers.
Happy charging away from home!
Mike Lee
Mikegyver.com
Feedback
Updated June 3, 2009.
Jonah May wrote;
Just wanted to point out an error in your article "MacBook Magsafe DC Car
Airline Adapters" in the June 2009 edition of MacCompanion. While you state
the following:
Strengths: Currently the only Auto Accessory Charger available for Apple
portables that use the Magsafe wallwart.
This is not the case, as HyperDrive also has an auto charger and external
battery solutions.
Note: macCompanion may be able to review one of these units from HyperDrive in the future.
