6 Responses to “Emerge Technologies Retractable Universal Notebook Charger”

1. Brian on April 10th, 2010 5:41 am

   I’m a road warrior and I swear by this charger. I’m usually running late for everything, so the fast storage (no more winding up my cords) and ease of use has made it quick and easy to grab and go in a few seconds. Also, I use two different notebooks and the tips work with both. My wife has an older notebook and we called the company that makes this charger and they sent us out a tip that worked with her notebook for free, so I’m sold! It has a nice long cord too for those hotels that never seem to have the outlet in the right place.

2. Jason Stokes on April 10th, 2010 6:53 am

   Saw this and thought, GREAT!, let’s replace my old Igo universal charger and heavy Dell charger with something smaller with retractable cables. Silly me. This thing is a shoddy piece of junk.

   The good:

   - It’s cheaper than a Dell Replacement
   
   - It’s a little bit smaller than the OEM

   The bad:

   - The cords got terribly tangled the very first time I tried to use it. That’s a pretty big turnoff right there. I stuck with it a while, got them untangled, but they still get tangled far too often.
   
   - The tips are not labeled, nor do they tell you which tip goes for which notebook. It took some trial and error comparison. As compared to their competition – who tell you exactly which tip and product you need right on their websites.
   
   - The overall build quality and cord quality are very, very poor. I have zero confidence in this standing the test of time.

   I’d save your money and buy a proper charger. If you’re a frequent traveler, the Igo or Kensington Universal chargers are a better bet anyway, as you can buy tips to charge all of your products. With this, you’re only stuck with charging your laptop.

   Update 9/21/2009: Been using this for a few weeks. The retracting feature completely stopped working on one of the pieces, while the other works great. I maintain the overall very poor review of this item, and am disappointed that it has stopped working the way it was designed entirely. Blech.

3. W3 on April 10th, 2010 7:44 am

   The original power cord for my Dell Inspiron completely died and stopped charging my laptop. So I had to buy a replacement power cord that was manufactured specifically for Dell. It did charge my laptop but it never charged it 100%, usually 60% was the best it could do. Not to mention it didn’t come with a rubber belt to help wind and contain the power cord. So I decided to give the ETCHGNBW charger a try. I am very pleased with the results. Not only does it charge my laptop 100%; it also eliminates the clutter of extra cords – which I hate. And it is so easy to adjust it to the specific length I need. It is also easy to pack for traveling and to use on the go. I haven’t had a need for the extra brand tips but it’s nice to have them just in case…

4. Julien Pierre on April 10th, 2010 7:57 am

   I used this adapter successfully with a Gateway laptop after my cat chew the original adapter beyond repair.
   
   I also tested it with an HP laptop, after said cat peed on the Gateway laptop and it had to be replaced. But I digress …

   This power supply worked fine with both laptops. It has been two months, and the cat has not managed to chew the cables yet. However, they are very thin, so I expect that to happen in the future.

   The biggest problem with the retractable power supply is the tension on the cables. The connectors don’t lock in place. As a result, they frequently get disconnected as a result of the cable tension. You end up having to plug them back over and over again. A conventional adapter with a stronger and thicker cable will take more space, but is still preferrable.
   

5. A. Tegtmeier on April 10th, 2010 8:47 am

   It works with my HP laptop. But then again, it’s not rocket science, so why should it not?
   
   The thing that sets the charger apart from a standard item is the rectractable cords and the different connectors.
   
   So, if you own laptops from different manufacturers, this might be a smart purchase, because the need to have so many different chargers strewn across the house will go away. I only have one laptop, so this advantage is not so much applicable to me …
   
   The other novelty here is the retractable cords. The mechanism works fine, but I doubt that it will stand the test of time with two very active and curious toddlers in the household. Right now, it helps us to some degree, that we can m ove the cables away from the kids. The former charger quit its duties one day because the kids would always pull on the cords …
   
   To sum it up: it works, the retractable cords are a good idea, the mechanism seems a bit flimsy, the numerous connectors are a bonus (that I really don’t need).

6. BC Gateway on April 11th, 2010 2:13 am

   How I found great Laptop bargains…

   As mentioned on “Emerge Technologies Retractable Unive…”…

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