Final thoughts, awards, links, right2reply
Freestyle iPod Mains Charger
Pros
* Highly
affordable (though £2.49 for
delivery seems excessive)
* Does what it says on the tin
* Can be used abroad but only if you have suitable mains-socket adaptors (not always easy to find for big, plug-mounted devices like this, though)
* Does what it says on the tin
* Can be used abroad but only if you have suitable mains-socket adaptors (not always easy to find for big, plug-mounted devices like this, though)
Cons
* Well, er,
um, it doesn't come
with any socket adaptors
* Doesn't seem to have any built-in protection against mains spikes or mains surges
* Doesn't seem to have any built-in protection against mains spikes or mains surges
The Freestyle iPod Mains Charger is cheap and cheerful and does the job. If you don't need any more than it offers, it's a decent buy, especially while the price is down at £5.99 - though the £2.49 delivery charge hurts a bit.
Griffin PowerBlock Travel
Pros
* Versatile
* Well-made and cleverly designed
* Can charge a wide range of iPods
* Includes mains-socket adaptors for use abroad
* Built-in protection against mains spikes and mains surges
* Well-made and cleverly designed
* Can charge a wide range of iPods
* Includes mains-socket adaptors for use abroad
* Built-in protection against mains spikes and mains surges
Cons
* Pricey if
you buy direct from Griffin but far
more reasonable if you
shop around the likes of Amazon UK
* No charge-state indicator
* No charge-state indicator
Griffin products ooze quality and you don't necessarily have to pay a premium for that - if you shop carefully. The Griffin PowerBlock Travel is the charger that discerning iPod buyers should opt for, the more so if they travel abroad regularly, though the soon-to-be-arriving PowerDuo Travel, with its additional 12V cigarette-lighter adaptor, also deserves serious consideration.
HEXUS.certification
Both chargers
do exactly what they set out to do. Thus the
Freestyle iPod Mains Charger from Porta-Charge and the Griffin
PowerBlock Travel each merits HEXUS certification.
Porta-Charge Freestyle iPod Mains Charger
Porta-Charge Freestyle iPod Mains Charger
Griffin PowerBlock Travel
HEXUS Awards
The Freestyle iPod Mains
Charger from Porta-Charge is good value and just plain works. It fully
merits a HEXUS Recommended award.
Like other Griffin products we've seen (and will be reporting on shortly), the PowerBlock Travel is a quality bit of kit.
It's pricier than Porta-Charge's offering but does considerably more and works with a wider variety of iPods. We don't think it will disappoint any buyer.
A HEXUS Editor's Choice award is thoroughly deserved.
Porta-Charge Freestyle iPod
Mains Charger
Like other Griffin products we've seen (and will be reporting on shortly), the PowerBlock Travel is a quality bit of kit.
It's pricier than Porta-Charge's offering but does considerably more and works with a wider variety of iPods. We don't think it will disappoint any buyer.
A HEXUS Editor's Choice award is thoroughly deserved.
Griffin PowerBlock Travel
Lifestyle editor Bob Crabtree adds:
Both of these products
let you
charge your iPod when you're away from a computer - but that's
something Apple really should let you do out of the box.
The company can put up whatever arguments it wants about why it doesn't provide mains chargers with iPods but its profits margins are big enough for it to include one with all but the cheapest of models - and probably even with them, too.
Given the environmental impact of millions of computer users turning on their power-greedy Mac, Windows or Linux PCs from time to time just so they can charge up their iPods, Apple should be ashamed of itself for not providing mains adaptors in-pack.
That said, it needs to be remembered that if you leave one of these mains chargers plugged in all the time, it will be using some power - and wearing out - even when it's not charging an iPod.
The company can put up whatever arguments it wants about why it doesn't provide mains chargers with iPods but its profits margins are big enough for it to include one with all but the cheapest of models - and probably even with them, too.
Given the environmental impact of millions of computer users turning on their power-greedy Mac, Windows or Linux PCs from time to time just so they can charge up their iPods, Apple should be ashamed of itself for not providing mains adaptors in-pack.
That said, it needs to be remembered that if you leave one of these mains chargers plugged in all the time, it will be using some power - and wearing out - even when it's not charging an iPod.
Don't forget to share your thoughts, questions and comments in this thread in the HEXUS.lifestyle.community.
HEXUS.links
HEXUS.community :: discussion thread about this articleHEXUS.lifestyle - reviews :: iMainGo combi iPod case and speakers
HEXUS.lifestyle - reviews :: Bose TriPort IE inner-ear headphones
HEXUS.lifestyle - news :: Apple iPod passes 100M mark (and saves the world?)
HEXUS.lifestyle - news :: Latest hacks turns Apple TV into £199/$299 Mac computer!
HEXUS.lifestyle - news :: Apple iPhone on schedule but OS X Leopard delayed 4 months
HEXUS.lifestyle - news :: Hackers turning Apple TV damp squib into hot item?
HEXUS.lifestyle - news :: Apple falls foul of Greenpeace for not being green enough
External.links
Porta-Charge.co.uk - Freestyle iPod Mains Charger (buying page)Porta-Charge.co.uk - home page
Griffin Technology - PowerBlock Travel (UK buying page)
Griffin Technology - home page
Amazon UK - PowerBlock Travel buying page
Day Trips to Europe - home page
HEXUS Where2Buy
Web-based links on where to buy these products are including in the section above.HEXUS Right2Reply
At HEXUS.net, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If representatives from Porta-Charge or Griffin choose to do so, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.About John Hill
John Hill created the UK’s first web site dedicated to day trips to Europe, perversely-named DayTripsToEurope.co.uk.This, in one of his more modest moods, he described as "Utterly brilliant and completely without equal".
John is a technology journalist and comedy writer and has been for over 20 years. He's earned a decent living as a journo but sadly hasn't yet made it big on the comedy scene (nor, in some people's opinions, is he ever likely to!).
