Kensington 33362 Ultra Portable Power Inverter 150 Reviews

• Great device!

  
  By AD5WIFVWRL3R4 on 2007-02-19
  I am very happy with my Kensington Inverter and recommend it highly. It has served me well on many road trips and airline flights.
  
  Having a 3-prong outlet makes this a far more versatile and useful device than inverters that just have a tip for the laptop. It is by far one of the lightest devices of its kind that I have found and great for travel.
  
  There are a few tricks of the trade when using these kinds of devices. One is that airline "empower" ports only put out 75W--and if you read the fine print it can get shut off abruptly at any time during the flight with no warning.
  
  There ar a number of laptops that require more power than 75W--particularly if you are trying to charge the battery at the same time. No inverter can help you solve this problem but it is something to be aware of. In many cases you can either remove the battery or connect it and let it fully charge up before you turn the machine on and it will work fine.
  
  And finally the box says 150 watts, but this is *peak* power which only lasts for a short time (such as the startup phase for your laptop). Sustained output is 120 Watts--just something to note in case you are runnign devices that require that reuqire a lot of juice.
  
  But all in all this is a *great* little device and I recommend it highly.
  
  

• Great on the plane and in the car

  
  By A1HOS1D36R1YAJ on 2007-07-27
  I own another older power inverter that is heavy, bulky, and has a metal outer casing. This inverter from Kensington blows it away for a number of reasons:
  
  1. It comes with an adapter for airplanes that fits into a standard cigarette lighter opening, or a smaller one that has become much more common. I didn't even know about the smaller connection until I bought this and had to use the smaller connector on my first flight.
  2. It is exceptionally light and small. If you've ever owned an inverter, you'll pick this one up and be amazed at how light and small it is compared to older technology.
  3. The cord from the connector to the base unit is a perfect length. It doesn't hang or dangle from the lighter like some other adapters I've used.
  
  If you're debating getting something like this over the iGo, then I would recommend this. I've been through this internal debate before, and although I love to spend money on new technology, I just couldn't justify buying the iGo because of all the uncertainty about compatibility, tons of adapters, and price. I can handle the few power packs that I need to take on a trip... and this inverter works like a charm with anything that normally plugs into a wall socket.
  
  I've used it on a 14 hour international flight (China) and a 4 hour domestic flight, as well as in the car and I couldn't be happier with the performance. I basically just use it for my laptop, but have also used it to charge my phone. I highly recommend it!
  
  

• Works @ 16 volts!

  
  By A1XW0GNKRJSPT5 on 2007-04-28
  Background: Brought my 70W car inverter along with an "airline to cigarette lighter" converter cable on a US Airways flight. Surprise, the inverter did not work. My friend had a meter handy (we are special FX techs) so we metered the output of the Empower socket @ 15.8 volts.
  
  I purchased (and returned) about a half dozen different inverters before finding this one. The Kensington site has a PDF which showed this inverter to work @ 15.5~16 volts. Had to give it a try. Most are only good to 15 volts, great for cars but not enough for the US Airways seats.
  
  Just got it today and sure enough, it good at 15.9~16 volts. Should work on the next flight! I will post update as soon as possible.
  
  Only 4 stars?? Yeah, the fan is slightly noisy. Probably not an issue on a plane, but kept me from giving a perfect score.
  
  

• The fan is just too loud

  
  By A1NTMOKPRUR6SS on 2007-08-18
  The product is a nice size and weight, is well designed, and works as advertised. But the cooling fan is just too loud. It was audible in my car at freeway speeds, I would hate to sit next to me on an airplane and have to listen to it for a transcon flight. I'll have to research another one.
  
  

• Bring a book just in case

  
  By A21ZG3IELRMQN4 on 2006-08-10
  I purchased this item to power my MacBook on airplanes. I had four long haul flights this month. Two 7 hour flights, and two 10 hour flights on United Boeing 777s. I could only get the Kensington Ultra Portable Inverter to work on the first flight out. On the others, as soon as I plugged the Inverter into the Empower recepticle, the Empower light would go off. When I pulled the Inverter out, the Empower light came back on. For what I bought it for, this product did not do its job.
  
  
• Performed as promised for a great price
  By A29HP1B9IAZBEW on 2006-08-17
  I thought this was one of the best new items to come along in a while -- I have used it with my laptop in rental cars and on international flights, and not had any problem. Even in international rental cars. It's great because the shape is compact and overall size is small, so it's easy to pack -- especially these days, I'm trying to downsize all the gear I carry with me. Definately a great purchase in my book!
  
  
• as good as can be expected
  By A23TKPW6ZBPH3I on 2007-09-22
  I bought the Kensington inverter for a trip to Europe. Flew Continental which has power in certain rows. The Kensington worked really well, kept my laptop charged the whole time. Was worried about the fan noise because of other reviews I had read, but this proved to be a non-issue. If you keep the Kensington on the floor, you can't even hear it. A couple of times I had to power the unit off & on to get the green light to come on, but otherwise it worked as expected. The only thing I would have done differently (in retrospect) is buy one that had a USB port for charging USB devices like our iPods. Good value for the money in any case.
  
  
• Kensington Inverter
  By A3PDSS3KH9W7OC on 2007-07-04
  I am very happy with the purchase of the Kensington 33362 Ultra Portable Power Inverter 150. What a great help the Kensington Inverter was on a recent cross-country trip. It enabled me to use my computer in the car, keeping the computer batteries fully charged. I was also able to recharge my cell phone and digital camera batteries while we traveled. It is easy to use and is not in the way when in use.
  
  
• Great Product!
  By A1O26P0RW55GC3 on 2007-07-05
  This is a great product for power consuming laptops on long drives or flights. The adapter sometimes doesn't connect the first time so you have to shake the plug but it always works in the end. Good Product!
  
  
• not enough power
  By A31B8LHTGBHR6I on 2007-11-01
  I own a Dell M90 which takes a 130W power supply. The inverter shuts off if i connect it to my computer while running. I have to power down and shut off the computer to recharge it. not exactly what i wanted. should work okay for lower power consuming computers.
  
  
• Works great!
  By A3P0YVL8HECR89 on 2008-01-25
  I've only used this in the car so far, and not on an airplane. I actually bought it for when on long family car trips or on the road for business. It even charges my computer battery when plugged into the car, so I'm very pleased. FYI, the loud fan some have complained about is not a big deal at all. The fan portion sits on the floor, and I can't even hear it over the car. I can't imagine how anyone can hear it on an airplane unless they're not putting the fan portion on the floor; the cord is long enough to put it on the floor, so problem solved.
  
  
• This cannot seem to support a 65W laptop power suppy
  By A1BRX51FAKAAVH on 2008-02-11
  We purchased this Kensington power inverter just before we drove from Oregon to Québec. It worked for the first hour with an Apple 65W power supply (for iBook) and then the red warning light came on and power was cut. Our cell phone charger worked just fine so I will assume the inverter could not handle the load from the laptop power supply.
  
  Later on our trip we purchased a Jensen 160-watt inverter and that works just fine with our laptop.
  
  A shame because the Kensington had a sleek profile which was easy to store and fit well under the bucket seat with plenty of room for adequate ventilation.
  
  
• Terrific Gadget
  By A28MJYBZ8I1ER3 on 2008-05-02
  Worked like a charm on several long flights on different plane types. Very simple design, can't go wrong. Definitely the right purchase. Only wish would be to add a USB charge connection, but can work around that.
  
  
• A Great gadjet
  By ALHTLYSD08LX5 on 2008-07-17
  I purchased this power inverter to use for business and pleasure while in my car. Works great with my Dell computer and Sony DVD player. It is compact and fits right between the seats in my car out of sight. I highly recommend this one, I got fast delivery from the vendor and it worked perfectly when I plugged it in.
  
  
• Works with laptop perfectly.
  By A3VBELKG67YLCW on 2008-09-30
  I bought this to use with my Toshiba laptop, because of the dismal battery life experienced with the laptop. It works perfectly. I've not had any problems at all.
  
  

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