Really disappointed with HP Slim Travel Power Adapter

So while I was getting a blu-ray burner and HD upgrade for my DV5t, I got a promo advert in the mail from HP and it mentioned their Slim Travel Power Adapter (with USB charging port). I travel about 4000 miles by plane every 4-6 weeks, and I carry my Dv5t with me in a shoulder bag. After putting my laptop in a neoprene sleeve before putting it in the bag next to my paper file, there is not much room left in the bag for the power supply, wireless mouse, and misc cables, much less a bottle a water for the 4-hour plane trips.

On top of that, the charging port on my phone doesn't work anymore (I know, I need to change it, but I'm waiting for summer when I'm out of contract and can switch carriers and phones), but it still charges via the USB sync cable.

So the slim travel charger was looking pretty good - less space used in a very tight bag, and a way to charge my phone when my laptop is off. So I ordered it excitedly.

And I was quite let down.

The first issue I've had with it, is that although the transformer block it is slimmer in height that the one the that came with my laptop, it's just as long, and wider. At it's tallest, around the AC-in port, where it bulges out, it looks be just under a 1/4-inch in height savings. while being about 3/8th-inch wider and 1/8th-inch shorter (the long axis).

The power cords on both ends detach, and the wall cord it comes with is shorter than the one that comes with the standard adapter (which can be interchanged). Two cables between the transformer and computer are included, to cover two different style of plugs.

What I though was going to make it worthwhile though was the fact that the transformer 'brick' itself had an AC wall plug in it. I misunderstood the adverts - it comes with both an A/C cable as I just mentioned and a black plastic plug that is basically a right angle three-pronged plug adapter, that plugs into the end of the transformer brick, making the combined unit 1 1/2-inches longer than the standard power supply.

I was hoping that the AC prongs would "fold" into the unit when not in use, much like my son's Nintendo DS adapter (and many others). Nope.. the prongs stick out a full inch, making it much more difficult than necessary to pack into my travel bag (not to mention keeping the prongs from poking thru the bag itself). (remember, it's not a big bag, as it's the smaller of my two allowed carry-ons, and the one I would *NEVER* trust to let out of my sight).

So size-wise, it may be "slim", but it doesn't save space.

My other big issue was with the USB charger port.

First off, it's not as deep as a standard USB port. When you plug a USB connector into your laptop, or any other normal port, there is about a 1mm gap between the surface around the port, and the black plastic USB cable shroud. On the Slim Travel Charger, it's about 4mm, just enough that I can touch the bare metal part of the connector with my fingers when it is fully inserted.

That I can live with. Where it failed was the current output of the charger port. It's lower than what my DV5t put out on all of its USB ports. Low enough that it does not charge my cell-phone at all, not even a trickle charge. It looks like they specked it for charging an iPod, and nothing more, and certainly not the full USB spec, (the little white AC to USB chargers apple sells don't put out enough for my phone either).

I'm seriously thinking about returning it to HP, as it so easily could have been much better, and it doesn't give me any real benefit in terms of travel volume, or convenience features.

I wanted to share my observations with anyone here who was thinking of getting it, so at least they would know what to expect and what not to expect.

 

iGO makes some good stuff. When I'm really cramped for laptop bag space I grab a single iGo adapter and a pile of adapter tips.

Alternatively, I travel with an HP high-power (90 watt) adapter and a smaller (and generic) plug in the wall charger that has 5 USB charging ports.

It's a tossup which combination (the iGO plus tips or the HP and USB wall plug charger) actually weighs more or takes up more space.

Until EVERYONE moves to the new microUSB connector for gadget charging, we are all going to be stuck with multiple cables and chargers. My new Nokia phone and stereo bluetooth headset both use microUSB so I myself am moving in that direction. I do tend to shop for microUSB compatibility these days too.

 

spaceman, could you take a quick side by side snap of the slim adapter vs the ac adapter supplied by the notebook? thanks.

 

Arrgh. Wish I saw your post an hour ago.

I just dropped it off at my local fedex to be returned to HP. After I made the post I said to myself "seriously, you're not going to be using it on your trips, so it can either sit there, or you can get your money back" So I called customer service, and they emailed me a return label and I just dropped it off while out running errands. When I made the measurements in my post I had it out sitting on top of my laptop power supply so I could make sure I was getting it right.

Sorry.

 

thats ok mate.

 

Sorry to hear about your unpleasant experiences. What sort of phone are you using? My experience with my iphone is that it requires a high power usb port in order to be charged and I would think that if the adapter could charge that it would be adequate for pretty much any other phone/PDA. With that said, however, I know there have been times when I tried charging a coworkers phone, such as the razor, and it didn't accept the apple charger. If I recall correctly it had something to do with the cable. For example when the iphone 3g came out it wouldn't charge with many of the chargers that were being used by the older generation phone because somehow the charger gave the phone a signal that it was compatible. Maybe your phone has a similar feature?

 

maybe, but seems odd for a dumb USB port to have such an issue. I'll research it more on my trip tomorrow.

 

Oh, mean to mention it's a Palm Treo 755p. Charges fine when plugged into the DV5t.