iGo Green Power Charger

05.12.2009
The latest charger from iGo aims to make it easy to be green. The $100 uses only the precise amount of energy your laptop requires, and can automatically shut off if need be when not in use.

The advantage to iGo's Green Technology, as it calls its secret sauce, is that it automatically shuts off--so laptops can be plugged in, but won't draw unnecessary energy once the laptop finishes charging or isn't on. According to iGo, the charger uses 80 percent less energy in stand-by mode. The charger comes with eight laptop tips for use with a variety of laptops from Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo, MSI, Sony, and others. These charger tips represent a new design for iGo; they're specially designed to measure out the energy allowed by the device that the tip is designed for.

Aesthetically, the charger pleases as well. It measures just 16.5mm thick; this relatively flat and rectangular design makes it easy to stow alongside your laptop in your bag. It also has the USB charging port coming out of the same direction as the cable that goes to your laptop, a design that fixes the problem of the company's netbook charger (on that device, the USB cable awkwardly juts out of the side of the charger).

The charger works across worldwide voltages, but for now is strictly AC power. An AC/DC version that will include an auto/air adapter is coming, according to iGo.