iGo Everywhere130

iGo Everywhere130

Published August 25, 2008 at 01:15:58 PM, by Tucker Lucas

Introduction

Tired of hauling all your power supplies around? Featuring interchangeable tip technology, the iGo Everywhere130 is a universal power supply for your laptop, cell phone, camcorder, digital camera, PDA, iPod, or Nintendo DS. The Everywhere130 even includes a "dualpower" accessory which enables you to simultaneously power a laptop and another mobile electronic device such as a cell phone or MP3 player.

The iGo Everywhere130 is certainly an innovative device, but does it live up to expectations? Find out in our review!

Compatibility
Unlike what its name suggests, the iGo Everywhere130 is rated for only 100W, not 130W. The Everywhere130 only supports 130W peak, meaning only for a few minutes before the power supply automatically shuts down. Therefore, the Everywhere130 is incompatible with some power hungry gaming laptops, such as the Dell XPS M170. Judging from iGo's naming standard which lists the maximum continuous wattage, the Everywhere130 name is very misleading; the device should be called the Everywhere100. The Everywhere130 sells for a hefty $149.99 in iGo's online store.

The Everywhere130 is compatible with hundreds of devices through the use of an innovative power tip technology. Since most devices require varying amounts of voltage, the tips themselves "store" all the relevent information to ensure 100% device compatibility.

The Everywhere130 only comes with 8 tips. In order to gain compatibility with other electronic devices, you must purchase additional tips. Unfortunately, every additional tip costs at least a staggering $10 extra. You can determine if your device will need an additional tip here .

The Everywhere130 also comes with an auto/air outlet cord, enabling you to power your components when on a roadtrip or on a business flight. The cords even come with velcro cable management systems to prevent tangling.

The Everywhere130 comes with a carrying case to maximize portability. Although the case is rather small, you should be able to squeeze in the Everywhere130, the AC or air/auto cord, the DC cord, and a few tips.

Performance

The Everywhere130 definitely performs as expected. Setup was fairly easy: just plug in the AC and DC power cable, plug in the appropriate power tip, and you're ready. I could charge my Dell Precision M70 laptop with another mobile device such as my Dell Axim X30 PDA at the same time. The power supply didn't give out even at full load. However, when I tested the Everywhere130 with a laptop that requires 130W, the Everywhere130 automatically shut off after about a minute, confirming the Everywhere130's 130W peak rating.

Unfortunately, the Everywhere130's assembly procedure was much more of a hassle than that of my standard laptop. Due to the size limit of the Everywhere130's carrying bag, I had to remove both cables, wrap them up, and then tie it up before I could fit everything into the bag. With the Precision M70's 90W adapter, I would merely wrap the cables around the adapter and tie everything around the adapter case with the built-in strap.

Another problem with the Everywhere130 is its limited compatibility. Although the Everywhere130 is compatible with hundreds of devices, there are still many popular or new devices that are still unsupported. For example, the Dell XPS M1210, which was released a few weeks ago, is still not listed in the iGo Power Tip Finder . Therefore, end-users who buy the Everywhere130 and expect to use it as their sole power supply will be severely disappointed when they find out otherwise.

Pros:

• Compatible with hundreds of devices
• Able to charge two devices simultaneously
• Compact design
• Comes with free cable management velcros and a carrying case
• Comes with both standard AC and auto/air AC cables

Cons:

• Misleading name
• Only provides up to 100W of continuous power
• Not compatible with some popular or new devices
• Complex assembly/disassembly
• Incredibly high cost
• Additional tips cost more than $10

The Everywhere130 is certainly an incredible innovative device. It is compatible with hundreds of popular electronic devices and is as portable as it is versatile.

However, the Everywhere130 suffers from two major weaknesses: high cost and rather slow compatibility updates. The problem of high cost is excerbated by the fact that each additional tip you purchase costs at least another $10. To solve this problem, instead of packing the same 8 tips with each Everywhere130, iGo should give the option of letting the customer pick the 8 tips. iGo's slow compatibility updates problem means that the latest products are frequently unsupported.

Therefore, I can only recommend the Everywhere130 to people who do not plan on upgrading their electronic devices. For these people, the Everywhere130 is a great - albeit expensive - way to lessen the load.

The iGo Everywhere130 is available at iGo's website for $149.99 .

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Technical Specifications

No specifications are available.