Curious…

Should I be concerned about turning the car off and on repeatedly during my work day when the TR is pluged into the cigarette lighter adapter?  Part of my job has me in the car a lot.  Are there any power surge issues that I should be mindful of? :?

Do you notice your lights flicker on/off/on when you turn the car off?  Pretty sure the cigarette lighter pulls its power directly from the battery all of the time.

Slightly off the topic….but I picked up one of these things and it’s pretty cool. It works well with the TR and it sorta matches better with the grey/silver motif…and the blue light on the adapter.

I think you should be ok with the surges and stuff. If I’m not mistaken the iGo has some limited built-in protection for surges….I think I read that on their website or in the specs of the unit. It was designed to be tougher than normal ac adapters since it’s mostly for cars/planes…and office if you need it.

When the car is off, the cigarette lighter does not allow juice to flow.  This is typical of Japanese cars like my Mazda.  American cars, however, allow you to pull from the battery even when the car is off.

gr00vy0ne wrote:
“It works well with the TR and it sorta matches better with the grey/silver motif…and the blue light on the adapter.

I think you should be ok with the surges and stuff. If I’m not mistaken the iGo has some limited built-in protection for surges….I think I read that on their website or in the specs of the unit. It was designed to be tougher than normal ac adapters since it’s mostly for cars/planes…”

I know! Its as if the TR design team got together with iGo when they made the Juice70.  The blue light is a nice touch as well.  I figured both the TR and the iGo had something built in to prevent damage due to this issue.  I just wanted to make sure nobody else had any troubles.  A lot of you have had your TRs before me and I know several of you to have purchased iGo products.  I appreciate the feedback as usual.  Thanks.

I think I read that the #11 adapter works with the Vaio TR - is that what you use (I’m just ordering my TR this week but already have the adapter).

Thanks

yup the #11 tip is the one to use for the TR

i first got the Kennsington one that does the same thing.  I paid about $120 at a retail shop, I needed one at the moment.

I ended up taking back so that I could pick up the iGo.  I can tell you without a doubt thats it is exactly the same product.  The color and the label is the only difference.

It works great, I highly recommend it.

What experience have users had in terms of charging time - does the car kit charge and approximately the same rate as the AC charger? I drive an hour each way for work and was hoping to be able to charge the computer up en route.

Any wisdom that you can share?

Thanks

If you are referring to the Juice70 (Igo or Kensington), it does not matter where it is plugged in.  Taking power from the car (12v), the plane seat or the main does not make any difference as it all goes into the charger.

As per the issue of spikes, brownouts and so on, well… all I can say is that I use it often in “field” conditions, with power drawn from less than stable power generators, terrible main supplies and the likes.  I’ve blown a couple of slim Port (Targus) adapters in the past, but never had a single problem with the Igo… slightly heavier than the Targus though…

Regards,
Marcelo

I do not fly that often, but as I understand it, all airlines have these outlets in first class seating.  I’m not sure if certain airlines place them in coach or not.

Seat Guru has detailed power outlet location info for the major US carriers including seatmaps for different planes.  http://seatguru.com

More than the airline, it depends on the plane and route.  As a rule of thumb, every first class seat has power sockets, and you’ll also find them in every business class seat in mid and long haul routes and (modern planes only) there are power sockets in the floor at selected locations in coach.

Also, different airlines have different setups.  Most airlines use the standard air APU (round connector with 2 or 4 pins) but a few (like lufthansa) have standard 110v (US) sockets in their first and business class seats (on 747’s).  Unfortunately, these are the only seats where I ever had problems, as the power supply is protected for overcurrent and the iGo takes quite a bit of a spike when first plugged.  I’ve had to reset the protection on the socket several times to get it to start working :(

Additionally, a couple of airlines (including lufhansa and soon BA in transatlantic flights) have started to roll out WIFI broadband on the plane.  You still are not allowed to use a cordless mouse “as it may interfere with navigational equipment”, but you can spit out 22mw of wireless, 2.4 Ghz RF because “it may be profitable for the airline”... Cost depends on the route (flight time), but could go as high as 18 euros for long flights.

I tested it late last year during the trials… It’s kind of cool to videoconference with your kids from a plane seat using the TR Camera

Regards,
Marcelo