Belkin Mini Surge 3 Outlet Wall Mount with USB Charger
by Belkin Components
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List Price: Our Price: $13.91 You Save: $5.08 (27%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $11.98 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Belkin Mini Surge 3 Outlet Wall Mount with USB Charger
Customer Review: A typically well-made product from Belkin
Summary: 5 Stars
I own a lot of Belkin products, and with a few exceptions they're all well-made and well-designed. This one serves a common need-- power for a USB device, such as a cell phone or iPod-- and combines it with a surge supressor and outlet strip.
Mine powers an iPod Touch 3rd generation, and I have an electric blanket plugged in to the outlets. Nothing major. There are two USB power ports, one of which I'll likely never use. The plug cleverly swivels around 360° to orient the device the way you want it. The plastic plug cover pops off and onto the bottom of the unit to form a brace when you have it plugged into a wall socket-- whew, someone must have graduated summa cum laude in Industrial Design!
With so many positives, it's rather petty to mention this minor negative, but I will anyway. In the most common orientation-- in a vertical wall socket, with the unit plugged into the bottom outlet and swung so that it hangs straight down-- the USB power ports are pointing up. This may interfere with whatever's plugged into the top socket of the wall outlet. (I hope I'm making myself clear.) While you could as easily plug it into the top outlet and have one more socket than you started with, this is a puzzling glitch. There are, after all, several other ways that the USB sockets could have been arranged-- one on each end, for example.
Do I think this is a major design flaw? Nope. It doesn't affect my particular useage, and I doubt if more than one person in a thousand will even be mildly annoyed. If you're in the market for a USB power supply for home or office, I can't think of a reason not to buy the Belkin Mini Surge.
Customer Review: Nice portable higher quality surge protector
Summary: 4 Stars
o 918 Joules maximum of surge protection (good for product of this size and price)
o Maximum Spike Current of 30,000A
o Response Time <1 nanosecond
o Dimensions = 2"H x 5"W x 1 1/2"D
o Manufacturer's $75,000 connected equipment warranty
o Manufacturer's lifetime limited warranty
o Features mini-USB cable to charge virtually any USB device
o EMI/RFI Noise Filtration 150kHz~100MHz up to 40dB reduction
o Clamping Voltage (or "let-through voltage") - 800v; not bad, but not great
Given size, I would recommend rotating the 360 degree rotating plug to a horizontal position. It should be noted that other reviews are absolutely spot-on that the rotating function of plug is VERY stiff and difficult to use (definite negative for a product of this quality).
Although the surge suppressor is a bit bigger than other "mini" surge protectors it also has a fairly high 918 Joule rating, so before you listen to anyone "trashing" the product for its size, make sure you are comparing "apples to apples" with respect to surge suppression. Also as a guideline, you want a surge protector to offer at least 200 - 400 joules of protection and over 600 joules is considerd very good.
On top of the competency of the surge protector and its lifetime warranty and protection guarantee, the two USB chargers mounted on top of surge protector are the big "draw." Many stand-alone USB chargers are over $10 by themselves, so when you consider that and the warranty (which you generally don't get with the USB chargers), then that makes this unit a fairly good deal.
Customer Review: Excellent travel surge protector with caveats
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a great surge protector to take on the road with you as long as these two cons don't bother you...
CONS:
1. As other reviewers noted, the electrical prongs (plug) don't retract nor are they removable. This isn't a bother for me since I use a larger knapsack for my laptop, but I could see it bothering people that use slim bags since it does add an extra 1.5" in size (I'd be less concerned about it poking holes in your bag)
2. You aren't looking for an ultra-compact surge protector. This one is about 5" long by 1.5" high by 2" deep (3.5" deep if you include the prongs). Still small, but not sure its exactly "mini" as the product title states.
PROS:
1. You get three electrical outlets and 2 USB so you can plug in your laptop, non-USB device (older cell phone, small switch, etc) and still charge your USB devices (bluetooth headset, iPod, etc)
2. Great when traveling with peers - you can steal one plug at the airport and three people can plug in their laptops and still charge two cell phones. This alone is worth the extra size.
3. Excellent quality. It's built solid and the fact that the prongs can rotate so the device can sit in a vertical or horizontal position is a plus.
All-in-all, this is a great device for the frequent traveler and I bought a second one for my team to use, but if you're looking for ultra-compact device and/or only need one plug or one USB port I would look elsewhere.
Customer Review: Power utilization, ergonomics
Summary: 4 Stars
There's already an excellent review for this product, so I'll just touch on two things that I was curious about before I bought it.
1. I wondered how much additional power the USB 5V charger of this surge protector would use when plugged into the wall without charging any USB device. I left it plugged into the wall for 24 hours though a Kill-a-Watt, without anything else plugged into it (USB or AC). It shows a usage of about 0.03 kWH (resolution of Kill-a-Watt is 0.01 kWH), or wasted power of 1W. Leaving it plugged in for a month would cost you under 20 cents (depending on your local electricity rate, of course). Not fantastic, but not excessive either.
2. The plastic cap to protect the power plug also doubles as a balance mechanism - you attached it to the other end, farthest away from the plug, so that it rests against the wall, preventing the adapter from flexing too much when you plug in a device. Unless your wall outlet is completely flush with the wall, however, there'll still be some flex. But having a place to attach it while in use, so that it doesn't get misplaced, is good.
3. Turning the plug is difficult on my unit. Extremely stiff and there is not much to grip. The button to unlock the plug is small and doesn't provide any tactile feedback.
Overall, a good product, and with so many devices that uses USB for charging, the two USB power outlets are really nice to have.
Customer Review: Road-worthy for the travelling consultant...
Summary: 5 Stars
While some people have commented about the term "mini" being subjective, rest assured that this device is not really any larger than if you took a normal surge protector and cut it off at three outlets. There's a small bit of overhead for the two USB plugs but that's about it. This device has earned a spot in my bag and follows me all over the country on travel; it charges my phone and MP3 player at the same time just fine.
What people should be aware of is that just because their phone uses a USB interconnect, either regular size or mini, does not mean that they necessarily conform to USB specifications. I've seen some phones and MP3 players use USB connectors but come with a charger that puts out 1.5A or more, well outside of the 500mA USB specification. What's my point? This product does what it says - it charges up to two USB devices at the same time; individual results will depend on whether or not your device(s) comply to the USB specification or simply use the connection for convenience. :)
Yet even if your device comes with a high current charger, many devices allow for charging with a computer's USB port - meaning that they must be rated to only draw upwards of 500mA. If your device complies with that, chances are you're going to be 100% happy with this device - I know I am!