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If you travel around the world, even if only occasionally, you can understand the hassle of lugging around all those extra electrical converters and most of them are clunky and normally don’t fit your original US wall socket prongs very well.

I have traveled a few times to Hong Kong and have owned a few converters and adapters which I seemed to have lost through the years. But they have all been very similar. In order to use the normal US 2 prong (let’s not make it harder with 3) 120V socket and plug it into a 220V wall socket in Hong Kong, I’d first need to get an electrical converter that will convert the much higher voltage in Hong Kong to the lower 120V so that it won’t fry my device. Next, you must also find an appropriate prong adapter that will fit your voltage converter so that you can plug everything (your US adapter + voltage converter + all necessary prong adapters) into the wall. Then hope that the converter works and your plugged in device doesn’t get fried. Be careful to get the right converter that will handle the requirements of your electrical component (or you’ll fry your blow dryer and or converter if it’s only designed to handle small electrical devices). So, after reading this, can you get an understand of what I mean when I say it’s a slight bit of hassle?

I’ve found that with the converters I’ve got that I normally have to apply at least not one but two prong adapters so that I can get the final correct prong to plug into the wall. Well, hopefully you’ll understand what I mean when you watch my video. Needless to say, the *old* way that I used to do when I travel overseas wasn’t fun. I actually hated bringing any electronic devices with me so it’s excruciating to live without them for a few weeks.

USB Fever’s USB Universal AC Travel Charger is quite unique in the way that it comes in a package with not only the dual voltage converter adapter charger but also some of the popular wall socket prongs that you will likely need when traveling around the world. The nice thing about this charger is that you can easily remove and insert the necessary socket prong into the charger and you’re set. The adapter prongs are much smaller in size and they easily snap into place. You won’t notice any extra bulk at all once it’s snapped into the charger/converter. Then, plug in the USB charging cable for your portable device. That’s it! Hopefully, you’ll understand how much easier it is when I try to explain all the extra stuff I’d normally lug with me previously.

Normally, most of us are likely to bring not one or two but a few electronic devices with us when we travel. That may include our laptop computers, our cellular phone, our PDAs, our iPods, and other similar portable devices. Now I know that a lot of portable device chargers now support dual voltage but there’s still a good number of them that don’t. My suggestion is to take a good look at the adapter, or the device manual or even search the internet for more information on the specs to determine if the charging adapters or cables will support dual voltage (120-240V). If there is nothing about 240V or even 220V anywhere, chances are, that it’s not supported and you *WILL* fry your device if you plug it directly into the wall in a place where the local voltage is anything but 120V.

Pics of USB Universal AC Travel Charger

Click on the thumbnail images for a bigger picture

Video of USB Universal AC Travel Charger

Video at YouTube

Here are more details (taken from USB Fever’s website):

USB Universal A/C Travel Chargers

- USB Universal A/C Travel Chargers for iPod x 1
- US/Japan changeable Power Plug x 1
- UK changeable Power Plug x 1
- EU changeable Power Plug x 1
- Australia/China changeable Power Plug x 1

Here are my observations: I really like the design of this USB universal charger. You simply remove and attach the necessary wall socket prong that will fit the local wall socket. The package contains 4 different common types for US/Japan, China/Australia, Europe, UK. So, if you travel extensively, or even just casually and you are jumping from one continent to another, having something like this can be very helpful compared to the other alternative which is carrying a bunch of different wall socket prong adapters PLUS the voltage adapter. Like I’ve already mentioned, I used to do that previously and it wasn’t fun trying to fit this long collection of adapters stacked one on top of another. The funny or not so funny thing is hoping that this whole collection of adapters won’t buckle under the weight and fall down to the ground since normally the wall sockets are located in the middle of the wall, unlike North America. So, imagine me first of all, wrapping elastics around the entire thing PLUS possibly put my laptop or whatever I need to charge on a table with books or whatever else to get it so that the cord will reach the socket. Needless to say it wasn’t fun.

So, with USB Fever’s Universal AC Travel Charger, all you need to do is snap in the correct wall socket prong that will fit your local wall socket and then plug in the charging USB cable for your portable device. Done! You are charging your device. Since the correct prong snaps into place, you can be assured that it won’t fall out accidentally. No more fumbling around for charging cables, extra adapters to convert your US prongs to another European type and then again to an Asian or whatever. One prong adapter snapped into place and it’s done. Since the charger is a univeral one that supports dual voltages (120V and 240V), you can be sure that you won’t have to get an extra voltage converter. Simply bring this adapter and the prongs along with your portable device and its USB charging cable and it’s done. I love technology. It really changes and makes life so much easier.

I can’t find any fault with this product and only suggest that perhaps they can provide dual USB sockets to make it even more functional. I’m hoping since they were able to provide dual USB sockets for the car adapter and it would be very nice.

EDIT. Looks like I spoke too soon. Apparently, USB Fever does have a dual USB socket AC Travel Charger.

I guess the only other suggestion is possibly having a power indicator light to indicate that there is power running through the charger adapter. And help you figure out where it is in the dark.

Again, as with all chargers that charge via the USB port connectors, please keep in mind that it will trickle charge. By that, I mean, that there is a small trickle of electricity that passes through and charges your device. So, even though you are plugging the adapter into the wall, there is only a slow trickle of energy that is reaching your device. So, don’t expect that you will be able to fully charge your device in about the same time that it would normally with a regular AC charger. If you want to charge your device up faster, I’d suggest you get a regular voltage converter and plug in your charging cable. But then, it will weigh a bit more and you will be bringing a long more cables. That is up to you.

Review Summary

The USB Fever’s Univeral AC Travel Charger is an excellent way to minimize the amount of chargers, cables and accessories that you normally require to take with you when you’re traveling. Rather than bringing different chargers and adapters for each and every one of your devices (ie. iPod, cell phone, PDA, mp3 player, etc), you can simply bring USB Fever’s USB Universal AC Travel Charger and the USB charging cable for your device. This can not only cut down the weight of what you would otherwise carry (those charging adapters are certainly not light) but also reduces the space all those cables, cradles, etc take up as well as the clutter.

Keep in mind that your devices will take a bit longer to charge compared to charging with a regular AC charger since it will be trickle charging through the USB. But if you manage the battery usage of your devices wisely and possibly have a backup power available, trickle charging may not be a huge factor. But again, you must take into account your circumstances and requirements and determine what is suitable for you.

Palm Discovery has no affiliations with USB Fever and thanks USB Fever for providing the product for this review. For more information, check out USB Universal AC Travel Charger at USB Fever.

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