Universal Mini USB Car Charger Adapter, Black

• Note: Needs to pair with a USB charging cable (comes standard with iPhone or iPods originally). Additional USB charging cable is available for purchase separately
• Use your car to charge any devices (digital cameras, PDAs, mobile phones, USB accessories and more) that can rely on USB for power! This adapter plugs into your car's cigarette lighter jack to become a powered USB port.
• USB car charger adapter charges your PDA from any standard cigarette lighter in any vehicle. (Use together with USB charging cable.)
• Patented circuit board designed to protect your valuable gadgets from short circuits. Fit all electronic appliances that use a USB charging cable.
• Input: 12V-24V, Output: 5V / 1000mA, Color: black. NOTE: NOT compatible with Apple® iPad®

I'll start with the good: It looks good, feels relatively sturdy, and does put out 5 volts over USB. Now for the bad: First off, the red LED that comes on is WAY too bright. I wouldn't want to drive at night with it on, which is annoying. Also, While i was testing it, i noticed that the unit felt warm after only 2-3 minutes of charging. It was emitting a burning electronics smell. thats not good! So, considering that the device cost less than 3 bucks, i just took it apart to see what was up....

The device uses an MC34063a voltage converter chip. This chip is tinymaybe 5mm by 2.5mm. This is the source of the heat!!!! I plugged my Droid X into the charger (which was connected to 12v through an ammeter) and after 5-10 minutes of charging, the surface of the chip was 186 degrees F. Not only is this insane, it's also way past the operating range of the chip (about 150 degrees). At this time the charger was pulling .5 to .6 of an amp from the power source to charge the phone.

While technically it works, i wouldn't rely on it. I doubt it will last long considering how hot it gets.

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The adapter arrived just as it looks in the picture, and it sports a much better form-factor than the clunky alternatives found on Amazon. It's worth noting that the black circle next to the USB input is a blue LED indicator light, letting you know that the device has power. However, the blue light is rather bright. While I like the blue light, some might find it distracting when driving at night; it lights up a good bit of the car.

In my older Infiniti, I have to twist the adapter to find the sweet-spot to get it to hold a charge in the cigarette lighter. I think the problem may lie more with my car than the adapter, though. Once I find the sweet-spot, the adapter works just fine.

When I used the adapter in a 1996 Camry, I had a different result. The adapter worked just fine immediately. I tried twisting the unit to recreate the problem from the first car, but it never lost charge. I actually ran into an unexpected problem. The 1996 Camry has a recessed cigarette lighter, and the nice, small adapter fit into it absolutely flush -so flush that I couldn't pull it out. I ended up having to loop string around the adapter and pull it out that way (worked like a charm).

The adapter seems to work just fine, and I have no problem recommending this for purchase -just make sure your car doesn't have an overly-recessed lighter.

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In one of the product reviews... the person mentioned that the big light on the front is blue, but on the version I recently bought from the Eforcity storefront, it illuminates red (which is fine by me). The light turns on immediately once it is plugged into a running car. I have yet to charge my device fully in the car, so I don't know if the light changes color or not. However, I think the mobile phone has its own control function when the battery is fully charged anyway.

Essentially, this adapter converts your cigarette lighter port into a USB port. The adapter is called "mini" due to its general size as it is much less bulkier than your regular car adapters/chargers. Thus to help with those that may still be confused, the port is not for a mini-USB connector, as it sports a standard USB port. You will need to also purchase a seperate USB cord for charging. For my HTC Evo, I bought a micro USB to standard USB cord which works perfectly so far. Great product and very affordable!

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Although, these are nice and cheap, I've had two die on me after a month or so. The fuses seems to be okay. They both just stop charging and the light no longer illuminates. The price is not worth the hassle if you end up having to buy something better anyways.

It looks nice and cheap. It fits in my cigarette adapter well. However, it always turns off randomly!!! The light just go out without any reason and my phone stops charging. This situation happens all the time and I got crazy because I depend on it to charge my phone in the car. The other bad thing about this adapter is that it gets very hot after several minutes charging...

The price is not worth the hassle if you end up having to buy something better anyways!!