Kensington 70W AC/DC Power Adapter

We've seen dozens of universal power adapters, but where Kensington's wins is for sheer flexibility. In a car, you can use the cigarette lighter to power it. On a plane, you can use an Empower port. And you can use it as your standard adapter in the office thanks to a UK plug, while a European plug is also included for your travels. You then just plug in the right connector for your laptop and get charging.

Kensington supplies connectors for the major notebooks, all marked with codes like 'N15'. To find out the right choice for your machine, visit go to Kensington's website . If your notebook isn't supported by one of the seven connectors included in the box, a phone call to Kensington's support line will see the correct one winging its way to you - and for free, too. There are even connectors for iPods and some PDAs.

It's good to see this attention to customer service, and Kensington has also concentrated on usability. There's no need to select which voltage you're using, for instance; this is done automatically. And to avoid the usual rat's nest of cables, Kensington includes a small pouch to carry the adaptor plus any cables and connectors you need. The adaptor itself is also impressively slim, measuring just 18mm at its thickest point.

We do have one criticism, though. Not only does Kensington not include a US adaptor in the box, it's not actually possible to buy one in the UK; you'll have to take the UK adaptor then plug that into a standard UK-to-US adaptor. Also note that the support for Empower will generally only benefit those people who travel business class or higher.

The only reasons we don't recommend the Kensington adaptor outright are the lack of a US plug as standard and its cost; a typical price of £65 exc VAT is a lot to pay compared to a normal adaptor. But, if you're a regular traveler, then you'll soon find this an invaluable travel companion. Just beware that you don't buy the DC-only version of this adaptor, as the two look very similar (the DC version has part number 33195EU, the AC/DC version 33192EU).

Author: Tim Danton