Item Details

Kensington K38031US Wall/Air Ultrathin Notebook Power Adapter

(6 Customer Reviews)

Price: $103.75
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Technical Details

• Color-coded notebook power tips for quick and easy set-up
• Slim adapter not only charges your notebook but it also charges your mobile phone, PDA, iPod and more via the built-in USB power port
• Included EmPower airline cable connects from notebook to airplane power outlet in the seat
• Included USB charging cable connects to USB power port to charge mini USB compatible mobile devices
• 30% lighter and 22% thinner than conventional power adapters so it doesn´t add extra bulk in your bag

 

Product Details

Product Weight: 1.25 pounds

Shipping Weight: 1.45 pounds

Model: K38031US

Manufacturer: Kensington

 

Customer Reviews

A step backwards for Kensington,
by Jeffery S. Norman, 2010-01-10

I have been using the older 120W "Ultra" thin Kensington universal power adapter for several years. Alas, now that Kensington has its latest and greatest model (the product I am reviewing here), they stopped supporting the older one (and more importantly, it is impossible to get microUSB or Lenovo X series power tips for the older model). So I decided to buy this to replace my older model.

I am very disappointed, because the newer model is inferior in almost every way.

1) Size and weight. This is about twice as thick, and almost twice as heavy, as compared with the older Ultra thin model. Why on earth would they have made it bigger and heavier??? It is - to be fair - still lighter than the Targus compact model. But still very disappointed that they made it bigger and heavier. On the plus, is is slightly smaller in width (by almost and inch).

2) Compatibility. As far as laptops go, it seems to work fine on my Toshiba netbook, HP Pavillion, and Lenovo X200 computers. However, the USB charging port is very weak. My Blackberry Bold will not charge from it. I also tried charging a Bodymedia device (made to be charged on mini-USB) and no luck. In fact, so far I have not found a single device that does charge! I am sure some phones would probably work ok, but the USB charging port is a bust for me. The USB port on the older model worked just fine FYI so clearly they have cut back on quality or the current is not high enough, etc.

3) Ease of use. A major step back is the fact that certain "blue" adapter tips require you to manually "switch" the adapter to a different voltage range. huh?? The older adapters all automatically selected voltage based on the tip (hence the name Smarttip! that I see they also dropped). Not only that, but changing the voltage is not simply - you need a pen or sharp pointed object to unlock the lock. Very lame.

4) Flexibility. What, no Auto charging adapter??? What on earth is wrong with Kensington? Biggest disappointment of all, especially since many airlines now use cigarette lighter adapters rather than empower.

If you can still find it, and if you do not need the newer Lenovo tip, I would strongly recommend trying to find the older model Kensington Ultra thin (Air/AC/Auto) that includes the USB port, cigarette lighter adapter, and is smaller and lighter than this.

 

Kensington K38031US Wall/Air Ultrathin Notebook Power Adapter,
by Chester Chen, 2009-11-03

cool piece of equipment, having a usb port to charge my stuff as well...

only drawback would be the very short connector to the wall socket, easily solved by visiting a computer show to get a long one...

really a AIO, which is really convenient.

 

Not Compatible with American Airlines (or auto), USB Charging Limited,
by A. Hand, 2009-10-21

I was hoping for a non-proprietary solution to power my laptop on a cross-country flight. However, although this is listed as an "airline" adapter, it is not compatible with the in-flight jacks offered on American Airlines -- or any other airline that uses a cigarette-sytle adapter. In-flight connectivity with this Kensington adapter is limited to the EmPower connector -- Disappointing since many other manufacturers include an EmPower-cigarette adapter (e.g., Dell, Apple, Lenovo, Targus).

The USB charging capability is only available when connected to an AC (wall) power source. For in-flight, you use the empower to "laptop tip" cable, bypassing the power pack entirely. So if you really only need to add an airline adapter to your bag (you already have a wall adapter), then you're paying a lot of money for a transformer brick that you might not need. And if you plan to charge your iPod, iPhone, or other USB-powered device in-flight, this is may not be the solution for you (you need to plug them into a laptop, and connect the laptop to the airline power cable).

Note that the chart comparing the features of the various Kensington adapters in the Amazon listing (at the time of this review) is inaccurate: it indicates that the K38031US "plugs into airplane or car outlets." It will not plug into a car outlet.

In the end, I was better off buying the proprietary adapter from my laptop manufacturer for about the same price.

 

Great Travel Companion,
by H. Cheung, 2009-10-09

I travel a lot for work, and usually have both my work laptop and personal laptop with me, or when i travel with family which means we will have at least 3 laptops all together. With this travel adaptor I won't need to carry multiple chargers anymore. While the weight is not really lighter than my regular charger, I only need to carry one for all laptops (hence space saver). It is a lot slimmer, and it comes with a nice travel bag in which i can keep cables for all other devices (laptop, blackberry, ipod, amazon Kindle, cell phone charger) No more cable entanglement situation for me to deal with.
More importantly, this charger comes with an airplane adaptor. when i fly long haul I won't anymore have to worry about getting bored to death, because now I use my laptop on planes for as long as I want.

 

Pretty Good,
by Jeremy A. Davis, 2009-09-30

All in all, this is a pretty decent adapter. If it had any of the following attributes, I would rank it higher:
- Longer AC cable. The included one is just too short and leaves the power brick hanging from the wall many times. This can be a notable problem depending on the position of the outlet you're using.
- At least one more USB plug. One USB plug is a good start, but these days, 2 would be much more useful.
- At least $30 cheaper. $100+ is just too much for this adapter. It's not all THAT much slimmer than a standard adapter, nor a whole lot lighter. Hard to totally justify at this price.

The good:
- Many tips for supporting lots of notebooks.
- Carrying case. Although nothing stellar, it's great for management of the adapter and its' accessories.
- USB charger. Probably the most useful part of this kit and how I justify the purchase. Now I really do only need to bring 1 adapter on trips.