Aluratek Mini Surge Dual USB Charging Station for your iPhone, iPad (Sort Of) And Other USB Devices – ‘Book Mystique Review
Carrying around individual chargers for your iPhone, iPod, and iPad is a pain, Multiple power bricks take up precious space at both the AC outlet and in your carry-case (if indeed you can squeeze it/them in at all). Aluratek’s Mini Surge Dual USB Charging Station (www.aluratek.com) is designed to help by consolidating all of your USB charging needs into one device by turning any standard AC outlet into a direct USB charging station.
The Mini Surge’s claims to uniqueness are in its two USB charging ports, along with a foldable but positively-locking AC plug that makes for easier storage and travel carriage with less damage potential for other devices it shares space with. The Mini Surge also has three standard AC outlets, a surge protector (612 joules rating), and a built-in fireproof circuit, adding extra protection.
And of course, the Aluratek Mini Surge will work with any USB-chargable mobile device or peripheral, and not just Apple igadgets. It also eliminates the need to power on your computer for USB charging, which is a huge advantage, IMHO.
The foldaway three-prong AC plug is especially slick, and works exactly as advertised, locking securely in position when deployed, and folding away neatly flush with the charger’s housing for storage and travel.
I found that the Mini-Surge worked just great with smaller devices like our iPod, but that when I plugged in my iPad2, the “Not Charging” warning displayed. What gives? I confirmed using the iPad’s own charger that the charge function was working properly. Some further investigation revealed that this is a known issue, and that the iPad actually is charging notwithstanding the indication otherwise, but only at 1 Amp, so reaching a full charge will take significantly longer than it would using the Apple charger. However, overnight should be plenty. An Aluratek PR spokesperson tells me that they were actually not aware of the iPad “not charging”/slower charging speed issue until they began sending out review units, and affirms that Aluratek is now working on a corrective solution. In the meantime, references to the iPad have been removed from the product Web Page.
The Mini Surge is rated for up to 1800 Watts of power-draw at 15 Amps, so you’ll need to be mindful of not exceeding that limit, although it should be essentially a non-issue if it’s used for small devices like iPhones, iPods, and other relatively light power consumers. A green LED illuminates to affirm that the surge protection is working.
Note also that even with two USB devices and three AC cords plugged in, you still have an open AC socket in a standard wall receptacle (albeit not surge protected.
In summary, the $19.99 Aluratek Mini Surge Dual USB Charging Station is relatively inexpensive, and is a neater, lighter, and more compact alternative to lugging around a surge-protected power bar and a bunch of power supply bricks. The only major caveat is that if you are mainly interested in using it to charge an iPad, I can’t recommend it until Aluratek fixes the low-amperage charge issue, which I expect they will in fairly short order now that they’re aware of it. For smaller devices like iPhones and iPods, it works fine.
You can learn more here:
http://aluratek.com/mini-surge-dual-usb-charging-station