iGo begins process of turning their product line green

iGo has refined its product line with their upcoming "green" charger and their everywhereMAX travel charger, an improved 90W AC/auto/air power adapter that can be used to simultaneously charge your laptop and handheld mobile devices.

We were lucky enough to get a demo of the upcoming Green Technology charger that will be shipping during the first half of 2009. The device differs from traditional power inverters in that it used nearly no power when there isn't any demand from the devices you've got plugged into it. The company reckons that this should translate into 80% less standby power than "normal" power adapters. We're not sure what that will translate into when there's an actual laptop plugged into the device, but we often leave the "bricks" plugged in when we leave the office, so going into standby mode then would make a big difference for our electric bill as well as the environment.

We also had an opportunity to use the everywhereMAX travel charger over the past few days, and our initial impressions are quite positive. The device as worked well, and while it isn't the smallest adapter we've tried, is certainly isn't cumbersome by any measure we can think of. We'll have to test the airline and 220V compatibility on a future trip, our current testing has only been using 120V AC here at CES 2009.

Both devices benefit for iGo's considerable tenure in the industry, and are compatible with a gigantic assortment of tips for just about any laptop, mobile phone, camera, or device.

iGo's plan is to eventually incorporate their green technology into their entire product line. We're looking forward to seeing what they come up with next.

Additional details are available at iGo's website.

Dave Weinstein