Most exciting laptop charger ever
The Targus Premium Laptop Charger may be worth picking up even if you don't need a replacement power supply.
- More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds.
Like most people, I hate buying things that are boring necessities such as a replacement power supply for my laptop. Sure, my laptop would be an expensive paperweight without it, but it doesn't make me any happier to spend the money. The Targus Premium Laptop Charger, however, is a purchase worth making even if you don't need a replacement because it's more than just a one-product charger.
Though the headline is meant to be facetious, the Targus charger's usefulness does make it more interesting than your average power supply. For starters, it's designed for easy travel as it's slim and fairly lightweight, has an elastic band attached for quickly wrapping up the cable, and the single power cable can be used with the AC supply or connected to the included car power adapter. On top of that, the cable has a splitter at one end for charging two devices at once and since it uses removable tips for the outputs you can pretty much pick and choose what you want to charge. A large variety of tips are available; the Premium comes with 11, but less expensive packages are available with fewer tips. Targus also offers up additional tips free of charge, though there is a shipping cost of about $4.
The charger's not perfect, though. Ideally the cord would be a little longer and the tips would attach more securely, and, if you're plugging into an outlet or power strip with side-by-side outlets, you'll probably have to remove something else to use it. Otherwise, this charger is pretty great, especially for those with multiple systems, such as a laptop and a Netbook, or someone with a laptop and several other mobile devices that just wants to travel with a single charger and a handful of tips.