Get a ChargeDr USB charge booster for $23.99 shipped
This magic dongle helps you charge your iPad and other devices more quickly using a standard USB port. Cheapskate exclusive!
Sometimes the stars align in mysterious ways.
Yesterday I shared an exclusive deal on the ChargeCard, which I'd noted was one of the three things I saw at CES I'd actually buy.
Today I've got another exclusive on one of the other two. This wasn't planned; both deals just happened to fall into my lap within 24 hours of each other. Good stuff, universe!
From now through Monday, you can get the Digital Innovations ChargeDr USB charge booster for $23.99 shipped when you apply coupon code chargedrcnet at checkout. Regular price: $29.99 plus shipping.
True to its name, this little dongle boosts the power output of a laptop USB port, which very often won't charge an iPad or other tablet owing to certain wiring configurations I won't pretend to understand.
Indeed, if you've ever plugged your iPad into your laptop, you've most likely been greeted with a "not charging" message on the former. The reality is that the iPad is indeed trickle-charging, but very, very slowly. That's because (and this time I will pretend to understand) it's getting only 0.5 amps of juice. With the ChargeDr in place, it gets a full 2.1 amps -- about the same as it gets from a wall charger.
I first wrote about this back in January, post-CES, and to this day consider it a must-have addition to my travel bag. I've used it extensively with my iPad 3, and the little guy just plain works. (It also works with tablets like the Kindle Fire HD 8.9, to say nothing of smartphones, but, alas, it's incompatible with the Google Nexus 7 owing to the latter's "non-standard Micro-USB charging protocol," according to DI.)
A few months ago, I dinged the ChargeDr for its steep price. At $23.99, it's still a little high, but definitely more palatable. If you want to charge your tablet on the run without having to pack yet another wall charger, this little gizmo is worth owning.
Bonus deal: Lately I've been focusing most of my laptop attention on ultrabooks and touch-screen models, thereby neglecting the popular desktop-replacement category. Today only, and while supplies last, Woot has the refurbished HP Pavilion G7-2246NR 17.3-inch laptop for $399.99, plus $5 for shipping. And check out the specs on this thing: 1,600x900-pixel display resolution, 6GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, USB 3.0, Windows 8, and a Blu-ray drive! That's what I call loaded.
Bonus deal No. 2: Yesterday's hard-drive deal was kind of a disaster owing to confusion over the rebate and bundled security software. My apologies! If you're still in the market, Newegg has the Western Digital Elements SE 1TB portable USB 3.0 hard drive for $69.99 shipped -- no muss, no fuss, no rebates. It's not quite $39.99, but still a solid deal on a high-capacity portable drive.
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