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February 28, 2008

Power Outlets and Wall Warts

Wall Wart = the power supply that plugs directly in the wall outlet. Often used for cell phone chargers, external computer drives, digital camera chargers, electric razors and other consumer electronics.

Do you ever a problem with plugging in another wall wart or power plug because a wall wart is blocking the outlet? I know that this is not going to go down as one of the world's great issues, but I recently came across a few clever products that help solve this problem.

The first one is from 360 Electrical. Its a replacement for a standard wall electrical outlet, but each of the sockets can rotate 360 degrees. If a wall wart is blocking the other outlet, rotate the wart to expose the second outlet. Available in white, ivory, almond and black - $10.00.

The next product is a power strip where some of the outlets are on swivels. The Tributaries T12 has surge suppression and noise filtering. 8 of the 12 outlets on the T12 can swivel 90 degrees. Rotating an outlet or two allows you to stagger the wall warts - $120.

The third is the PowerSquid, they have several products - some include surge suppression, some don't. All have a cord and a plug for the wall outlet and either 5 or 6 short lengths of cable (tenticles) with outlets. From $18 to $60.

I have been using a Power Sentry power strip. It is four feet long and has 12 outlets, each outlet is a about 3 and 1/2 inches apart, plenty of room to for the warts. I put this under my desk, it works well for my situation. $50.

Have you ever had a problem finding an open outlet because of a wall wart? Have you tried any of these products?

Oh, and speaking of things electrical, there's a pretty cool prize in HGTVPro's Product of the Day Sweepstakes. During Rugged Month (i.e., March), you could win a Panasonic Toughbook (among other things).

Posted by Bob Gatton at 2:09 PM | Comments (7)