Bought the Twelve South PlugBug Charger at the Apple Store at Fashion Show Mall, Las Vegas for USD$34.95 and after tax, it costs USD$37.78 (SGD$49.14).

The PlugBug charger acts as an US travel adapter for your MacBook Pro/Air MacSafe Power Adapter and on top of that it gives you an additional USB port that allows you to charge your iPhone or iPad. I find it super useful for hotels that has limited power sockets. If you prefer not to attached it to your MacSafe Power Adapter, no worries as it can be used as a standalone USB charger.

The USB output produces a 5V at 2.1A which is perfect for iPad charging.

An international version is in the works right now and should be available by early next year and I am so going to get that as well!

Box Front

Box Back

PlugBug Charger (Standalone)

PlugBug Charger (Attaching)

PlugBug Charger

PlugBug Charger On The Wall

Together with the Sanyo Eneloop Glitter Batteries, they also sent me the Sanyo Eneloop Quick Charger NC-MQR06W. The package comes with 4x AA batteries and is retailing for SGD$55.90.

The batteries are Made in Japan while the charger itself is Made in China. It can charge up to 4x AAA or 4x AA batteries at once.

The charging time are as follows for Sanyo Eneloop AA (2,000mAh) and AAA (800mAh) batteries are as follows:

• 1x AA – 75 mins
• 2x AA – 110 mins
• 3x AA & above – 220 mins
• 1x AAA – 65 mins
• 2x AAA – 100 mins
• 3x AAA & above – 200 mins

There are LED indicators for each battery charging status. Blue LED means it is charging and once it is done, the light will go off.

Front View

Charger

Charging

My Hong Kong cousin gave me the MiPow Power Tube 6600 (online store) which is retailing for SGD$125. It boosts a battery capacity of 6,600mAh and is made from aluminum case with durable anodized colors.

The package includes charging tips for iPad/iPhone/iPod, Blackberry, HTC, Motorola, LG, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Samsung Galaxy, PSP, Nintendo DSL/DSi/3DS and Female USB.

The MiPow Power Tube design is similar to that of Sanyo Eneloop Stick Booster KBC-D1BS which my mom’s business friend got it for me from Japan.

According to iPad 2 Wi-Fi Teardown, iPad 2 battery has a capacity of 6,930mAh which means the MiPow Power Tube 6600 can almost fully charge the iPad 2 on a single charge.

On the other hand, based on iPhone 4 Teardown, iPhone 4 has a battery capacity of 1,420mAh and hence the MiPow Power Tube 6600 can charge an iPhone 4 a total of 4.5 times on a single charge.

• Output Voltage: 5V
• Output Current: 1A
• Capacity: 6,600mAh
• Cell type: lithium-ion battery
• Cycle life: 500 times
• Operating Temperature: -10°C to 45°C
• DC Charging Time: 7 – 9 hours
• Dimension: 23.5mm (D) x 242mm (L)
• Weight: 280g
• Colors: navy blue / charcoal gray / gold / silver / royal blue / peach / black / wine red

Box Front

Packaging Contents

Charging Tips

Power Tube

Charging Indicator

Got the Sanyo Eneloop Standard Charger NC-MQN09 at Challenger at Funan for SGD$29.90 (after member’s discount is SGD$26.91).

I was deciding between 2 variants, the Standard Charger NC-MQN09 (SGD$29.90) or the Basic Charger NC-MQN09 (SGD$22.90). The price difference is SGD$7.

I end up choosing the NC-MQN09 because for SGD$7 extra, you get US-plug compatibility, microprocessor to control the charging and 2x blue LED to give you obvious indication of the charging status which you can double it up as a night light as well.

This charger can charge 4x AA or 4x AAA batteries and the charging status is split into 2 sets (set A and set B) of 2 batteries each and each represented by 1x blue LED.

Packaging Front

Packaging Contents

US-plug Compatibility

2x Blue LED

Set A Is Fully Charged While Set B Is Still Charging

Specifications

• Input: 100-240V~ 50-60 Hz 4W
• Output: 2,4V, 300mA × 2 (AA), 2,4V, 150mA × 2 (AAA)
• Charge Control: -delta V
• Charging Time: 570 minutes (4 AA), 420 minutes (4 AAA)
• Charge-Indicator: 2 LEDs
• Size: 78mm × 132mm × 37 mm
• Weight: 130g

Bought the Bluelounge The Sanctuary from EpiCentre at Ion Orchard for SGD$189 and after a 10% member’s discount it cost SGD$170.10. The first time I saw the The Sanctuary was back in December 2009 when I was in Hong Kong at city’super. It was the Dark Wood variant.

So far I have only saw The Sanctuary selling at EpiCentre at Ion Orchard, I have not seen other shops carrying it yet. I think there is at least 5 of them there when I got it last week. They only carry the Black variant.

The Sanctuary is an upgrade to Bluelounge Refresh. It is bigger and allows you to charge almost all types of mobile devices. I love it’s bigger surface area when compared to the Refresh as it allows me to place other things on it as well such as keys and wallet. I like how the inner tray comes with 2 surfaces, Faux Leather and Velvet. You can just flip over to either one to your liking.

However, I do have 2 complains on The Sanctuary, firstly there is only 1 USB port instead of 2 in the Refresh and hence you can only have 1 extra custom USB cable. Secondly, they should have 2 MicroUSB charging connectors instead of just 1 as these days most mobile phones are charged using MicroUSB port. On the other hand, the Refresh is meant more for Apple users as it includes 2 iPod connectors.

Box Front

The Sanctuary Internal Workings

Mobile Phones On The Sanctuary