At Christmas, we drove out to my mom's house for a week and we took with us a total of SEVEN chargers. (Ridiculous, right?) Then, the first day we were there my daughter realized her Nintendo DSi needed charging. That's when we realized that we had forgotten that charger! Despite bring seven others! So the poor kids had to go without their beloved DS for over a week. (When they were getting new games for Christmas. And not to mention a 7-hour drive back home!) And did I mention I
forgot my cell phone charger there when we left?
All that to say, when I got home and opened up a box containing Powermats, boy was I ready to give that Powermat Home & Office Mat
and Powermat Portable Mat
a try!
What they say:
- The Home & Office mat uses magnetic induction and Powermat
proprietary technology to charge your handheld devices quickly,
efficiently, and wirelessly.
- Connect your device(s) to a Powermat
receiver -- either the Powercube or a dedicated receiver -- and place
it on the Powermat surface to start charging.
- The Home & Office Mat can charge 3 Powermat-enabled devices at the
same time, as fast as, or faster than with the original adapter. A
fourth device can charged via the USB port on the rear of the Mat.
- Can charge 1,000s of devices including Kindles, eReaders, digital Kodak
cameras, Bluetooth headsets, handheld game players, many many cell
phone brands and models and more.
- The Portable Mat folds for ultra-compact storage.
- Included in the box for each is a universal Powercube
with 8 tips that enable you to charge different
devices.
What I say:
First off, this is a great idea. No cords all over the counter, no fighting for the outlets. I am famous for not charging my cell phone (and thus having it die mid-conversation) so this is terrific for someone like me. I can just store my phone on the mat and be done with it. (The mat shuts off automatically when its done charging, so no worries about overcharging your devices or wasting energy!) And its perfect for your kids - my girls could throw their DSi on the mat and charge it up - no messing with plugs and cords. Its smaller and much less bulky than other charging stations I've looked at (none of which are wireless like the PowerMat), which I love.
My husband travels a lot for work, and thought that the portable mat was amazing. He'll probably just store the Portable Mat in his suitcase, so its one less thing he'll have to worry about packing. (And if you've ever forgotten your Blackberry charger during a business trip, you'll understand why this is such a terrific product!) This would be a fabulous gift for a frequent traveler! Especially one like my husband, who travels with lots of devices and still tries to never check luggage... anything to streamline his packing is great.
I'm thinking of getting one for my grandma. My mom gave her a cellphone for emergencies but she never uses it because she can't remember how to plug in the charger. We could get her a mat and enabler and she'd always have a charged phone ready to go!
Realize before you buy that without an enabling case for your device, you are back to the old
plug-in system. The Powermat only comes with one powering cube. So plan on purchasing one or two enabling devices in addition to the Powermat. They're not too pricey, but if you have lots of devices it could add up. (And if you have older devices, check to be sure they will fit. You know how they like to make each new version just a smidge different!) You'll be buying lots of enabling cases if you are a frequent technology upgrader.
disclosure: i received a powermat home and office mat and a powermat portable mat from powermat to review. i was not compensated financially for this post.