On my never ending quest to find lighter and more useful travel gadgets, I came across the Innergie mCube Slim. Crowned as the lightest universal AC laptop charger in the world, this tiny device can cut the weight of your laptop charger in half.
At just 5.7 ounces (161 grams) and 3.93″x2.16″x0.78″ (10×5.5×2 cm) this charge is seriously small. Despite its small size, it still delivers up to 65 watts of power, along with 1 amp of USB power.
Now, before you point out that there smaller chargers for specific machines – the Innergie is the smallest universal laptop charger. My Dell Inspiron Mini comes with a really small wall charger, but it only delivers a limited amount of power to that small netbook. The Innergie mCube Slim can power and charge most full size computers.
The mCube Slim next to a quarter – which should give you a good idea just how compact this charger is.
The mCube Slim comes with a large assortment of laptop power tips – for almost every brand of laptop on the market. I had no problems finding power tips for Dell, HP and Toshiba machines. The ability to swap these power tips means you can invest in one charger, and keep your laptops powered for years to come.
Innergie even offers free power tips for laptops not covered by the included assortment. Apple laptop users are out of luck, because Apple does not license their Magsafe connector for other companies.
Getting the charger set up is really simple – you can refer to the included laptop power chart to pick the correct power tip and voltage – there are only two settings, so it is pretty hard to screw up. To power your machine, you simply attach the AC and laptop cord to the charger, just like with any normal laptop adapter.
In addition to the laptop power plug, there is also a full power USB port on the mCube Slim – which is perfect if you just need to charge your phone or PDA.
The charger is rated for AC power from 100V – 240V, so it’ll work anywhere in the world. Best of all, it comes with several integrated protection systems to safeguard you and your computer from bad power.
The charger comes with a really nice nylon carrying bag with two sections – one for the charger and its cord, and one for the AC cord and power tips. When in its case, the entire package is really compact, plus you have some extra room in the case for items like USB cords or other charging cables.
Final thoughts
In use, the charger does get warm, but not too hot to handle. The 65 watt capacity should be sufficient for most laptop computers, but old(er) high power machines may pull too much. In those cases, the mCube Slim may only be able to charge and not power the laptop.
My only minor gripe with the mCube Slim is the AC cord – for some reason, Innergie deliver the charger with a really bulky and long AC cord, almost doubling the unit in weight. Thankfully, I have an assortment of much smaller AC cords, which make the whole package even lighter.
The mCube Slim does not charge off DC or AIR power sources, so you will need to invest in a second charger for those sources (Innergie just released the world’s smallest car/air charger with the mCube Mini)
Any gadget that can lighten the weight of my gadget arsenal is a winner in my books, and the Innergie mCube Slim does this in a really well designed package, with the added bonus of a USB charging port, a large assortment of power tips and a handy carrying case.
The mCube Slim will be available directly from MyInnergie.com some time in Q1, the retail price has not yet been announced.