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Sale Price: $8.99
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UPDATED: Aug 8, 2014:
Originally I gave this product a 1 Star. Since I have received genuine replacements from BlueMall and the BiruGear adapters work great I can now give these adapters a 5 star.
Because of my original review below, BlueMall contacted me concerned about where I had received such a bad adapter. After inspecting each item, I discovered that the adapters that I had received had no name printed on them and were probably Counterfeit Products.
They were Sold by FAIR TOP and shipped from HONG KONG.
James with BlueMall Customer Service informed me that they are the only authorized seller of GTMax brand merchandise and they are based in California and all of their merchandise are shipped from their CA warehouse.
He voluntarily sent me two BiruGear adapters without any cost to me. I received them within 2 days. I have tested them and they both work great. Recharging my cell phones and MP3 player is easy and fast.
Bottom Line:
BlueMall was not under any obligation to help me. Yet they saw that I was having a problem and they stepped in to help. How many companies do you know that will do that? You can rest assure that I have become a customer of BlueMall!!
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I purchased two of these and waited a few weeks for them to be shipped from Hong Kong. After finally receiving them I plugged one into my van's outlet and later tested the other one in my trucks outlet. I saw smoke come from their input areas and later after the smoked cleared I plugged different devices into each one and nothing happened. I had the same experience from both GTMax 2 Port USB Car Charger Adapters. I have bought many items from Amazon and this is the first time I have received not one but two items not working at all. You can make up your own mind if you want to buy this product or move on to something else.
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There are many compact, 12VDC car accessory USB chargers to be had almost everywhere these days and price, alone, is no indicator of overall quality or durability. You can pay more or pay less and not know, in advance, what you're getting.I chose the 2 amp, two USB port GTMax charger for several reasons:
1) the single-charge, 2A USB port (color coded blue) nicely matches my smartphone's recommended maximum USB charging current;
2) the dual concurrent-charge mode of 1A per USB port is capable of slow charging an external USB battery pack, while slowing down the discharge rate of the smartphone in use;
3) while higher current 12VDC USB car chargers are available and even though most "cigarette lighter" circuits are rated at >10A these days, I don't want to overheat the wires of that circuit when using the charger for hours on end of continuous use.
When plugged into an energized accessory socket, the GTMax has a red LED indicator the lights up, between the two USB ports. My LED never dims or flickers under any circumstances, which is reassuring.
My GTMax never gets warm or hot under full 2A loads for more than an hour.
The one thing I don't do is leave the GTMax plugged into an accessory socket when not in use.
Even though the electrical systems of modern cars are robustly stable (due to the power requirements of the car's own computers and sensors), I don't assume that accessory power ports are equally well supplied and robustly shielded from EM/RF noise. There's more than just DC power passing through the GTMax's USB ports, there's also charge-control data passing between the charging battery and the charger. By unplugging the GTMax, when not in use, I'm trying to protect the charging communications circuitry from additional wear and tear.
(If the manufacturer has instructions to the contrary,I welcome the clarification in comments to this review.)
Overall, after a month of use, I really like this device. I hope to get several years of use out of it.
Time will tell.
Best Deals for BIRUGEAR Metalic Black 2-Port USB Car Charger Adapter 2A output
This is a light weight car charger that allows you to charge more than one item at a time. I like this because I don't have to buy a new charger when I get a new phone again. The price is worth the buck. So glad I got this car charger. Saved a good amount of money and got great quality.Honest reviews on BIRUGEAR Metalic Black 2-Port USB Car Charger Adapter 2A output
this item fits in a true "power point" port. i had previously bought another brand off of amazon, and though it did work it a cigarette lighter in my 80's truck, it was not long enough to work in my 2000's Honda power point.This one fits BOTH styles and seems to put out enough power to charge my digital media player and a Nintendo ds at the same time with no problems. Only weird thing is the media player thinks i plugged it into a computer instead of a usb charger.UPDATE 3-14-13
unit quit working.the indicator light is still on showing power but it will not charge anything.I have tried many cables and all my usb devices, nada. I leave this plugged in the socket all the time, so perhaps that has something to do with it, however the longest time the car was on non stop was only an hour,and nothing was charging then. worked great for less than 2 months, now nothing.........
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for BIRUGEAR Metalic Black 2-Port USB Car Charger Adapter 2A output
Charges my phone, however there is an incredible level of static that comes through my car's stereo when I plug the aux cord in using this charger.Edit: The seller did offer to reimburse me for the purchase which makes up for it.
