Can you walk into a Apple store without buying something? I have mixed luck, generally walking out with nothing when with friends. Get me in there by myself and give me time to play a bit… swish goes my card. Hardware I go in with the plan to buy, software I get online, but gadget accessories are so much easier to compare in the store than online.

On my last trip, I noticed a section of car chargers for the iPhone (iPad too?). This has become more important to me as I am finding my usage of bluetooth has increased quite a bit. Between the office Bluetooth speaker and the car hands free, the battery is pretty low by my drive home. Going through the options Apple had on the wall display, many of the chargers with multiple plugs looked nice. Then, I saw a Kensington micro model that offered a USB plug almost flush with the plug top. I had not seen these before, everything always towers up out to hit your arm on. Or, in the case of my car, the plug is way under the dash lower edge so most of the long chargers wont fit in.

I buzzed home to get a picture before trying it out… just in case I loved or hated it I would have a clean image to mention it.

I can say, it slipped in and has been doing a nice job of keeping my iPhone charged up. The power is charging my iPhone even when being used as a handsfree… I would have been happy with just being able to run off of the car power so charging is a plus.

The thin/flat top sits down right on top of the car’s power plug. Mine is out of the way so I have not had to pull it out between usage, but if you had to you may break a fingernail trying to get it out since it does sit so low and snug. As seen in the picture, a cable is included. You may also notice I paid $24.95, which I thought was a good price till I went to Kensington’s site and found they charge $19.95 there. Not worth my time to take it back, plus I don’t want to be without it.
Here’s a link directly to Kensington’s Mini Charger if you want to see what the manufacture has to say.