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USB output too low
**This review relates to the 1 Amp, 3-outlet version and was posted prior to the introduction of the new products that have been combined into one listing.
To get directly to this items flaw... It cannot recharge/power more than one USB item at a time. So what's the point in having two USB outputs?
The 120V outlets work as advertised. The ability to rotate the prongs is a plus as it can be adjusted to most if not all outlets.
The USB power fails if more than one item at a time is plugged into the surge protector. Even if, say your phone is fully charged, if you go to connect another item to run or charge, the surge protector will not supply the power that both items demand. The items that are connected will act as if they have been disconnected from their power source, then once the surge protector accumulates enough power(not certain, but seem to act as if there are capacitors)to start supplying power once again the items connected to the USB ports start to operate briefly until the surge protector cannot supply enough power for the two items.
As stated before, it will supply ONE item with power, without a problem. But will not supply enough power for two, even if one item is fully charged.
** Thank you Jeff Backe, I've been putting off editing this post in response to all the people saying that '500mA is the standard' for quite some time. This 500mA WAS the standard well before I made this purchase. The newer standard for wall chargers, which I believe this falls under, has been out since around mid 2007. This new specification is UP TO 1800mA(1.8A) per port.
When I made my purchase there also weren't the nice pictures that show you the current rates. So there really wasn't any way for me to know this until I received it.
Another thing, this item is rated at 500mA(.5mA) per port but is not actually limited to 500mA at the port if you only plug in one item. In other words, the way this item is configured it will actually put out the full 1000mA(1A)through one port, hence the reason you can plug in a high current draw device using one port. But when you plug in that second item the 1000mA is now split in half or however much each device is trying to draw. It is only able to keep up with this high demand for a short while until its capacitors are drained and cuts off supplying power, then quickly recharges the capacitors and re-establishes the supply of power once again. This cycling can't be good for either device.
**edited
June 2010 · Electronics