ebuck

I just recently acquired an iPod Touch, and will be travelling with it without a computer. Does anyone have experience/recommendations for keeping it charged up on a long flight? Will a standard car adapter work on AA? I asked one manufacturer about it and they did not recommend using their car adapter on an airplane as their adapter is rated at 12v and AA operates at 15v. Would appreciate any feedback from those who successfully keep their iPhones or iPod Touches charged up in the air. Thanks!

mzito

I don't know about cords for the empower ports, but I've used things similar to these:

http://www.amazon.com/Turbo-Charge-P.../dp/B000R1C42O

For long train and car rides - might be your best bet, and just bring a few sets of AA batteries.

jeffreyt

Just buy the standard car adapter for the iPod/iTouch/iPhone. I use Griffin's and keep both my iPhone and my iPods (as I have for years) charged up during the flight.

c_stanley

I have one of those with a 9V and I love it. It's ideal for extended travel, especially way off the grid. Small, simple, and no matter how far from civilization you are chances are pretty good you can get another battery in a pinch. Will run an ipod for days, as long as you remember not to leave it plugged in when you stow it.

SAN-man

I use a Giffin PowerJolt in both my car and on AA. In reality, I've not yet drained my 3G's battery on a flight even without using the charger, but I've also yet to fly transatlantic.

ebuck

Thanks for the responses. Griffin is the company that did not recommend using in the 15v outlet; it's good to know about real world experiences, however!

dstan

iGo products are another option, some of which will allow you to charge/run from a wall socket as well, albeit with more cables, etc. Probably worth it if you have a laptop to run off it as well, but the other options are probably better if you just want to run your iPod.

Alka

I used a Belkin auto adapter (about $25 if I remember correctly) with my iPod Touch just last week on flights between Germany and the States. No problems other than the passenger in the window seat bumping it when getting in and out.

Enjoy your Touch on the flight -- I loaded mine with favorite TV shows and music, plus FreeCell and Solitaire apps, and found the time passed quickly. Plus it was much easier than dealing with my laptop. You'll want to use something other than the standard ear buds, however.

By the way, it was easy to connect to the AC's Wi-Fi network, but I found I needed to open a new page in Safari and attempt to go to Google before the AC login page would appear. The Google Maps find yourself button would nicely pinpoint the club's location, too -- pretty neat.

Sommerfeld

Find a voltmeter and measure the "12V" output in your car some time. You may find it enlightening. (I've seen 13.8V)

3Cforme

Griffin's answer is unfortunate and really quite foolish: nominal 12V automotive systems are really 14.4V, and peaks to 16V are common (and must be tolerated). If their products can't handle 15V on an airplane they will often prove to be junk in an auto.

CApreppie

I use the standard car charger that works with iPods/iPhones. For the plane I like the one where the usb can unplug from the adapter since its sort of a pain to have the tight curly cord pull the product toward the floor.

cartman13

airplane power is safer than using your your car lighter.

car lighters surge and have power fluctuations... airline power is much more regulated.

Check out the magsafe adapter for a mac for planes. it's a direct feed to the computer. But only to be used on planes. (nothing to handle surges in line). They will explicitly tell you it is not for use with autos.

So i wouldn't be worried about using your adapter on the plane.

ebuck

Many thanks for the reassurances!

EdV

I second the iGO. ^ I have one and absolutely love it for my travels. Funny though, I don't have one that is large enough to power my laptop. I bought the iGo "Everywhere" that is a 35W converter. Now I have tips (you buy one for every device you own and change them out) for my phone, wife's phone, my DS, camera, iPod, generic USB...etc. Instead of buying a new adapter with each device I just buy a $10 tip. Works in planes, cars (including empower) and regular outlets. Highly recommended

jeffreyt

Even with the fact that I have taken hundreds of flights with no problems, about 250 segments ago, I had a charger/adapter (I think it was a Belkin) that shorted out, created a little puff of smoke, and died right there in front of the view of the flight attendant. The power port kept going off - that should have been my clue right there - and so after asking the flight attendant to have it reset, she came back and said "Is it working?" and I said, "Let's see". The fun began. People thought it was a fire on board becuase it had that acute electrical smell. But the flight attendant who saw it then told the captain and crew on their phones so everyone would be aware. Needless to say, I went the rest of the flight without my charger.