Gatemate [Kickstarter]
 

Saw this on my Facebook feed and thought it looked interesting. Its essentially a table with a power source that you can attach to your carry on while waiting at the gate for your flight.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/41430832/gatemate

While I can appreciate the motive for sharing this with us - and I thank you for it - just let me say I think that more properly belongs in the "useless travel items" thread.

Just sayin'. That's a lot of extra bulk to lug around.

I have a similar device that I use to work on while waiting for my flight, except it comes with coffee, bad snacks and televisions. It's called the business lounge. :)

Hey, I have the same device as you! :D

All seriousness if one travel enough to need one of these they would most likely have lounge privileges.

How many AA batteries? I am surprised that the device itself is not rechargeable.

This. I think a bit more consumer research is in order.

Agree completely. I can't really see anybody who travels regularly lugging one of these around. Kind of like these:

http://www.jaunted.com/files/5957/skyrest.jpg

It's small and light (10 ounces) and stores in the front pocket of your carry-on. A little easier to handle than the pillow! :) 95% of travelers do not have access to business lounges and with early checkins are sitting at the gate for an hour or more! There are a few problems with a permanent battery, first they have a shelf life (they die over time) and then in time you have the product with a non-working battery, plus if you show up and it's not charged you have the same problem others have of looking for a plug in that is not available. You can load it with rechargeable batteries but still have the option to buy replaceable batteries in a pinch!

Finding outlets is increasingly less of a problem in airports. If you want a travel sized battery pack, they come in sizes as small as a deck of cards. And I've never had any issues putting the lap back in laptop when there are no tables around, at least none that would warrant buying much less carrying something like this.

Welcome to Flyertalk.

If you are affiliated with the product we are discussing it would be appropriate for you to mention this. I am not convinced that rechargeable AA's are a good solution because they usually deliver only 1.2 volts per cells. I would still like to know how may AA batteries it uses, and if there is any provision for storing a spare set of AA cells within the device, which would make it more practical to use rechargeable AA cells without carrying a separate recharger.

This product is for nerds. There has to be a more elegant solution.

You know what? I have one of those and have used it, admittedly long ago and switched to lie flat since :) but while goofy it does work.

Poor execution of a interesting idea. Why it doesn't use a rechargeable battery is just stupid.

I am thinking not.

-Patrick

Hi Mia, yes I am affiliated with the product, someone sent me a message that lead me to the thread. Maybe some of you are not familiar with how kickstarter works, it's basically a platform to introduce an idea or concept, although that seems to be changing with bigger companies now using it for promotion, and funders then provide their input to development ideas before the actual product is produced. We are traditional kickstarter users, we make our living in patents and marketing, and have an idea that has been well received in consumer tests and surveys and want to see the level of interest that is out there.

We are using kickstarter as a funding platform (if the campaign is not successful we might produce it on our own as we do have an expression of interest from an airport retailer), but also for feedback, so comments here are great, even though they tend to be negative to the idea. We realize this is not for someone who has access to the executive lounge at the airport, but rather the typical guy who finds himself waiting at the gate forever because of early check-ins and flight delays... basically like the three of us.

It is only a prototype, in our literature we explain that it is 30% thicker than the actual product will be and this is because 3D plastic is not very sturdy and anything thinner than this would not support the ratchet. We are open to all ideas and suggestions, there is room to store more batteries probably, good idea, we hadn't considered that, and in early planning a built in battery was discussed. The concern was that a built in battery would be worn out before the rest of the unit, so it would be better to have access to fresh batteries, disposable or chargeable.

It is not large either, only 22cm by 20cm, not much thicker than a battery and we checked the largest suitcase retailer in western Canada and it comfortably fits in the front pocket of virtually every carry-on bag that has that front pocket... which normally sits empty otherwise. Weight would be about 10 ounces.

As for power, yes we have worked with circuitry people and we are told that three AA batteries will do the job but we will not build the thing in mass production until we have exact answers on all things, so again please realize that it is a patent pending idea that is open to modification, we are just getting started, the final product will likely be different in many ways.

There's 3 billion flights annually in the world, a lot of people waiting at gates, more than 10% use carry-on (300 million), we have the patent, and think some of those people will be happy to pull out a little table to generate some private space, hold their stuff and charge their phone. Time will tell!

I have a PowerBag backpack which is pretty great: http://www.amazon.com/Powerbag-Charg.../dp/B005JLQL26

The battery itself weighs about 7 ounces, recharges from flat in about 1 hour and a full charge is enough to fill my iPad twice from flat. My only complaint is that there are not enough pockets and compartments. It is basically a backpack with two massive compartments. I can fit a lot of stuff; it's just all dumped together.