The Nano and GPS recognized the connection and seemed to charge off it in my car without any problems. The Zen recognized the connection intermittently, but would not charge off of it, though. However, the Zen wouldn't charge off my powered USB hub or the iPod's wall-charger adapter. Further digging revealed that the Zen is specifically made not to work with anything but an actual computer or a special adapter from Creative itself. Apparently it has to be able to "communicate" back and forth with whatever's charging it, so the fault lies with the player, not the charger.
Being the size of most other cigarette-lighter adapters and featuring dual connections so you can charge two devices at once, it will likely save you money having to buy multiple unique adapters for all your gizmos. That is, unless you own a Zen. It's been working fine for a few weeks now, though I can't swear to how it'll hold up over several months or years of use. It's given me no reason to think it won't perform admirably for charging on the go. The review unit came with no packaging or manual, but I didn't really see a need for them. If you can't figure out how to use it or don't know what it's for, you wouldn't be shopping for something like this in the first place.
While you can find comparable items at Amazon or other outlets for about the same base price, BudgetGadgets.com offers free shipping on virtually everything the sell, as well as discounts for buying in quantity.
In the end, it seems you can save money and still get peripherals that work just fine.
Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
I've never used one of these flexy keyboards, but somehow this doesn't surprise me. The big heavy clicky IBM keyboards are still my theoretical ideal, though I don't use one any more.
2 - Mark Buckingham
Sounds like the keyboards used for my typing class in high school. The firm and loud clicking feedback definitely let me know when the keypress registered.
I have non-flexy Logitech slim backlit keyboard I got around Christmas I've been meaning to review that I really like, despite its quietness and shallow key press depth.
3 - w I Got a Free iPhone With Free iPhone Apps
I was just now googling around about this when I came by your post. I'm simply stopping by to say that I very much liked seeing this post, it's very well written. Are you going to post more on this? It seems like there's more depth here for later posts.