Surprise — Your Old USB Car Charger Won’t Feed Your iPad

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griffin powerJolt
Griffin's PowerJolt

As noted by new iPad owners (including the Cult’s editor, Leander Kahney), the iPad is a hungry baby, and sucking at the teat of some older USB ports leaves it screaming for more juice.

What about keeping the iPad topped up on a road trip via the USB car-charger you bought last year? No can-do — the one or half-amp those older chargers generally put out is fine for the iPhone, but just like other aging USB ports, starves the iPad.

Which means you’ll end up having to pop for something like Griffin’s new PowerJolt for iPad or Kensington’s PowerBolt (yeah, no potential confusion there), both $25 — about $5 more than what the old, lower-rated units sell for; the chargers are backward-compatible and play happily with all current iPhones and iPods.

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