Your iPod is charged whenever it's connected to your computer, but for those times when you don't have your computer with you -- or to simply give yourself more charging options and locations -- Apple's iPod Power Adapter comes in handy. The adapter plugs into a standard wall outlet and provides a USB port, into which you plug Apple's USB dock-connector cable (or the USB plug of a first-generation iPod shuffle.) The latest version offers a significant advantage over the previous version: size. Compared to the original's 2.4" by 2.4" by 1.2" size, the new model's 1.8" by 1.8" by 1.2" size is nearly 45 percent smaller, and makes Apple's power adapter approximately the same size as the highly recommended models from Sonnet and i-rocks. Like Sonnet's adapter, Apple latest adapter includes a USB dock-connector cable so you can keep the cable included with your iPod connected to your computer.

Although Sonnet's adapter is $9 less than Apple's, the Apple adapter has one significant advantage: Because it incorporates Apple's standard removable-plug design, Apple's adapter can be used with the company's adapter cables and World Travel Adapter Kit.
--Dan Frakes

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