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Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

Short cord, eh..

Written by GP from La Jolla

Aug 15, 2008

The charger does what it is supposed to do, charge. The problem is the cord. It is'nt necessarily "short" like some other reviews state, but I think the problem is that the coiling of the cord is too "tight," which makes it seem too short. It is a good charger but not the one for you if you want to comfortably hold the phone from more than a foot or two away while it is being charged. The coil of the cord with spring the phone from your hand. I've tried to stretch the cord over time, but it remains taut.

84 of 94 people found this useful

Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

It just works

Written by AH from Somerset

Jul 23, 2008

Looking for compact car charger for the iPhone 3G, I found this one to be a no-brainer. It does what it's advertised to do, with the three different status lights a nice touch.

82 of 94 people found this useful

Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

Problems with low charge

Written by JC from Williamsburg

Aug 22, 2008

I purchased one of these from the AT&T store when I purchased my iPhone 3G. It seems to work just fine when the battery is 30-40% or higher. The cord is a bit short, but that is not a big deal.

The big problem I had with it involved using it when the battery was low and I was trying to use it. I had dropped the battery to about 25% on several calls while on the road which still showed it as green.

I plugged it into the car charger and got the light on the charger and I got the charge indicator on the iPhone so I know it was working. I turned on the GPS so I could track the rest of my trip into Tampa, FL. After a few minutes I got a 20% battery warning. I marked it up to the charger "catching up" with the new plug in status. Then about 5 minutes later I got a 10% charge warning. For some reason, I was pulling power faster than this car charger could supply it.

I should note that when I stopped actively using the map/GPS feature, the phone charged just fine. However, I find it unacceptable that any charger would not be able to keep up with the power demands of the device while being used and still actively charge the battery even at a slower rate.

26 of 28 people found this useful

Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

It does work for my iPhone 3GS!

Written by JV from Rye

Aug 9, 2009

Originally this is meant for the original iPhone, but it works with my iPhone 3G. When I bought the iPhone 3GS, I was hesitant to use this since I don't know what might happen to my new 3GS. A few weeks ago, I was driving to upstate NY and my 3GS was going dead on me. I had no choice but to use the Griffin Powerjolt SE Car Charger since I was on a very important phone call. Surprisingly, it worked! Since then, I use this every time I'm on the road and when my phone's battery is going out. Never had a problem with it whatsoever. Works perfectly with my iPhone 3GS.

21 of 23 people found this useful

Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

totally useless

Written by NV from Travelers Rest

Aug 22, 2008

I have tried this charger in several cars with the same result: the red light comes on, it never turns yellow or green; after 1hr the battery indicator shows no increase in charge and the iphone is too hot to touch. And the cable is too short! Waste of money...How do I give it a zero rating?

20 of 21 people found this useful

Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

Works great

Written by AE from valencia

Jan 25, 2009

I took this onto a camping trip where there were no electrical outlet. i stuck this into my car and it charged my iPhone like a charm. no problems what so ever. it turns green when you plug it in and then turns orange when you are charging, then goes back to green when it is charged. i have been using it from then pn and it still works amazingly. i recommend this product to everyone.

18 of 18 people found this useful

Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

Short Coiled Cord + Bluetooth = Heaven! (Charges at 66% wall charge rate)

Written by GB from RICHMOND HEIGHTS

Aug 13, 2009

Yes, this has a short, coiled cord, and that's why I bought it. I have Bluetooth, so I always use hands free mode in the car, so bringing the phone to my ear is never an issue.

Other chargers come with longer cords that are not coiled - ugh, what a mess that would be driving around like that!

Regarding charge time: This charger charges my iPhone 3GS at a speed 66% of that of the wall plug in charger (I have timed it). So, if my morning drive is 30 minutes, this will add 20% charge to my iPhone (no or very little talk time). If you're chatting away constantly, well, maybe it would be a little slower - I haven't checked that yet.

All in all, it's a good charger for 20 bucks.

16 of 17 people found this useful

Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

Weak cord.

Written by BT from SAINT HELENA

Dec 10, 2008

This charger has a curled cord which is meant to keep everything organized buy it is more trouble than it is worth. The main problem with this is that this curled cord never loosens up and in effect what could be a decent two and a half foot retractable cord becomes a one foot nightmare. The part of the cord connecting to your phone or iPod is also weak in comparison to the curled portion and if you are in the habit of picking up the phone without unplugging it first then this connecting bit gets worn out and will break off of the power cord leaving the plug in part inside you phone and exposed wires at the end of the power cable. This charger does work but it is not as durable as you might expect. I suggest unplugging your phone from it before using the phone and if at all possible do the unplugging without stretching the cable or else it might just fall apart in your hands.

15 of 17 people found this useful

Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

made way too cheap

Written by TS from Columbus

Sep 6, 2008

The cord is too short, these are not worth a nickel! I just cant believe that someone can not make a heavy duty charger, like the one I had for my Nextel phone, heavy coiled cord, bright blue charging light, these are cheap! apple makes a nice phone and then forget about the accessories, let another company profit from it, I wanna pay for a quality product! and these are not!

14 of 15 people found this useful

Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

Great Product. Simple & Easy

Written by LW from Mississuga

Oct 17, 2008

This car charger is awesome. It's a low profile design, and the status light is a great touch. No more unlocking the screen just to see if my iPhone is charged. Also has a fuse in it to prevent a surge from your cigarette lighter blowing up your iPhone. Best of all, that fuse is user replaceable should it ever happen.

5 Stars for simplicity, elegent design and innovative/easy fuse replacement.

11 of 11 people found this useful

Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

Could Be Better

Written by JD from Fairview

Aug 27, 2008

I have both models the PowerJolt and the SE. The SE's cord is just too short period.
If you are planning on docking in a holder , then fine - you don't need a longer cord.
I find it difficult to move the phone while charging. It will spring back to easy.
Get the Powerjolt - with the straight cord.

16 of 21 people found this useful

Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

Defective

Written by DR from San Clemente

Dec 12, 2008

Nice, simple charging plug for my iPhone in my car, but the few times I tried it the charge would go off and on. The cause was the 12v adapter plugs contact. Wiggling it would affect this. I had to constantly fiddle with it until it showed the "charging" symbol but most times it would not hold. Same in other car plugs. The cable is too short too and pulling on it would invariably move the plug and interrupt the contact. Very aggravating. $20 for this and an inconvenience to take back to the store.

18 of 27 people found this useful

Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

Limited range of motion

Written by AG from Hartsdale

Nov 17, 2008

I purchased this product in a pinch since I needed a car charger ASAP and it was the only model available at the AT&T store. It works well for the most part as far as charging is concerned. However the tightly coiled cord on the charger creates and extremely short range of motion that is very frustrating both using the phone or finding a place to rest your charging phone. In shore you are better off with the Griffin PowerJolt Car Charger not the "SE" model. Since they are the same price it is an easy choice to make.

10 of 11 people found this useful

Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

Works Great - Short Cord

Written by ER from Lafayette

Nov 9, 2008

I like the short cord because I use blue tooth in my car. Since the cord is short, I don't have extra cord taking up space and looking messy.

9 of 9 people found this useful

Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

Bought 2 and returned them - Cable way to short

Written by TG from Wauconda

Aug 14, 2008

I purchased two of these and had problems with them because the cable to WAY to short. In my SUV there is no way you can have the phone plugged in and talk at the same time. The connector seemed cheap to me as well that plugs into the base of the phone. Needless to say... I returned both at the Apple Store.

11 of 13 people found this useful

Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

Hissing noise while playing music

Written by DR from Denver

Apr 26, 2009

Both this and the USB cable version exhibit a hissing noise when charging while playing music. Used with iPhone and an auxiliary input into my deck from headphone jack.. if it happens with an iPod (don't know why it'd be different), the purpose of which is music, I can't imagine how it'd be acceptable.. only used for a day before I returned it, so not sure how well it charges.

8 of 9 people found this useful

Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

Written by RT from Santa Margherita Lig

Apr 7, 2009

Very well made, small and light.
Indicator to let you know when you are fully charged
Excellent value for money.

7 of 7 people found this useful

Griffin PowerJolt SE Car Charger for iPod or iPhone

Works great!

Written by JM from Eugene

Dec 9, 2008

I purchased this charger because of the short coiled cord. My other Griffin charger has a about a 3 ft cord, which was too long.

I have had this charger for about 3 weeks - so far so good. I would have given it 5 stars, however, I just believe the construction of the unit could have been a little better - which, for me is true of all Griffin products.

8 of 9 people found this useful