We believe that this is an isolated incident. We have sold a lot of these products. Genentech deploys thousands of our car chargers to their mobile sales personnel for usage on a daily basis without any incident.

The full nature of what actually happened cannot be determined without examining the actual unit. We cannot discount the possibility of external factors contributing to the problem. In any case, the safety protection circuitry in our products would always prevent any damage to the computer even if the worst happened.

We stand by our products as good quality, reliable products. Rave reviews and awards by reputable websites like Engadget, Gizmodo, Macworld as well as from many of our users lay claim to that belief. Our products are backed by a 1 year warranty so users can have the greatest peace of mind knowing that their investment will be safe.

this latest post is obviously a plant, and not a very informed plant.

The iGo is an adapter. It does NOT hold any charge at ALL (as referenced by “now not being able to hold any charge on its own”)! It only plugs into various outlets such as AC and DC power and is NOT a battery!

The Hypermac in which the post was referring too is a battery, and in that case it DOES hold a charge.

Thanks,
Mikegyver.com

After several attempted follow-ups, Power My Mac has not followed through with their offer to provide a review unit to us. So we regrettably are unable to provide our readers with information on their products.

Thanks!
Mikegyver.com

No, the HyperMac & Mikeguyver 12v adapter products would not work on anything other than an Apple products that uses the proprietary magnetic power thingy. That’s why they’re a specialty niche product. There are lots of options for non-Apple products already out there.

BTW, Chris & Cherie, you have the most amazing blog! So much great information. And I’m a big fan of Tales from Technomadia on YouTube!

Never had we been able to just work and work and work…without having to look for an AC outlet!

FirstLook/FirstUse here:
http://www.rainydaymagazine.com/RDM2009/Home/November/Week2/RDMHomeNov1009.htm#HyperMac

Sincerely,
RainyDayInterns

I’m sorry. There is very little I can say to take it all back.

After that episode and upon refecting, I should never have let my buttons be pushed. That’s why I left the debate.

Again I am sorry. You should not have gone throught that and I am embarressed to even have let it go that far.

Mike

ps. At cost of loosing you as a potential customer, you do have Many more direct DC to DC adapters for the MacBook out there now. And they are not offered by us. Just google for it and you now have plenty of other vendors.

So, since I refuse to by anything from them, what dc-dc adaptor should I get? much thanks in advance,
matt

I believe they just mention a 12v car battery(for the person in your field), but other customers have used deep cycle batteries and in this case the iGo would work perfactly or our Mikegyver kit.

Pls contact us directly if you would like to have a chat with my other user in your field. I will of course ask his permission.

Thanks!
Mikegyver.com

Where are reading that the car must be running?

All our adapters will work with 12v battery alone. In fact we alrady have people in your field using our adapter with success.

But as Chris noted, the Kensington does have a low power shut off so that you can’t drain your battery below here where you can’t start your car. So as Chris noted the iGo has a better bet as its low shut off is a little more tolerant below 12v.

Thanks,
mikegyver.com

Thanks for what you do,
Doug

Not only do the 2 articles look quite different to me, your claim that Hypermac took everything directly from your site is simply ridiculous.

Stop being a kid and keep your word that your previous post will be your last.

I’m seriously tired of your whinning.

If your products are anything like your words, I don’t recommend that anyone should trust them at all!

From Power My Mac’s FAQ’s Page (http://www.powermymac.com/faq.html)

Why should I use the Power My Mac DC-DC Power Adapter instead of an DC-AC power inverter?

There are many reasons to avoid using a DC-AC Power Inverter. Here are just a few:

1. Quasi-sine Wave (Modified-sine Wave) inverters frequently do not operate correctly with the AC/DC adapters supplied with notebooks. Pure-sine Wave inverters will operate properly but are substantially larger and much more costly than the Quasi-sine Wave inverters. Quasi-sine Wave (Modified-sine Wave) inverters used with any sort of continue basis, have been shown to cause damage to the AC Adapters and can potentially damage the Laptop.

2. Typical efficiency of Power My Mac (Lind DC/DC) adapters is 92%. The typical efficiency of Inverters is less than 85% combined with the typical efficiency of the AC/DC converters (wall plug-in) is 80%. Using an Inverter and an AC/DC in combination results in an overall efficiency of 68% (0.85 times 0.8). An inverter based power system will therefore consume 32% more power from a DC power source than it provides to the notebook.

3. Power My Mac (Lind) DC-DC Power Adapters have low levels of EMI (Electronical) noise in comparison to Quasi-sine Wave Inverters. Low levels of EMI are essential in many applications. High levels of EMI noise can also produce wiggles in your screen and/or a buzz in your speakers. This is not something you would want when watching a movie, much less working on music or graphic design as this could influence a poor quality in your work.

4. High voltages are inherent in Inverters and present shock and fire hazards in the vehicle environment. Frayed cords and liquid spills can cause power arcing that can result in fires within the vehicle. Damaged cords could result in shock hazards to the operator that are particularly dangerous at the 110-volt AC level. The Power My Mac (Lind) DC/DC adapter has no voltage higher than the vehicle (aprox 12 VDC) or the laptops (16.5 VDC) voltage levels.

5. Power My Mac (Lind) DC Power Adapters are built to handle harsh environments. Lind adapters are fully potted so there are NO exposed circuitry or moving parts, such as fans, that could be damaged by liquid, dust, vibration and other hazards commonly found. (I could just imagine the spilling of beverages in the airplane or car.)

6. Lind adapters are smaller and more lightweight than the combination of a DC/AC inverter and an AC/DC converter. Inverter based systems feature long cables with modules in the middle of the cable system. This can be very awkward and messy, not to mention cables coming unplugged inadvertently.

————————————————————-
From HyperMac’s Product Page (http://www.hyperdrive.com/HyperMac-Pure-DC-Car-Charger-for-MacBook-p/mbp-car.htm)

Why HyperMac Car Charger is better than power inverters?

SAFE
Power inverters output high voltages (110 volts) which can be lethal if there is a short circuit or malfunction. A simple accident like a spilled drink on the inverter can potentially cause vehicular fire or fatal electric shocks. HyperMac Car Charger only output sufficient voltage (14.5~18.5 volts) enough to power your MacBook and is always safe to use.

GREEN
Power invertors work by stepping up the car’s voltage from 12 to 110 volts, converting from car’s direct current (DC) to the invertor’s alternating current (AC). The MacBook power adapter then steps down the inverter’s 110 volts AC to 14.5~18.5 volts DC. This whole step-up/step-down, DC to AC back to DC conversion process hurts energy efficiency by almost 50%. In the long run, it increases fuel consumption and shorten the lifespan of the car battery. HyperMac Car Charger involves a simple DC-DC (12V to 14.5~18.5 volts) conversion and is typically 92% energy efficient. Over time, it reduces fuel consumption and saves you money.

FIDELITY
Most power invertors available in the market (even the one sold at Apple Store) are not pure-sine wave inverters. The MacBook power adapter is not designed to work with such modified-sine wave inverters and continual usage may damage the power adapter and MacBook. Square-wave inverters also do not offer good voltage regulation or frequency stability which will degrade EM noise sensitive functions like audio,video,graphic playback and editing, communications, scientific measurements and calibrations. HyperMac Car Charger is a pure DC device with low electromagnetic interferance, producing a clean power signal, important for high fidelity work. It is a must use for professionals and non-professionals alike.

COMPACT
HyperMac Car Charger is smaller and lighter than any inverter and power adapter combinations. It features a direct connection from the automobile cigarette socket to the MacBook without messy inverters, power adapters and cables.

Your above statement basically sums up all the bull you are spreading.

I regret wasting my time to correct you.

We have already stated for the fact that even a small fire is an impossibility. Given that the recall was completed over one month ago, there was only one reported incident of a burnt capacity, the one that led to the recall. There was no fire and it certainly did not spread beyond the adapter casing, let alone burn down anything.

I don’t see the point with all your hypothetical “what if” scenarios. Anyway, you seem to take a particular interest in putting our company and products in an unfavorable light so one can only wonder your true affiliation.

I do feel it has become necessary to educate the consumer of our products being that HyperMac has come on here and attempted discount the quality of our product.

I will apologize for calling the HyperMac DC Adapter inferior. That was a bit out of line and may potentially even be off base. I personally have not tested your products. However, from looking at your website it seems that HyperDrive is a company manufacturing specialized memory card backup products, in China since 2002. Not until the middle of 2009 had I ever heard of your company in the DC Power marketplace which I have been a part of since 2000. It does not appear that you had marketed any products in that market until that time. (Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong on this.

1) Lind Electronics works with many companies directly to create DC-DC Power for their laptops and other devices. Some of these include, Panasonic, Xplore Technologies, Dell, General Dynamics/Itronix, and in the past Apple Computers and IBM. Lind is the stand alone leader in the DC-DC Power Market in Military, Healthcare and Public Safety. These are some of the reasons that we chose to ask Lind to design a DC-DC adapter for Power My Mac. We also really like that their DC-DC Power Adapters are made in the USA. I will say it again, Lind manufactures this DC-DC Adapter Core exclusively for Power My Mac.

The DC Power Adapter that Lind exclusively designed for Power My Mac is based on a 90 Watt configuration (for the 85W MacBook Pro) and on a 70 Watt configuration (65W MacBook). Sure they offer higher powered DC units, but that is not necessary for this configuration.

Lind offers MANY products, configurations and categories that Power My Mac does not offer at this time. Honestly I have no clue what brand microprocessor is used in this DC Power Adapter, all the components are fully potted and are not exposed to us, the consumer or any elements that could cause damage. We trust in Lind that they provide top of the line DC Power Products.

2) I have no idea what HyperMac’s quality is, what the efficiency levels are, or what levels of protection are offered in your DC Adapter product. There are no specifications listed on your website’s product page. In fact the only descriptions that are on the product webpage look like you took them directly from Power My Mac’s FAQ’s page.

3) As you can see from our Technical Specs the 65W DC Adapter is in a Smaller Extrusion than that for the 85W DC Adapter. So, I am not really where you get the redundancy of the product size of producing 105 Watts.

*) Regarding the 16.5V output that we provide to the MacBook Series.
All DC Output Power Voltage is going to fluctuate depending on the Load. Power My Mac DC-DC has a specified voltage range of a minimum of 16.1V at full load (85W) and 16.9V at no load. Both the MacBook and the MacBook Pro is looking for 16.5V ±5%. Actually the MacBook Pro runs most efficient at 16.5V about 95% of the time. The only times when the MacBook Pro MAY request the 18.5V is, for example, when a user is doing “Graphic Molding,” as this is very processor intensive. The lower voltage will not cause an issue to the user, and the power adapter will not cutout. You will notice that the AC Adapter for the MacBook Pro has both 16.5V and 18.5V capabilities. If you run test’s on this during operation, you would also notice that the AC Adapter is generating 16.5V the vast majority of the time, as referenced above.
The 16.5V is safer and more efficient for the MacBook Pro and does not run the risks of overcharging the MacBook Pro internal battery. This is the reason we have chosen to provide 16.5V instead of the 18.5V for the MacBook Pro models.

As another poster/consumer mentioned in a posting here, all this “bickering” is not putting a good face on any of our companies, and I do agree with that person.
I have not wanted to bicker, fight or argue this topic. Instead I have tried to answer the questions and claims that have been posted about my company and our products.
I truly hope the conversations here, by everyone, has helped provide information and understanding in what can potentially be a confusing product selection process. We want nothing but the best for the customer.

Bicker on but your potential customers are not impressed.

Glenn
St. Louis, Mo.

humm more Hype? what if they were few million dollar houses… but that’s not my point… can you buy a life?

If I get sometime, I’ll like to research this companies background. They sure make a lot of claims.

This thread sure looks like kindergardeners fighting in a playground with hyper big a new bully. I bet they can’t step away and will counter this comment with something “bigger”.

You can read that new post here.

I’ve also been doing a lot of testing of the HyperMac 12v power supply – look for a detailed review to be posted soon.

Few companies are so open as to actually share the engineering analysis explaining exactly what went wrong. Most companies would try to keep things as under-wraps as possible. Kudos to you for embracing openness.

Of the affected batch of capacitors, only a very small percentage would actually burn up. The PCB board and the ABS plastic case of the AC adapter are made of fire redundant materials. Even if every component in the adapter were to burn up, it would not even start a small fire or spread out of the AC adapter casing, let alone burn down a house.

The recall has been completed over a month ago and every affected customer were voluntarily shipped a replacement AC adapter. Till this very day, there is only one reported incident of a burnt capacitor, as already pointed out by you.

Our company has the financial capability to buy 100 houses if necessary and we are definitely bigger than our competitors who make similar MacBook power products.

You of course maintain your prerogative to buy from bigger brand name companies with more money and longer track record. But to say that they will less likely to have problems is like saying that banks will never go bankrupt.

It’s really funny when you said that because you started off with your first post by stating that HyperMac “most certainly are not the best for DC Power.”

Since you decide to make those comments about our products, we felt compelled to respond and rebut your statements.

1) Well if you look at http://www.lindelectronics.com/custom_adapter.php?OrderID=!ORDERID! , it would appear that anyone can “partner” and “team up” with LIND to “custom make” a DC power adapter. By comparing the specs between PowerMyMac (http://www.powermymac.com/technicalinfo.html) and above LIND webpage, it seems that the off-the-shelf DC power adapter direct from LIND is even better than PowerMyMac’s “custom made” LIND DC power adapter, with a wider input voltage range, larger max current/power output while maintaining the same weight and dimensions.

Put it this way, you did not manufacture anything from ground up. LIND certainly didn’t develop or manufacture the power adapter or microprocessor chipset EXCLUSIVELY for you. Your DC power adapter is as “customized” as a Dell PC.

2) Who is to say that our products do not produce the same if not better quality, clean and efficient power and COLOR? I’m pretty sure if you have the volume, LIND will spray paint their DC power adapter to white color and remove the LIND label at the same time.

3) Better heat dispersion does not make a product more efficient. In fact, an efficient product should produce lesser heat in the first place. The real reason for the size of the LIND DC Power Adapter is because it is rated up to 105W (as evident from above LIND webpage) when all the MacBook Pro need is 85W, even lesser for MacBook (65W) and MacBook Air (45W). That’s at least 20W of redundancy going to the size of the product, which is designed to disperse heat produced by a 105W source. Case in point, the original Apple MacBook adapter does relatively more complication AC-DC conversion, yet it is only half the size of the LIND DC power adapter.

The protections that you mentioned in the LIND power adapter are hardly rocket science, rather it is common-space technology found in virtually all power adapters.

All the safety protections in the world cannot distract from the fact that your 16.5V product is over-volting the MacBook Air (14.5V) and under-powering the MacBook Pro (18.5V), which only serves to do more harm than good for the MacBook and its internal battery.

This is a fact that you conveniently tried to sidestep.

I will, however, answer your incorrect and obviously uneducated claims about my companies product. (I am not saying you are uneducated, just that your claims about my product are uneducated or uninformed.)

1. Power My Mac, LLC has partnered with Lind Electronics to develop and manufacture the DC-DC Power Adapter core exclusively for Power My Mac. Lind Electronics has been manufacturing DC Power for Laptops for over 25 years. We have chosen to team up with Lind due to their Rugged and Durable DC Power Solutions, as well as their highly respected place in the mobile power market. We have chosen to leave the Lind label on the DC Brick because we want the customer to know that we have partnered with the leader in Rugged DC-DC Power.

This DC Power Adapter is NOT an “off-the-shelf” or ready made DC Power Adapter.
This DC Power Adapter is Custom Made with a digitally programmed Micro Processor.
(If you would like to get into more specifics, feel free to email me at sales@powermymac.com)

Power My Mac does use the exact same MagSafe Cable that is on the Apple AC Power Adapters. We fully respect Apple’s Patent on the MagSafe Connector. We do not manufacture the MagSafe Cable or Connector.

2. Color? Really, If that is the most important thing to you, and not protection with quality, clean, and efficient power; then maybe another product is a better fit for you.
Power My Mac is a small piece of a large puzzle for Lind. Every one of Lind’s power adapters are in the Black Ruggedized extrusion. They are known for that, and are not changing anytime soon. I’m OK with that, and I would like to think that our customers are as well. Thank you for your opinion on the appearance our “ugly” products.

3. The size of the Power My Mac DC Power Adapter is due to a few reasons.
The unit is fully potted to help disperse heat (making the unit very efficient, 91% on average) as well as protect the electronic components. This is a big reason why these DC Power Adapters are as rugged, sturdy and strong as they are (let’s put it this way, you can run it over with your car, and it will still function perfectly). There is also numerous protections in place to protect your investment in not only your DC Adapter but more importantly in your MacBook. Protections included in every power adapter are:
Spike, Surge, Over/Under Voltage, Short Circuit, and Over Temperature protection, all with Automatic Shut Down and Reset. There is also a replaceable 15A Mini Blade Fuse in the end of the Power Adapter.
We offer a 3 year warranty on our products. I’m not sure of another DC Power company that stands behind their products to that extent.

Like you said, let’s let the consumers and reviewers make their own choices.

I will not stand in your way as you talk in a positive light on your own products, and I hope that you allow us to educate the consumer on our own products. Please do not, in the future, make uninformed statements about my company or our products.

If anyone has any further questions or there is anything else we can do please do not hesitate to contact us at sales@powermymac.com

Best Regards,
Power My Mac, LLC

What is important is that we isolated and corrected the problem within almost 12 hours of first incident report. The reason why we are able to respond so fast is because we have our own R&D and engineering capability.

What happened was due to a faulty component (a capacitor) which we did not manufacture and could not have anticipated. We are not giving excuses, just stating facts, hence we did the voluntary recall of the power adapters. Just like Apple have to recall the batteries which uses lithium ion cells made by Sony Corp.

What QuickerTek didn’t tell you is that the MacBook Pro uses variable 16.5~18.5V voltage. While it is possible to use 16.5V (MacBook voltage) to power/charge the MacBook Pro, you will lose power the moment the MacBook Pro switches over to 18.5V during intensive operations. If your MacBook Pro internal battery is present, it will draw power from the internal battery instead from the external QuickerTek battery.

Depending on your usage, the MacBook Pro may switch between 16.5V and 18.5V many times within a short period. Rapid switching of charging and discharging states certainly won’t do the battery any good.

HyperMac on the other hand is able to adapt to the MacBook Pro variable voltage demands and provide a constant uninterrupted power source for all MacBook models.

It seems that Hypermac’s hype about doing their own manufacturing (ISO certified etc) from the ground up didn’t do so well for them… they have already issued a recall:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=708060&page=3

What if this burnt down my house?

I think i’ll stay with the name brands.

1) Why does PowerMyMac product bears another company’s name?
2) Why is a black power adapter and cigarette plug matched to a white MagSafe cable?
3) Why the need for a huge DC-DC power adapter that is 2 times the size of the original Apple MacBook AC-DC power adapter and 4 times the size of the HyperMac? Looks like a lot of redundancy (or inefficiency).

The answer is simple. PowerMyMac simply buys ready made DC-DC Power Adapters from Lind Electronics and hack in the MagSafe cable. “Manufacture from the ground up?” I don’t think so.

For HyperMac, we have our own ISO certified manufacturing facility and design our own product mold. That is why we are able to make all white accessories and efficient products that are compact and designed specifically for the Apple MacBook. You won’t find our products elsewhere unless it’s manufactured by us. We don’t simply buy big, ugly general purpose DC power adapters off the shelf from another company and call it our own.

We will let reviewers decide who has the best DC power but we can certainly show you why the HyperMac DC power is superior to PowerMyMac’s:

1) HyperMac DC power adapter is more compact and a quarter size of PowerMyMac.

2) HyperMac all white accessories are aesthetically better looking than PowerMyMac.
Take a look at our product http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/8068544_283Bg#526147969_gQhwA and compare it with what you see on PowerMyMac.

3) HyperMac DC power supports auto switching voltage between 14.5~18.5V. Hence it can be used to accurately power all MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models. PowerMyMac product is only able to output a fixed 16.5V voltage (see their specs). Hence PowerMyMac is over-volting the MacBook Air which only requires 14.5V and under-powering the MacBook Pro which uses variable 16.5~18.5V voltage. In other words, you will lose power from PowerMyMac when the MacBook Pro switches to 18.5V during intensive operations. You will also need to 2 different PowerMyMac products to power 3 different MacBook types: MacBook Air (14.5V), MacBook (16.5V) and MacBook Pro (16.5~18.5V).

I will admit that MikeGyver was the first to provide some sort of DC Power solution to the general public for the MacBook. HyperMac, however, has made many claims that they are “the first” when they clearly are not the first and most certainly are not the best for DC Power.
HyperMac’s External Battery Packs sure do intrigue me though, and at the price they are selling them for seem like a pretty good deal.