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This one's from the "Cool-But-Overpriced Tech" file: I bumped into Dr. Ferd's Wart Remover while I was searching on the term "wall wart" for my Wired Jargon Watch column. As you may or may not know, wall wart is slang for those ubiquitous AC adapters found on the ends of power cords on many computer peripherals and electronic gadgets. As soon as I eyeballed Dr. Ferd's Wart Remover in an online catalog, I knew I liked it. As I've commented here before, it seems completely clueless that so many surge suppressors don't have "block spacing" to accommodate these wall warts. Even the ones that do, often have only two block-spaced sockets. I almost always end up with more warts than I have sockets to accept them. 
Enter the Wart Remover. It's a plastic box with a two-prong socket on the end of a 14 1/2" cord with a two-prong plug on the other end. You put the box on the floor next to your power strip, plug the wall wart into the box, and then plug the box into the power strip. This way, you can have as many AC adapters as you want on a strip without covering over any sockets. Certainly, it makes the most sense to just buy surge suppressors that are blocked spaced, but if you already have an investment in high-quality power strips that don't have block spacing (e.g. I have 7 power strips and only three have any block spacing), the Wart Removers are a cool solution. But not at this price! Each Wart Remover will set you back ten bucks. The flyer that came with the product shows a "Before" picture with a six-socket power strip gobbled up by three AC adapters (a common problem). The "After" has four adapters in Wart Removers and two more at the ready. That's sixty bucks of Wart Removers plugged into a $25 suppressor! I don't think so. The Wart Remover is a great concept, but unless the price drops by at least 50%, I'll take my power strips the way they are, warts and all. - Gareth Branwyn [4/27/98] Other power management products reviewed on Street Tech (in order of our highest cred rating): |
