Monster Cable Outlets to Go

I have finally found a solution to a road-warrior dilemma that I have had for a long time: what do I do when I need more power outlets than are available in my hotel or conference room? I had thought about dragging along a standard power strip. They have plenty of outlets, but are heavy and bulky. Another alternative was a multi-outlet adapter, but they can have a hard time fitting into those pop-up outlets built into modern conference tables.

A colleague recently pointed me to a solution: Monster Cable Outlets to Go. Tim over at Practical Travel Gear also has a nice review. An Outlets to Go has all of the flexibility of a power strip without the bulky size and weight. The outlets are spaced far enough apart to easily fit the wall-wart chargers I have to carry. Each model comes with a short cord with a three-pronged wall plug that conveniently stows in one of the outlets. There are three, four and six-port models available. The four and six-port models include a circuit breaker. Although the packaging claims that the three-port model includes a circuit breaker, I confirmed with Monster’s technical support that it does not. Another handy feature is the light-up plug, which tells you if you have plugged into a live wall outlet.

I picked up the three-port model from Amazon. I haven’t had to travel with it yet, but I’ve already found it handy to have at home when I temporarily needed three outlets but only had two available. That event alone was enough to justify a permanent space in my laptop bag.