Monster Power Outlets To Go 200 Global Adapter

I'm an airline pilot that does a lot of international travel. A good plug adapter is a must and I have used several. This adapter caught my eye when I was researching Monster's OTG travel power strip. Given how much I liked the power strip and Monster's reputation for quality, I decided to order it through amazon. I've now owned and used this for about two months in countries such as Korea, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, mainland China, and Germany. While I was initially skeptical about Monster's unique approach with some of this adapter's features, I have grown to like it and it has now replaced my previous "favorite" adapter.What I like.. First, it is the most compact universal adapter that I have ever seen or used. It has a USB port for charging and best of all it has a second outlet. I cannot tell you how many times in a hotel that I have had to choose between having a lamp, or using my net-book. Now I can use both thanks to the second outlet.What I don't like... About the only real complaint I have with this is it is not grounded.What would I wish for.... A second USB port.Now onto the actual review...First, as I stated above it is the most compact of the universal adapters I have ever used. This is really nice as space in my baggage is at a premium. Monster was able to do this because they took two unique approaches to the European portion and the UK plug which saved a lot of space. The European plug is the typical fold out with two round pins, but they are too short to fit into the recessed outlets. To use the OTG200 in a recessed outlet you have to extend the pins by unscrewing the tips. They will then pull out until they reach a stop. Then you have to turn them again (counter-clockwise) till they stop. In this configuration they will reach into those recessed outlets. The OTG will work with both the "schucko" (German) outlet and the French version. When plugged into a recessed outlet the OTG200 feels a bit loose or wobbly, but no more than any other universal adapter. However it supported the weight of my clunky net-book plug without a problem.The UK plug is also a unique approach on the OTG200. Instead of using a separate square plug, OTG utilizes the round pins of the European plug. With the addition of a fold out plastic ground. OTG's designers must have been aware of the practice of using European round pin plugs in UK style outlets. I too have seen this done many times, particularly in the Middle East. As I explained above, when using the round pins in recessed outlets, the pins must be extended. but for UK outlets the pins must be left in the shorter position. Then you fold out that plastic ground and you a ready for UK style outlets. Some reading this may be wondering "why bother with a plastic ground?" The answer is simple, UK style outlets will not allow you to plug anything into them unless something is inserted into the ground. Otherwise, the outlet mechanically locks out the main plugs. When plugged into a UK style outlet the OTG feels firm with little wobble.There are also a spade type plug that can be used in the USA, Canada, Mexico, or when slanted, Mainland China, Australia, or New Zealand. These work like any other universal adapter. Fold them out then you either leave them vertical, or angle them depending on what country you are in. They feel firm when plugged in with little or no wobble. While in Shanghai, I ran into an issue that is worth mentioning. Without a grounded plug, I could not insert the OTG200 into an outlet. Like the UK outlets mentioned above, the Chinese outlets also locked out the plug unless something was inserted into the ground. Luckily the hotel provided universal outlets that would accept my US plugs without the need for an adapter. I do not know if this situation exists in other parts of mainland China, or Australia. Maybe somebody will chime in with a comment below. I'm not going to take away any stars from this review as no universal adapter I am aware addresses this issue. But it is something designers will need to address in the future.The extra outlet is a nice and welcome addition. You can now plug in two items at once. Unlike the main outlet, the extra outlet does not work with all plugs. It will not accept UK, or grounded plugs. It will only work with European round plugs or US spade plugs. I am not sure whether or not it will accept the angled spade plugs used by China. Since I don't own any of these kind of plugs, I could not test this.The USB works really good at charging my Android smart phone, my MP3 player, or my battery charger. I do not own an I-Pad so I cannot tell you if this will supply the needed amperage to fully charge one. But for my purposes it works great. So well that I do not carry a extra USB/AC adapter anymore.There is not really much more to say. This is a nice Universal adapter that works well. Don't hesitate to try one for yourself. I am going to upload some pictures, so please check them out. They may help clarify something that I did not explain well enough above.

This adapter is a solid, small convenient global plug adapter that replaces the typical much larger types. As a big advantage, it has two outlets and a USB charger that usually requires another separate charger and another outlet adapter. I have used this USB charger (5V, 1 amp) successfully to charge my iPad Air (this 1 amp USB charger is slower to fully charge it than the 2.1 amp Apple iPad charger), iPhone 5S and iPhone 4G. I actually have found this product is great for domestic USA hotel use since it can expand a single USA outlet into two, and also has the USB charger on the same single outlet. The instruction manual says the device is only rated for a total of 6 amps, so I have only used it for charging my notebooks, tablets and phones simultaneously. I would not want to try plugging in a steam iron or big lamp into it. I really like having this small combination USB charger, outlet expander, and plug adapter to use for both domestic and international travel.

This wonderful little adapter is not tiny but it's smaller than the other multi-country adapters---and plus you get a USB port! It works with both 110V and 220V---even the USB. I've verified that USB port works in the USA, in Brazil 110V, in Brazil 220V, in the UK, and in France. It seemed to get a little hot using the USB port in the Brazil 220V port, but I haven't seen this in other 220V plugs (although I will note that I did not use the same physical adapter both times, although the models were the same).Besides the USB plug on the top, the other added bonus is a (non-grounded) plug on the bottom. There are pop-out plastic prongs to secure the adapter in UK-style plugs, and the normal plugs screw out to reach deep sockets, although in the latter case I've seen some sockets where the plugs extended too long and one had to half-insert the adapter to get current.I'm ordering another one right now.

This adapter is great and smaller and more compact than my previous adapter. There is one annoyance about this adapter though. In Australia, most outlets have a switch right above the outlet. This Adapter will cover the outlet's switch making it hard to operate the switch, however more importantly, it does not sit flush against the wall plate, so it's a tiny bit loose. It is still OK and as long as I made sure it's pushed in carefully, it will work. I still prefer this than my older one because of its shape and size. Also while the design is quite clever in how it slightly twists the prongs from the USA to Australian standard, it's two extra steps to take as each prong needs to be twisted individually to match the Australian outlet.

Overheated after using it several times. The adapter is great - it's slim, lightweight and works well enough, but on the second day I was using it, I noticed that my phone wasn't charging. The adapter was hot to the touch and smelled of burning plastic. I unplugged it, waited an hour or so and it started working again without issue.The following day, I noticed the same thing, but this time I wasn't near the outlet when it stopped working. It was too hot to touch and I w as afraid to use it again. I've requested a refund.I would give it one star, except that this doesn't seem to be a problem for most people. I'm still debating whether I should order a replacement.

I bought the adapter after reading the reviews for my trip to ICELAND, the UK and FRANCE. I had my Apple adapters with me but I tried the USB plug and my iPod Touch and it charged. Just slowly.GOOD: the plugs actually are tight enough to both grip the North American plugs (cheap Chinese adapter I last bought had the plugs just slide right out and were literally useless), I liked the two plugs option and the unit didn't feel like it was going to fall apart instantly.BAD: I shouldn't have to read the instruction booklet to figure out some of the adapter's 'secrets' (like unscrewing the European prongs to make them long enough for French outlets. In fact, I learned how to do this from reading another Amazon review).The plug worked fine in Iceland since they have flat plug outlet surfaces. In the UK, the adapter worked but the plastic 3rd prong is flimsy and only anchored to the unit by a bit of bulge plastic on either side of the swivel area. One jostle and the prong becomes disengaged. I spent about 10 minutes trying to manoever it back into position to use it again. France was the real problem. French plugs most often are situated at the bottom of a circular outlet. Adapters have to either be small enough so the width of the adapter fits within this circle's diametre or the prongs and casing have to be deep enough to clear the height of of the circular outlet casing.As mentioned, I only figured out how to elongate the prongs for these plugs from reading another review. I did that but only one unscrewed prong really locked. The adapter worked but I didn't want to depend on it since the other unlocked prong could decide at any time to just not withstand the pressure needed to fit the prong into the French plug and I'd be stuck. I ended up at Castorama (a hardware store) to buy another adapter.Also, if you plan on using both plugs on the unit, you may have problems if the North American plugs are the brick-like ones. There just isn't enough surface room to plug in even two small bricks and a heavier brick plugged into the front of the adapter began to pull the whole adapter out of the wall outlet the one time I tried to use it for my camera recharger. Luckily, I found an outlet near the ground so the adapter was essentially sitting on the floor while plugged in and that helped immensely.I went specifically for the unit because I fully expected a great build quality and ease of use. Build quality - not great for the amount of money. Ease of use - I really shouldn't have to read an instruction book. A couple of simple diagrams right on the box or on the unit should have answered all questions.The unit seems like a great idea in theory but in my practice, it just didn't really justify the higher cost and think I'll go for better-quality single plug adapters next time.

Nice and small and does what I need it to while travelling to the more common Euro destinations.