Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony In Car USB Charger for Sony music players

We have a few MP3 players and suchlike that charge only via USB or the mains. Each have proprietary ports on their case, and so all have their own unique USB lead. As for some odd reason MP3 players never have easy replaceable batteries like cameras or WalkMans of old, they always go flat on the hoof. So we bought this Sony in-car 12v USB power supply to recharge them in the car. We use it with a 12v multi 4 way car socket adapter to extend the 12v 'cigarette lighter' socket into the back for the kids. The USB charger has a very useful little green LED to say it's on [but the LEDs glow is sadly next to invisible in bright daylight]. The instructions do warn you not to switch the engine on [or off] with a unit charging as 'data stored on the portable device may be lost or damaged'. This Sony unit will automatically shut off if the input current is too high though, plus it has an inbuilt fuse. Apparently it works with standard 12v and 24v supplies [normal negative earth only].

Note that this charger is specifically designed for "Sony portable AV devices", e.g. Sony Walkman MP3 Players, although it works perfectly with our three ATMT MP3 players and Sansa e280 MP3 player [that are also designed to charge via their USB lead]. So far everytime we have plugged an MP3 player into the in-car Sony USB unit, it has charged correctly. Some say cheap generic USB 12v adapters often fail to activate the charge mode on their device - it tries PC talking instead. This has never happened with our Sony version yet.

Had the unit for six months now, and it seems well built and robust, which is important as any failure with the USB power connection could damage the MP3 player. That said the unit is a very tight squeeze into our cigarette lighter socket and the plastic groans a bit when dragging it out [however this does very usefully keep the USB socket firmly pointing in one direction]. Plus the USB socket itself works perfectly. Only other downside is that it gives the kids another opportunity to lose their USB leads while on the move. But it's still a hit and I'll give it five.

Does what its ment to do. Good build quility as with most sony products but would have been better if it was smaller. Good dilivery.

....and useless. I've so far tried it with my Sony Ericsson phone, garmin satnav, panasonic camera and it doesn't work with any of them. The phone and satnav both think I've plugged them into a PC. A friends cheapo version from Maplins works fine. It's also too big and the green power light is too small to see. It arrived in a blister pack so once you've cut your way into it you can't return it, not that you get any receipt or paperwork or return form from "Delux Digital".

Well wort having, particularly if you are able to plug
your player into an aux input on your car stereo.

Got this to keep my old Sony Walkman mp3 player charged in my car while its plugged into the aux port. Not a Sony geek and bought it because it was cheaper than most ubranded chargers of a similar ilk. Typical Sony quality and the fact the USB port is perpendicular to the body means it fits better into the space where its used. At £6 its a bit of a steal.