Sizzlin’ Summer Sweeps #Giveaway Day 23: Powermat Home & Office Bundle (ends 8/23)

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This post is part of the Sizzlin’ Summer Sweeps – 31 Days of Giveaways for July 2010, brought to you by Crazy Coupon Mommy and Sisterly Savings! Make sure you check out all the other awesome giveaways you can enter!

My life has been taken over by wires. My laptop is constantly plugged in so that I can constantly be blogging :) My cell phone is charging in the kitchen, while Ben’s charges in the bedroom. On the rare occasion I remember to charge my iPod, I usually can’t find the cord, there isn’t an outlet available and I have to share charge time with Ben’s iPod too. Now add my new bluetooth speakerphone to the mix and my home is a mountain of spaghetti cords just fighting for time at an outlet.

Then I saw the ads for the Powermat on TV and knew I just had to try it. I was lucky enough to be sent the Home & Office Mat, the Portable Mat, 2 Universal Powercube Receivers and the iPod/iPhone Dock for review. With Powermat, you have the ability to “lose the cords” and charge up to 3 devices wirelessly, as well as a forth via USB connection on the back of the unit – all a the same time.

How the Powermat works is by using magnetic induction and Powermat proprietary technology to charge your handheld devices. While this particular technology isn’t itself new, the idea of using it to charge the devices we use day in and day out is. As such, our devices (like cell phones) are not already equipped to be charged in this manner. So, in order for this to work, you have to outfit the devices you’d like to charge via the Powermat with receivers (a special replacement battery cover or a sleeve, depending on your device). Once this is done, you can simply drop your item on to the Powermat and charge.

The Home and Office Mat (retails for $99) comes with everything you need to get started to charge hundreds of different devices….NOT wirelessly (you’ll see in a minute what I mean). You get:

the mat itself
a Universal Power Cube with 8 tips
1. Mini USB and Micro USB (which covers the majority of your cell phones, bluetooth devices, Kindle, etc)
2. Apple (for iPod, iPhone, etc)
3. Samsung
4. LG
5. Nintendo DS lite and DSi
6. Sony PSP and eReader
a Universal Power Supply

This kit allows you to begin using the Powermat immediately and able to charge just about anything by placing the Power Cube onto the mat and then plugging in your desired device. I know, I know – so whats the difference between just plugging your item directly into the wall? Well, at this point none. *except* for the fact that the Powermat is “smart” and knows when your device is fully charged – at which point it ceases to deliver energy to it, thus being green and not wasting electricity.

However, if you load up the mat and use up all 3 “wireless” stations as well as the USB connection in the back, you now have a nice, organized electronics charging station that only uses ONE outlet. For me, this is a big PLUS. It always seems that I can never find enough outlets or that my stuff is scattered around the house. This is also a much safer solution for my baby – who seems to gravitate towards every cord possible to place into his mouth :)

As you can see (this is the Portable Mat), I’m charging my Android G1 phone, my Jabra Cruiser bluetooth speakerphone, my old school iPod Nano AND my Flip SlideHD video camera all with a single power outlet – I like it!! Each of the 3 stations has its own light indicator on the front that lets you know when it is charging. As I am writing this, I glanced over to the mat and noticed that 2 of the lights have gone out (for my cell phone and the bluetooth speakerphone). This lets me know that those two devices are fully charged and the mat is not wasting energy by continuing to push a charge through to them – cool!

Now, like I said earlier, if I wanted to just “drop and charge” wirelessly, I would need to purchase separately available (for *some* devices) receivers so that the device would be able to accept this sort of charging technology. Honestly, I do not own any of the devices that receivers are available for so I can’t really comment on it, but I am happy to just use the Power Cubes. While they aren’t a truly wireless way to charge my gadgets and gizmos, they do offer me the flexibility to charge just about ANYTHING I can possibly think of. I know this will come in really handy when we go on our annual ski trip to Whistler, Canada (um…can anyone guess why our kid is named Whistler?!?!?). We usually have about 7-8 people and there is always at least one person who forgets their charger for one thing or another. I can’t wait to “save the day” by having my Powermat with me and all the different tips :) The Portable Mat folds up neatly and comes with a handy case.

Overall, I like the Powermat and think it’s a useful gadget, however I do feel like this device is a little before its time. It is a very cool idea and I love that it has effectively reduced some of my electrical clutter – but I think the real value will come when manufacturers begin to build the receiver technology into our handheld devices. That way, they truly can be just drop and charge on mats like these without having to buy an additional sleeve or battery cover to make it compatible.

Wanna win it?
The folks over at Powermat USA have generously offered a giveaway for one lucky Crazy Coupon Mommy/Sisterly Savings reader to win!

A Powermat Home and Office Bundle complete with the Home and Office Powermat plus your choice of up to 3 receivers for the devices you use – over $200 Value!

How do I enter?

PLEASE follow directions!! Entering the giveaway is not hard – but if you do not complete the MANDATORY entry FIRST, your comments/entries will be deleted. If you have any questions about how to enter, please contact me…or just look at the comments above you and you will get the idea!

Just complete each of the following tasks and leave a comment for your entry(s)! Please leave one comment per task completed. (ie, if you do three of the following, you should leave three SEPARATE comments) Must be over 18 to enter. US residents only.

MANDATORY ENTRY – You MUST do this FIRST. If you do not do this, none of the other entries below will count and they WILL BE DELETED.

Visit the Powermat website and browse their line of receivers. Then, come back here and let me know which 3 receivers you would choose if you won this prize pack!

LOTS OF WAYS TO GET BONUS ENTRIES!! Once you have completed the above mandatory entry, you can do as many of the below as you like for extra entries Good luck!

(If you already are a subscriber, follow on Twitter or like on Facebook, that counts as one entry, so be sure to leave a comment saying you already do so!)

Subscribe to Crazy Coupon Mommy via RSS Reader or email
Subscribe to SisterlySavings via RSS Reader or email
Follow Powermat on Twitter
Follow CCM on Twitter
Follow SS on Twitter
Tweet about this giveaway (just click on the retweet button at the very top right corner of this page – all the way up at the top! You can do this daily for extra entries! Just leave a comment each day you complete this task)
“Like” Powermat on Facebook AND be sure to let them know CrazyCouponMommy sent you and thank them for sponsoring this giveaway by leaving a post on their wall!
“Like” SS on Facebook
“Like” CCM on Facebook
Share this giveaway on Facebook by clicking on the Share button below in the comment form!
Share this giveaway on Google by clicking on the Buzz button below in the comment form!
Vote for me on TopMommyBlogs (Be sure to click on words that say “Click here to vote”. You can do this daily for extra entries! Just leave a comment each date you vote.)
Vote for Whistler here (You can do this daily for extra entries! Just leave a comment each date you vote.)
Become a public follower of Crazy Coupon Mommy (Scroll all the way down to bottom of this page and look for this button
Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with a link to your blog post (this earns you 3 entries! Be sure to leave a separate comment for each!)
Got a blog or webpage? Place my link button on your site and leave the URL of where I can see it.

giveaways

***IMPORTANT*** You need to leave a separate comment for each of the above that you complete. Each comment acts as one entry, so if you only leave one comment saying “I did 1-3 above” then you’ll only get ONE entry instead of the 3 you deserve!

Contest will end 8/23/ 2010 at 11:59pm PST. The winner will be chosen randomly via computer using “And the Winner is…” WordPress Plugin or Random.org. Winner will be notified by a blog post (so be sure to subscribe to my newsletter so that you don’t miss the winner announcement!). Winner must respond within 48 hours or another random winner will be chosen.

Many thanks to Powermat USA who provided me with samples for the purpose of this review, as well as one prize package to giveaway to a randomly selected winner. I was not required to write a positive review and no other type of compensation was received. My reviews are always 100% honest and 100% my own.

WANT TO DOUBLE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING? Sisterly Savings is giving away one too! Be sure to enter her giveaway here!