Introduction

I think by now just about every tech person has either heard of or seen pictures of wall power outlets with supplemental USB power. The first images of these products hit the web a couple of years ago and it became very clear from message boards and chat discussions that the concept was going to take off.

What wasn't so clear at the time was the negative aspects of these early USB power plugs. The first designs powered the USB ports all of the time. This slow but significant power draw kept your power meter spinning and as a result your electric bill increased like the national debt fused with an Energizer commercial - it just kept going and going and going.

Newer Technology has come up with a solution and a rather brilliant one at that. They figured out that you could put a micro switch inside the unit and only power the USB ports when you have a device plugged into the USB port.

The Newer Technology Power2U is designed to be an easy to install product that is perfect for the capable DIY person.

Today we'll look at the Power2U and walk you through a difficult install from my own kitchen.