With the summer fast approaching and the economy in decline, more and more of us are choosing to stay in the UK for their yearly holiday, altering the nature of the ‘staying on top of work’ beast.  Holidays abroad have for so long signalled the need for a laptop and the innate ability to search out a WiFi connection in the depth of the Pyrenees or on a snow capped peak.  Even with the advent of smartphones and always on email technology, the seasoned camper is still left in need of a simple way to charge their gadgets.

A solar charger is one option, although on a typically cloudy British summer day charging time can be almost half again.  If saving the planet is your aim, then this is the way to go.  If your break is dependent on a car, however, then Powertravellers Motormonkey could be just the gadget for you.
The motormonkey claims to be the ‘smallest, lightest in-car charger in the world’ with the ability to charge most mobile phones including those from Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, Blackberry and Sony Ericsson, as well as iPods, iPhones and PSPs.  So it won’t charge your laptop (although you can try Powertravellers powergorilla for that), but if you only want a sneaky peek of your emails when the family aren’t looking then this is the way to go.

The Motormonkey in plain and simple terms is like many other in-car chargers.  By plugging it into the largely redundant cigarette lighter you can charge a device as you drive.  It does, however, stand head and shoulders above its competition for one very simple reason - it will automatically shut down as soon as the battery is full and due to a clever ‘internal circuit’ will not drain the car battery if left in the socket.  In fact it is designed to live permanently and unobtrusively in position, only activating when the engine is running and a device (that needs charging) attached.

For £20 this seems like a bargain not to be missed.  With a sleek design, it even saves the age old dilemma of needing multiple chargers for multiple devices by coming complete with various adapters including a mini USB and retractable cable.

For more information on the gadgets specification visit Powertraveller