If you have ever lost or damaged your notebook’s power cable before you understand how important and expensive they can be. The cable for my Eee PC runs just under $55 bucks on Amazon right now, and my old laptop’s cable was even more than that. Cooler Master recently introduced their SNA95 power supply for notebooks.  With 95 watts and adapters to fit almost any available notebooks the SNA95 looks like it could be a good replacement or supplement for your notebook. Let's take a closer look.

Product Name: Cooler Master SNA 95 Notebook power adapter

Review Sample Provided by: Cooler Master

Review by: Wes

Pictures by: Wes

Specifications

Packaging

With the purple and white color scheme it was easy to recognize the SNA95 as a Cooler Master product. The front includes a large window giving you almost full view of the entire power supply. On the bottom they have included icons for all of the products that you can use the SNA95 to charge. This is a little misleading, the SNA95 has adapters for most notebooks only, the only way to charge mp3 players and cell phones is using a USB cable that you would have to provide. The back of the packaging also has windows, this time you have a full view of all of the included adapters, this will help people figure out if the SNA95 will power their notebook.  Along side of that window there are a few of the main features along with a picture of the power supply. For those who are looking for a product listing or specifications you will find everything you need to know on the side of the package.  Inside everything is packed in a plastic clamshell to keep everything from bouncing around and protected. Hidden inside of the packaging was a black carrying pouch to hold everything together when not in use.

Installation/Setup

After consulting the application listing on the side of the packaging or THIS one online,  you will have an idea of what color adapter you will need. I highly recommend that you check with that website prior to buying the SNA95 if you own a dell laptop due to some incompatibility issues. From there all you have to do is attach the colored plug adapter and plug everything in (into the wall, notebook, and attaching the power cord to the power supply “brick”). Once plugged in you are all finished up.

Performance

Using the SNA95 as a power adapter for both my Eee PC and my gateway laptop gave me a good idea of how it would hold up in everyday use. The power brick itself was considerably bigger than the adapter for my Eee PC and thinner but wider than the power adapter for the gateway also, of course nether of them have anywhere near the 95 watts of output that the SNA95 has. The SNA95 also includes a (detachable) cord wrap to make packing everything up easy. The power USB port was also helpful for charging my phone and my Bluetooth headphones when needed without having to have a notebook out. When the USB port is in use the power light (white when adapter is powered on) turns blue. The SNA95 charged both of my notebooks without incident. The SNA95 performed no better or worse than the factory chargers (outside of the USB port).

Overall

After spending some time with the SNA95 I was very impressed with the ability to be able to charge more than one laptop with one power supply. That along with the included USB port make it perfect for people who travel with multiple electronic devices. With that being said, the price of the SNA95 is in line with prices for some notebook power supplies like my gateway. But in the case of the lower wattage Eee PC power supply, it's cheaper to go with a factory replacement. Because of this the SNA95 will only be worth it for people who have multiple devices they need to power, or are looking for replacements for larger power supplies. When compared to universal power adapters from other companies (Kensington, Targus, ect) the SNA95 does seem like a value, and its size is noticeably thinner. If you are a gadget keep like I am and travel this would be perfect for you, I know I plan on packing it on our next trip.

Author Bio

Author: garfi3ldWebsite: http://lanoc.org

Editor-in-chief

You might call him obsessed or just a hardcore geek. Wes's obsession with gaming hardware and gadgets isn't anything new, he could be found taking things apart even as a child. When not poking around in PC's he can be found playing League of Legends, Awesomenauts, or Civilization 5 or watching a wide variety of TV shows and Movies. A car guy at heart, the same things that draw him into tweaking cars apply when building good looking fast computers. If you are interested in writing for Wes here at LanOC you can reach out to him directly using our contact form.