It was in November last year when we presented SNA 95, the predecessor of the device we’re reviewing today that got fairly good reviews at the time. We first spotted its inheritor at CES in Las Vegas, but the version we saw back then was still in its early development stages, whereas the CEBIT one was already close to the final version, almost identical to the one we have in front of ourselves, and the one that we have had to wait for a bit longer than expected. The heir got an additional character, the letter U, so it’s now called USNA (Ultra Slim Notebook Adapter), but it’s also lost quite a lot - in weight, in dimensions and the handy canal for winding cables.

It’s simply incredible (albeit true) that this adapter can deliver 95 W of power in continuity, peaking at as much as 150 W. Similar spec adapters that notebook manufacturers deliver with their notebooks are true bricks compared to USNA. Anyone that has ever spent an entire day carrying around a bag with a notebook and its charger inside will be very thankful for every gram that USNA deducts from the equation.

Small dimensions will come in handy with packaging, and the cables used are dual-fibre, with no ground, which means that they take up less space and are lighter. We haven’t encountered a single problem during testing, and even though ground connection is always a handy security measure, it’s clear that portability forced some fully justified compromises to be made here. As the canal for winding cables is now gone, you’ll receive a neat clip to keep everything tidy and in its place. You also get a set of nine adapters, forming power connectors for all mainstream notebook manufacturers’ models. Upon choosing the appropriate, pay particular attention to the shape and feel free to disregard the colour completely. It’s very thoughtful that you can see them without opening the box, so that you can check if any of them fits at the retail store already. It should be noted, however, that this adapter is intended for use with proper notebooks, not netbooks, so in case that you’re looking for an alternative adapter for your netbook, you’ll have to look elsewhere.

We’ve already seen the USB charger on the previous version, and we’re very glad to be seeing it again. Its ability to charge mobile phones or mp3 players, as long as they support USB charging, is just plain excellent, and they’ll charge up much faster, since USNA 95 delivers twice the power of a standard USB port, 1 A versus 500 mA. Besides faster charging of USB devices, this connection type also enables you to reduce the number of cables and adapters that you intend to carry with you, especially if you’re travelling to a country with a different power plug voltage than your native one. Simpler cables’ use will prove critical in such situations, since you’ll easily find an appropriate, cheap cable in the first electronic equipment store.