Posts Tagged iphone battery
P-Flip Foldable Solar Power for iPhone
It’s a drag to find yourself hunting around for a place to charge your phone when there are no outlets in sight, when you should have known better and charged up before you left the house. And while I’m not so phone dependent that I freak out when juice is gone, I do enjoy all the stuff my phone does for me when I travel — it helps me find my way, it knows where there’s good food, it’s a pocket still/video camera, I can check email, and, I’ll admit it, I’m a Twitter junkie, so I can use it for 140 characters of nonsense from anywhere I’ve got a signal.
The P-Flip Foldable Solar Power for iPhone is a back up battery for those times when you’ve got a signal but no juice. It serves double duty as a docking station and charges up using either solar power or a power cable. Yes, there’s one for your Blackberry — and it fits the 3G and the iPhone 4.
I optimistically set this gadget to charge in my kitchen window in the heart of a Seattle winter. No dice, after 48 hours, it still needed to be plugged in to get fully charged. The site says it takes about 15 hours of sunlight to get a full charge. We hadn’t had 15 hours of sunlight during the whole month, so if you’re thinking you’ll use this as a back up battery at your cloudy destination, you’re wrong indeed. Something to keep in mind if you’re planning to rely on the sun.
My phone is an iPhone 3Gs. In order to use the P-Flip, I had to take my phone out of its protective case. I was hoping the battery pack would do double duty as both a case and a dock. No go, you can’t fold the P-Flip shut when the phone is in there, though it does make a nice dock. The P-Flip is very light and compact –about the size of an iPhone, actually — so it’s easy to find space for it in my laptop bag or carry on. According to the site, it extends talk time up to 6 hours, video or gaming time up to 10 hours, or music time up to 40 hours. That’s a lot of Angry Birds on a long flight.
Having an extra battery is handy when you know you’re not going to be able to charge your phone. I like the idea of a solar charged backup, though in practice this turned out to be not so practical due to my location. With so many off-the-grid apps available, the P-Flip might be a great thing to toss in the pack for a camping trip or overnight where there’s no power or for a journey where your phone acts as your entertainment center. I wanted this gadget to be more than an backup battery, but that’s exactly what it is — and at that, it does a fine job.
Get a P-Flip from Amazon for about $40 or check prices online
Posted by Pam in Adventure Gear, Business Gear on January 28th, 2011
Keep Your iPhone, iPod Charged: RichardSolo 1800 Smart Battery Backup
It’s always a pleasure to find a piece of gear that not only performs well, but does it with style. And that’s the case with the RichardSolo 1800 Smart Backup Battery for the iPhone and iPod.
It’s made for those times when you might be away from a power plug for awhile—on a long international flight or out camping. Or, with the unusual weather we’ve seen in the U.S. recently, it could also come in very handy if you’re stranded at an airport all day.
The RichardSolo 1800 is a rechargeable battery that can be used to charge or top off an iPhone (2G, 3G or 3GS) or any model of iPod, except the Shuffle. The 1800 mAh is enough to provide a full charge for an iPhone with power left over. A full charge takes about 90 minutes.
The backup battery can be charged from an AC outlet, car plug, or from your computer with a USB cable. LED lights show the charging status.
The RichardSolo 1800 includes all the cables and plugs you’ll need for charging—an AC wall charger that will accept 120V or 240V, making it ideal for international travel; an auto plug with two USB ports; and a retractable (nice touch) USB cable.
But here’s another trick. The RichardSolo 1800 can replace your standard iPhone or iPod charger to free up some room in the bag. You can even connect the battery and the iPod or iPhone, plug them in overnight and, in the morning, both will be fully charged.
And, as they say on the shopping channels, “Wait! There’s more!” The backup battery also includes an LED flashlight—always handy for travelers—and a laser pointer for presentations.
I also appreciate the snug connection to my iPod and the included support brace. For my use, the RichardSolo unit it provides a much more secure connection than the iGo PowerXtender I reviewed earlier.
The RichardSolo Smart Backup Battery retails for $69.95 and is available direct from the manufacturer or at Amazon. RichardSolo also offers a similar model for the BlackBerry and other smartphones that use mini- or micro-USB ports for charging.
I’ve carried a different brand of backup battery for years on just about every trip. But after checking out the RichardSolo 1800, it’s my new preference because of the flexible design, included cables and plugs and the extra features, such as the flashlight and laser pointer.
If you depend on a smartphone or iPod when traveling, the RichardSolo 1800 Smart Backup Battery will keep you talking (or listening) longer.
Posted by JohnG in Business Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on March 22nd, 2010
