Posts Tagged portable charger
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
Plug And Play Power Anywhere You Roam
On a recent business trip to Chicago, I realized I’d forgotten my cell phone charger. What’s a guy to do? With client calls, checking in with the family and grabbing voice mails from the office, my phone – which is about ready for an upgrade anyway – was gasping for breath in the frigid temps of the Windy City. Thankfully, I had remembered to pack my Energizer Energi To Go XP2000K Power Kit, which I had seen recently at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. I had mentioned to the folks at Energizer that I’d love to try this product out, and they were more than happy to send one to me. Just so happens, when I thought my connection to the world would be lost, Energizer came through in a big way.
Courtesy: Energizer
Sure, there are lots of options for portable power, but few kits come in as great a package as Energizer’s latest offering. Not only is everything packed up in a sleek, black zip up case, you can plug in and power up a wide variety of mobile electronics. I always bring two things with me when I travel – my cell phone, and my JVC Picsio HD camcorder.
Both of these devices can be charged with one of the four interchangeable adapters – Apple 30 pin, Nokia, Mini USB and Micro USB – as well as AC and car adapters. The power of this package is Energizer’s XP2000 product, which is a slim power pack that’s half the size of a standard smart phone. The battery system, designed for Energizer by Xpal Power, features an LED readout that tells you how much power is left in the system (it can be checked at any time by pressing the “Check/On” button).
Simply plug in the included USB charging cable to the Energi To Go pack, attach the necessary adapter and you’ve go up to 12 hours of back up talk time (and up to 50 hours of power for some MP3 players). Total time to charge and re-charge depends on discharge, of course, but Energizer says the unit will recharge in about 4 hours. Additionally, this is an Energy Star rated product and has a Powersave Mode that shuts off when not in use and will hold a charge for – get this – an entire year between usage!
As I said, the Energi To Go came in tremendously handy towards the end of my two days in Chicago, as I was relying on mass transit to get me to and from meetings, hotels and O’Hare with no access to an outlet. The Energi To Go XP2000K retails for $59.99 USD and, given the versatility of this unit, it’s money well spent. Energizer has an incredible line of portable power products, which can be bought at most retail stores, or outlets like Amazon.com, NewEgg.com or one of many other online shops.
For future trips, I won’t even bother packing my cell phone charger – I’ll just slip this power boost into my back pocket and be on my way.
Posted by Dave in Business Gear on January 24th, 2011
Apple Power: XtremeMac Car Charger
Question: What good are your iPhone, iPod and iPhone when the batteries run down?
Answer: Not much.
We all know Apple doesn’t “trust” us enough to allow user-changeable batteries. So the XtremeMac Incharge Auto fills the void to keep your gadgets charged in the car.
Of all the products I’ve reviewed here on Practical Travel Gear, this is one of the simplest. And simple is good, especially if you’re traveling with more than one Apple device.
The Incharge Auto features a one-piece design with a plug for a 12-volt auto outlet, a four-foot cord and the familiar Apple charging plug. There’s an LED that lights up for a good connection. The 2.1-amp charger will charge gear quickly. And there’s a built-in safety fuse to protect expensive iPhones, iPods and iPads from voltage spikes.
So the XtremeMac Incharge Auto charges three things Apple and also provides an extra measure of safety. And that’s important.
The Incharge Auto retails for $24.99 on the XtremeMac website.
It’s especially handy for those who carry more than one Apple gadget on the road. And considering some of the alternatives—like listening to commercial-jammed FM radio if your iPod runs out of power—makes it look even more attractive.
Check prices at Buy.com
Posted by JohnG in Business Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on September 20th, 2010
Power for Your Gear, Anywhere: KIWI U-Powered Portable Charger
The KIWI U-Powered Solar & USB Portable Charger kind of reminds me of the Boy Scout motto: Be prepared. With this in your bag, you’ll be prepared to recharge just about any kind of portable gear, from smartphones to GPS units.
KIWI U-Powered is a portable, universal charger just released by KIWI Choice, Inc. of Canada. It starts with a battery pack that can be charged four ways—by the sun, plugged in to an AC outlet, in a car, or from a computer’s USB port.
Then, the unit can be used to recharge your travel gear during long flights across the ocean, on camping or hiking trips or any other times when there might not be a power plug nearby.
The KIWI U-Powered is really well-designed. It fits perfectly in my hand and weighs less than four-and-a-half ounces.
It can be charged from a 110- or 220-volt AC outlet, making it perfect for international travel.
The KIWI U-Powered storage battery can also be charged by the sun. It unfolds into the shape of a fan blade. The design cleverly allows the use of three photo voltaic solar panels when charging with green power.
The compatibility list is long for this portable charger. Included with the kit are a cable and 11 tips that will charge iPhones and iPods; phones from Blackberry, Nokia, Samsung, LG, Palm, Motorola and Sony; Bluetooth headsets; GPS units; digital cameras; e-readers; and portable game consoles.
The lithium polymer storage battery stores 2,000 mAh, which should recharge several small devices. Charging the battery from a USB port, AC current or a car outlet takes three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half hours.
Solar charging takes much longer, of course. In my tests, the battery picked up more than 25 percent of a full charge sitting five hours in the hot Texas sun. That’s consistent with the company’s claim that a full solar charge should take about 17 hours.
The unit is designed to last for 1,000 power cycles, which means it should be keeping your gear running for years.
My colleague, Tim, reviewed another solar charger earlier, but it lacked the variety of tips included with the KIWI.
A couple of other features on the U-Powered charger are also noteworthy. There are magnets on the back of the storage battery, allowing it to be attached to a car or other metal object while charging the solar panels. I wouldn’t recommend putting it on a moving car, though, unless you want to pick up the pieces from the road. There’s also a handy LED flashlight on the end of the storage battery.
I was pleasantly surprised by the price—$49.99. My guess would have been more than twice that much. It’s available now on the company’s website and will also be rolled out at retailers and other online stores.
If there’s another device on the market that does all this for the same price, I haven’t found it. The KIWI U-Powered Solar & USB Portable Charger brings power wherever you need it, even miles away from the nearest plug.
Posted by JohnG in Adventure Gear, Business Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on June 8th, 2010
Review: IDAPT i3 Charger Keeps Gear Going
It doesn’t take long to accumulate enough travel gadgets—cell phones, MP3 players, GPS units, digital cameras and more—to get frustrated with the number of chargers required to keep them all running.
Maybe one day things will improve, but right now there’s little standardization when it comes to chargers. That’s where universal charging solutions such as the IDAPT i3 come in to make charging easier and clutter-free.
One thing I like about this charging station is it’s compatible with literally thousands of different devices, including the iPhone and iPod, Blackberry and many brands of cell phones and smartphones, Bluetooth headsets, GPS navigators, cameras and even game consoles. It can even be used to recharge AA and AAA batteries.
The IDAPT i3 starts with a base unit that will handle three snap-in, interchangeable tips. Six of the most popular tips are included in the box, or you can custom choose four tips if ordered directly from the manufacturer. Other tips can be purchased separately.
The IDAPT i3 would work well on a desk at home. But its small size and light weight make it roadworthy, too, for charging up your gear in hotel rooms. It weighs just over half a pound. The base unit is 4.3″ by 6.7″ and just over an inch tall.
The unit includes three independent, self-regulated chargers allowing three devices to be charged at the same time. It would also work well for international travel, since the charger can be plugged in to either 120 volts or 240 volts.
The IDAPT i3 won’t bust the budget, with a retail price of $59.99 and a slightly cheaper street price from Amazon. It’s available in four colors—black, white, pink and silver.
My only concern about this charger is how my smartphone, for example, is held upright entirely by the charging plug. That’s probably not a concern for smaller, lighter gadgets. But I’d be a little worried that, over time, the balancing act might loosen the plug on my heavier smartphone. That might not happen at all, but you may want to consider it when charging heavier devices.
Overall, the IDAPT i3 is a versatile, affordable and travel-ready universal charger. It’s an excellent way to save space, get rid of cable clutter and keep your gadgets going.
Posted by JohnG in Business Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on May 11th, 2010
