Posts Tagged portable charger
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
Review: iGo PowerXtender Universal Battery-Powered Charger
What do you do when you hear the dreaded low-battery beep on your cell phone, far away from a power outlet? Talk faster?
One option is to recharge it with the iGo powerXtender Universal Battery-Powered Charger from Mobility Electronics, Inc. Using two AA batteries, the powerXtender can add hours of use to your phone, MP3 player and other gadgets when you’re in the air or on the trail.
With optional tips, it will charge many different models of phones, MP3 players, bluetooth headsets, digital cameras and portable gaming devices.
The company claims a pair of alkaline batteries will add six hours of runtime to a Blackberry 7280 smartphone or 28 hours to an iPod Nano. Batteries are easily replaced.
My iPod Touch, with less than half of its battery life remaining, was fully charged in less than two hours.
What I am really not impressed with is how the powerXtender rigidly connects to the device. For instance, it’s much thicker than my iPod Touch. So if I put the Touch—connected to the iGo tip and charger—on top of a desk, the difference in height puts pressure on the iPod’s power plug. Over time, I’d be concerned that might cause some problems with the plug and lead to a costly trip to the repair shop.
Or, leaving the charger dangling from a favorite gadget could cause similar issues because of the weight of the powerXtender.
My admittedly low-tech solution was to prop up the iPod with a pile of papers on a desktop to relieve the pressure on the plug.
This problem could be solved with a cable to connect the charging unit. The rigid tip may save some space, but it makes connecting to a device a bit gangly and awkward.
There are other options for power on the road.
My colleague, Tim Leffel, likes the Callpod Fuel Tank Charger. This device uses a short cable to connect to whatever gadget it’s charging, eliminating any pressure on the plug.
When I’m on the road, I carry an APC Mobile Power Pack, which has been discontinued by the manufacturer but is still available in some stores. (I also carry spare batteries for the cell phone and digital camera. But, of course, that’s not an option with the iPod since Apple techs believe they are the only ones capable of changing batteries.)
Both the Callpod and APC models are rechargeable instead of using standard, replaceable batteries. Both are more expensive than the iGo, which lists at $15.99. But the price can go up quickly, since each iGo tip you’ll need for a different device adds $9.99 or more. Some tips cost almost as much as the charger.
The iGo powerXtender could prove very handy for long flights, hikes or other times when a power plug is nowhere near. But consider all the options to decide which works best for you.
Get the iGo PowerXtender at Amazon
Check prices with Shopzilla
Posted by JohnG in Business Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on August 10th, 2009
