Looking for Xmas pressie idea for, well, me! (It's from the parents in law).
I quite like the idea of those solar powered charger/battery things, that can either be mains charged for a backup power source (phone/ipod etc), or solar charged.
They fit the price bracket too (about £40).
Anyone got one that they use day to day and can give comment on? Don't want to buy a faddy lemon you see!
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Cheers, reviews or alternatives will be great!
DrP
I have one in my commute bag for the weekly trip to London.
I keep the battery unit charged and also carry the USB cable and a couple of the USB mini pins I need for my MiFI dongle and my phone.
Its very useful to be able to charge eithe rthe back up battery or my phone/dongle from a USB port on a client PC. But if Im not on a client site for hours on end I can just use the battery pack.
The Solar panel is slow to charge but can fill a power pack in about half a day or so on the back of my saddlebag while cycling around town in the summer months.
The swapability of the adaptor pins is the best bit. With the sefl retracting USB adaptor and a couple of pins together with the battery pod you're able to charge your phone or the battery pod from any USB source. If you need extra back up take the 3pin USB adaptor - I use it on FirstGreatWestern trains for example.
8/10 from me. I paid full whack though so it loses 2 for being bloody expensive.
I've got one that I use on cycle tours to keep my ipod topped up ... works well.
we used one in France on our tour this year
works well if you have good sunlight, not so well without. We carried the mains adapter as well which with the adapters means you can charge your phone/gps etc. or the backup battery in cafes and the like.
It's also not as waterproof as it makes out, the battery filled with water in a downpour but once dried out still appears to work for now
Found it next to useless at Glastonbury this year, plenty of sun and it couldn't keep my HTC Desire going for the 5 days... maybe mine was faulty or something?? Ended up losing the thing anyway, so that was £60 down the toilet! 😳
Agree that the battery and pug adapter are great for carrying minimal kit when traveling, but wasn't all that impressed with the solar panel even on blistering hot days on my Spanish tour this year. Still worth the money for the rest of the kit.
