Portable Batteries

[TruvisT]

Anyone have experience or use any?

So far I've found http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0SC-000Y-00060 which looks good on reviews and nice power options on the price. Never used these much so curious as to what others have or use if you use them.

 

[maounique]

http://www.pandawill.com/13800mah-dualusb-solar-charger-power-bank-3color-p83750.html

http://www.pandawill.com/30000mah-dualusb-power-bank-for-iphone-ipad-tablet-pc-white-p74114.html

I have a minizi 5200 mAh and it charges my phone once and a half and tablet once, it is really good and was 8 USD. I linked you larger ones, I use mine for travelling in hard conditions on mountains, it is important to be light.

 

[TruvisT]

Nice Mao! I also did not know they came with solar power charging either.

 

[HalfEatenPie]

Totally unrelated,

isn't the point of batteries to make it portable?

Tongue in cheek jokes aside, I've never actually used/needed one of these before.  Is it really effective?  Does it make that much of a difference?  I mean I feel like the charge from those solar panels are negligible and a multi-purpose battery might be way too heavy (and not enough actual use).  Why not just purchase a few extra batteries for the device you're using and just switch it out when the current one gets low?

I mean for iPhones and iPods and iPotatoes I guess that's not possible, but for devices which provide the ability to change batteries I think this is a convenience.  

 

[joepie91]

I have this one: http://dx.com/p/soshine-4-aaa-usb-emergency-power-two-way-charger-with-flashlight-3205

Takes standard 4 x AAA batteries, can charge any USB device on the go off those batteries (no form factor limitations either, like dedicated 'battery packs' do). If you put in rechargeable batteries, you can charge them from any USB port as well (wall charger or PC, doesn't matter). Sadly sold out at DX for a while now, perhaps some other places still sell them.

The "flashlight" LED in it pretty much burns your eyes out, it's very bright

Why not just purchase a few extra batteries for the device you're using and just switch it out when the current one gets low?

That might not always be practical; taking out the battery means having to turn off the device. That, in turn, means you'd have to interrupt whatever you were doing

 

[maounique]

That might not always be practical; taking out the battery means having to turn off the device. That, in turn, means you'd have to interrupt whatever you were doing

Using the solar panel might not be effective in the winter, however, on the beach where i stay all day due to my condition to benefit from the air, if kept at 90 degrees from the sun will pretty much remain charged all day. Sure, wont charge the laptop but it is enough for a regular android phone to browse and listen radio over internet. 

As I said, my small minizi device is making sure I have power in my phone all day even though I listen radio and use GPS navigation. I made a mistake, it is 5600 mAh, not 5200 and my phone is a quad-core full HD (1920/1080) 5", eating through the battery on dual standby and only wifi on in 2 days. If I add GPS is eats it in 1 day and listening to radio over 3G in places with low signal makes it go down in just a few hours, no to mention running RDP with bluetooth mouse and keyboard.

The minizi is small and compact is not weighting more than the phone. Is it practical ? Could be a lifesaver if you get stuck someplace in bad weather and need to communicate, for 8 USD is definitely worth it also.