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Foldable solar battery - 2800mAh high capacity rechargeable polymer solar battery (charger) for cell-phone, mp3 player, media player. With 7 USB adapters. | List Price: $99.99
Discount Price: $74.99
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Brand: Solar
Features: - - Fast-charging of your mobile electronic devices (7 adapters);
- - Intelligent voltage adjustment technology;
- - Tri-color indicator for various voltage modes when charging or discharging;
- - Bright LED light;
- - Felt inlaid giftbox.
Disappointed... [Posted on 2008-08-25]
I was looking for a portable, solar charged battery backup for my iPhone 3G. While the specs for the iceTech looked enticing, I found that it just doesn't live up to it's claim. I guess 99% of all cell phones doesn't include the iPhone 3G. (I haven't checked my original iPhone, so have to withhold those comments.)
At best, it seemed it could only maintain a charge within a couple of percent on two different iPod Touches, but didn't appear to be recognized when they were plugged in to the device. The iPhone did not recognize the iceTech as a charging source, and the battery was observed to loose its charge while powered on. None of the three devices showed any increase in battery capacity when they were powered off and left connected to the charger overnight.
I did try a Motorola Q and Razr. Both did recharge from the device's battery source. The iceTech also worked fine with an original 4GB iPod nano, 6GB iPod Mini, 80GB iPod Video (5G). The old 30GB 3G iPod, nor the newest 160GB Classic would recognize the iceTech when they were plugged in to its USB charging port.
The strangest thing I experienced was the 60GB iPod Photo. That device was plugged in for several hours and actually discharged considerably during the time it was connected to the iceTech. It showed it was charging, but lost almost half the capacity of the battery in the time it was connected. I should note this iPod is not defective and charges as expected with an AC adapter or when plugged in to a USB port on a Mac.
There is an LED light that can be used as an emergency flashlight, but a "real" flashlight does a better job and is less cumbersome.
The fit and finish on the device is nice, but feels a bit fragile. I don't know how much abuse it would take throwing it in and out of backpack or briefcase; some caution is probably warranted. While the charging tips don't give a feeling of a secure fit into the included USB cable, there is a broad selection so you should be able to adapt to a wide variety of portable electronics.
Overall, when it works, it seems to work well. But for me, and my intended purpose, it fell short of expectations. If you are looking for a charger for "99% of cell phones" and some iPods / MP3 players with the caveats above it would be a good choice for the price.
*** UPDATE ***
I have an IOGEAR GearJuice that works fine with the devices that are mentioned above, in particular the iPhone and various iPods. For fun I tried the USB-USB adapter from that device with the iceTECH. Amazing, but the iceTECH works as intended with that adapter, which appears to be a standard male-female USB adapter. But, whatever it is, this "magic" adapter is what is needed with the iceTECH. Hopefully it would be included in future additions. My rating still holds the same however, since without the adapter, it functions just as mentioned in the original review.
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