The Powerhouse by Duracell is a little portable charger that comes in handy when you need that extra juice to your cell phone or any other USB/MiniUSB device such as an iPod, mp3 player or digital camera.
After spending a few days with this charger I felt that it serves its purpose well. I used the Powerhouse to charger my HTC Touch Pro. However, it seemed that it was a slow trickle to charge my phone to full capacity. Much like charging from a USB port from your computer or laptop. On one note I tried charging my LG Lotus via the Powerhouse but I kept getting a notice on my Lotus to “Change to LG travel charger.” I think this was due to the fact that I was using LG’s USB cable.
It took nearly two hours for my HTC Touch Pro to fully charge to 100%. The Duracell website states that the Powerhouse is 2000 mAh.
The Powerhouse comes equipped with a MiniUSB swing arm as well as a supplied USB to MiniUSB cable. The swing arm felt solid when retracted and didn’t feel flimsy at all. However, the charger itself has a plastic feel to it. Considering the Powerhouse’s price tag I think it should have had a more solid feel to it.
The Duracel Powerhouse features an on and off button to conserve power.
The Powerhouse is charged via the MiniUSB port on top of the charger. On the bottom of the charger is the USB “Out”.
There is an LED light on the bezel-like front above the On/Off button that lights orange when charging and green when fully charged.
The Duracell Powerhouse is part of Duracell’s new Smart Power Products. Other products include The Duracell Instant Charger, The Duracell Pocket Charger, The Duracell GoMobile, and The Duracell GoEasy.
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Product Information
| Price: | $49.99 |
| Manufacturer: | Duracell |
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
what happens if u try and charge itself?
What is the point of this device? Does it plug into 110v as an adaptor? Is it a battery pack? Why does it have USB out as well as in?
Will it recharge itself & operate as a pass-through device and charge the destination target device all at the same time?
great site, but some of the product reviews need a little more depth … more real world geek usage rather than just a product overview … Thanks!
@ Gene
as the review states “The Powerhouse by Duracell is a little portable charger that comes in handy when you need that extra juice to your cell phone or any other USB/MiniUSB device such as an iPod, mp3 player or digital camera.”
So basically it is a battery pack. The USB Out is the port to charge a device and the MiniUSB In is to charge the Duracell Powerhouse.
To charge Powerhouse you simply plug USB into your laptop/desktop computer. Some newer cell phones have a wall charger that you can plug the USB cable into so you wouldn’t have to just charge Duracell via computer USB.
@ Daniel T
sorry, it can’t charge itself. I don’t think it would be a good idea to let the current loop itself. I had a camera battery in my gear bag burst because the terminals were touching something metal when they shouldn’t have. So basically the current was just bouncing back into itself and popped.
You can use a device while it is connected to the Powerhouse during its charge cycle.
Will it recharge Blackberry Bold 9000?
@Jessy
The BB Bold 9000 has a miniUSB port so it should recharge it.
The unit when being charged , do we need to press the light button or leave it as is to charge.
Also once my unit got charged the minute i pluged it in to the i phone it turned red but when unpluged its green????
@Amir
Leave it as is.
That’s wierd. Normally on other battery chargers I have had if the light turns back to red then the unit is not holding enough charge to power a device.
Are you sure the unit is fully charged?