Seido Emergency Chargers

Gadgeteer Hands On Review by Julie

July 29, 2002

Product Requirements:
Device:
Various PDAs and mobile phones

I really appreciate products that have been designed to be functional as well as innovative. The power charging products that I'm about to review from Seidio show true ingenuity.

As a Gadgeteer, I have quite a few Palm and Pocket PC PDAs. When I travel, I always take at least one Pocket PC and one Palm device with me. I also have to bring along the respective AC adapter and / or cradle for each one. This can be a big pain in the rear as it makes packing light almost impossible. Not to mention the tangle of wires that I always wind up with at the bottom of my travel bag.

Case in point... On my last trip, I wanted to take both my Compaq iPAQ 3800 and my Sony CLIÉ NR70V along with me. I wasn't concerned at all with syncing the devices while I was on this trip, I was only concerned with the ability to keep the batteries charged while I was away. The picture below shows the items I had to pack for this task.

[Sony CLIÉ NR charger, iPAQ charger and adapter]

But of course, there is always a better way to do things, and Seido is the one with the perfect solution. Check out the picture below which shows the items needed to keep both the iPAQ and CLIÉ charged. Wow, now that's what I call efficiency.

[Sony CLIÉ NR connector, Emergency Power Charger module with the iPAQ 3800 connector, 9V battery]

The secret behind their charging products is with their Emergency Power Charger module. It has an interchangeable connector that allows you to use the same module with all of your PDAs and mobile phones (that they support). You can remove one connector and snap in another when you need to charge a different PDA or phone.

The module is made of light weight black plastic. The top has the port in which the interchangeable connectors fit securely into. The bottom of the module has an LED indicator and a covered 9 Volt battery connector. A plastic cover for the 9 Volt connector is attached to the side of the module. I'm not really sure why this cover is needed though, so if it gets in your way, you can just clip it off.

I tested the 9 Volt battery charging method with my 3800 series iPAQ. I let the iPAQ battery run down to 0%. It wasn't quite dead as I could still turn the unit on. I connected the Seidio charger to it at 9:10am and finished at 12 noon at 80%. At that point the battery didn't have any juice left.

The cool thing about the 9 Volt connector is the fact that you can attach other charging accessories (purchased separately) to this module besides just a standard alkaline 9 Volt battery. Airplane adapters, Car cigarette lighter adapters, and even a regular AC adapter are all available through Seidio. All of these accessories have the mating connector for the 9 Volt connector on them, so you just snap them in place at the bottom of the Emergency charger module, and away you go.

I ran the same test as above, but using the AC adapter cable instead of the 9 Volt battery. I started the test at 2:46pm finished at 9pm. Not sure why it took such a long time, but afterwards, the battery was at 100% charged.

What's great about the Seidio module is its small go-anywhere size. You can throw it in a gear bag or purse and not notice a difference in weight or bulk. And the fact that you can find 9V batteries at any gas station, airport or drug store is a real plus. You'll never be without a power or charging source again for your PDA or mobile phone. The Emergency Power Charger module has a permanent place in my gear bag from now on!
 

Price: $19.95 Emergency Power Charger with one connector ($10.95 separate connectors), Various kits with different charging cables are also available.
 

Pros:
Versatile
Small
Charges devices with a standard 9V battery
Other charging cables (car, plane, AC) also available

Cons:
None