Duracell’s Pocket Charger is for those who have places to be or are on the go, but never remember to charge up their cell-phone or digital camera like a responsible person – just kidding. We’ve all been there without juice, panicking about how we need to check our email for the 50th time. Now you can just pop out your pocket charger, give the cell a hit of juice, and slink it right into your hip pocket when you’re done.
I had a spare Blackberry curve lying around, and I gave the cute lil’ pocket charger a spin. I juiced up the pocket charger on my computer for about an hour. Obviously, if you forget to charge the charger, then the product is useless. When the pocket charger charges itself the device glows amber and goes green when fully charged. Thankfully, it charges up rather quickly and because it has an on/off switch, you can charge it up and forget about it until you need it.
After the pocket charger charged, I turned it on and plugged it into the blackberry. The blackberry had two bars at the time. I sat and let the pocket charger work its magic. After letting it go for about an hour, the pocket charger brought the curve up to a full charge.
On a dead blackberry, the pocket charger will zap you up around two bars. Great if you really need your phone in a pinch. Although, the the backup charger can help you out in a tight situation, it can’t go from zero bars to full because it doesn’t have enough power to get the phone fully charged. Once used, you have to plug it back into the computer to give the pocket charger a full charge.
The device doesn’t have a lot of buttons and inputs to mess with. All you see is a simple on/off switch and a mini-usb port. That’s it. Pretty simple set up and easy to use. Fits right in the palm of your hand, easy to slip in your pocket or purse. Box comes with the device, directions and a mini-usb cable.
Apple users beware. If you use an iPhone, iPod Touch or practically any Apple device the Duracell pocket charger isn’t going to be of much assistance since it only boasts a mini-usb connector. Duracell does make alternative pocket charger that does work with ipods: iPod Pocket Charger & it uses two AA batteries instead of the lithium rechargeable technology utilized within this pocket charger.
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any idea about the mah of the battery?
Another, similar charger works with all USB devices AND comes with a mini-B cable. Has 1000mah and is $20 at tigerdirect .
Not sure if it’s less elsewhere, just happened to see it. Still, looks pretty good according to reviews, and has enough voltage to charge a DS fully if you have an adapter.
hrmf, seems duracell is only selling them in USA right now. to bad, as i would love to pick one up at the local store.
oh, and i may have found the info i was looking for. Seems its only 500 mah:
http://duracell.com/us/smartpower/products_PowerReserve.asp
I find these kinds of products rather stupid: If I tend to forget to charge my phone/PDA/whatever-gadget, why then would I remember to charge the emergency charger? The alternatives that use off-the-shelf AA or AAA batteries are much more useful in such a case.
i hear yah. yeah, plus the juice you get out the charger b/f it dies isn’t as much as you’d like it to be. you wind up charging the duracell more than u would your blackberry.
I much better idea is to add some solar cells to constantly give it a trickle charge, so its always fully charged.
I have a solar powered thing just like this, and for the summer festival it’s an absolute godsend. You need to charge it up via your PC first, but it’ll keep topped up thanks to the lovely sun rays.
You shouldn’t have to charge this nearly as often as your mobile device unless you plan on running out of battery every day. You charge it once… pack it in your bag and the next time you need juice, you use it. Recharge only as frequently as you find yourself in that situation with no battery left in your cell.
where can you get these