Computer,Music,Books

Verbatim 97929 Ultra Slim Power Pack Charger

List Price: $38.00
Price: $24.62 ( Click to see lower price ! )
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Product Features:

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Technical Details:

Universal Power - Charge it all! With a 1200mAh lithium polymer battery, the Ultra Slim Power Pack supports charging a wide range of devices such as iPhone, iPod, and micro-USB charged phones or wireless Bluetooth headsets

Ultra-Slim Portability - Easy to carry! Fits easily in a pocket or bag, the perfect size for taking with you when traveling. Lightweight and slim form factor makes it convenient to carry in case of the need for emergency power

Cables Included - Connect fast! USB cable to charge the internal battery is designed as part of the power pack making it easy and quick to connect to a laptop USB port or USB AC adapter for re-charging.

Micro-USB cable included for charging devices. Based on iPhone 4s. Use time will vary with device being charge

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Customer Reviews:

I think it's probably awesome?

So, I thought it would be nice to have something like this. i.e., a device that takes 2 or 4 high capacity AA batteries, and, with the help of a simple circuit board to boost and regulate the voltage, to provide a nice charging current for my smart phone. I noticed there were three price points for this type of device: There's one that's only like $3 or $4, then there's one that's around $10-$12 that I saw on another site, then there's this one by well-respected Verbatim on the top end. It was clear from reviews that the cheap one needed some slight mods to be useful, and the mid priced one seemed to have some reviews saying it was "cheaply constructed". So, I said, WTH, I'll just buy the "good" one.

My thinking on buying a device like this: I play a lot of long poker tournaments, and it's just not really possible to get a charge in on the phone in the middle of the Venetian or other casinos. It would be helpful if I had a backup to charge my phone.

I think if I could do it over, I'd buy the one that costs about half as much as the Verbatim one. The device is all plastic, I sort of expected maybe I would have something a little more sturdy if I got the Verbatim one, but I didn't. It does have a pretty pimp blue and red LED light around the port (indicating a "good" charge remaining, versus a "nearly dead" charge), so maybe I paid an $8 premium for pimp LED.

A lot of people complained that the cheaper devices got hot under load. This one does not--it barely warmed up at all whilst charging. Clearly, the output is steady voltage, even as the batteries discharge, and I popped her up on an oscilloscope under load, and they've clearly made a decent circuit here. I put four 1600 mAh tenergy premium NiMH batteries in here, and I got just about one solid charge on my Samsung Epic. Maybe a little more.

The device is about exactly the shape of a lipstick tube, plus 50% in all dimensions. It comes with a very short (4 inches maybe) microUSB to USB cable, which apparently has the data pins shorted out (this is normal and necessary for high speed charging). I don't know if the device USB jack has the pins shorted, or if the cable did, I didn't check it; if it is the latter, then the cable that comes with this should not be used in a computer USB jack since it will draw more than 500 mA rating.

All in all, I'm happy with it, it does what I expected...I think though that I would have been 90% as happy with the devices out there that cost half as much.

There is an admonition in the instructions that says NOT to use it on an iPad. I am not sure why--maybe you can't get a full charge. But, it will definitely charge your smart phone. The other guy that dropped a 1-star rating on this because of the iPad thing, that's really out of line, since the device otherwise appears well enough constructed, and does its job.

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