Socket Portable Power Source

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.socketcom.com/product/AC4009-541.asp">http://www.socketcom.com/product/AC4009-541.asp</a><br /><br /><i>Tired of lugging around multiple chargers to re-power your portable electronic devices? Leave your AC adapters at home and experience a new level of convenience and portability! The Socket Mobile Power Pack is a small, light weight mobile charging source for users of portable electronic devices such as Pocket PCs, palmOne devices, PDAs, mobile phones, Smartphones, BlackBerry’s, digital cameras,MP3 players as well as Socket products (Cordless GPS receiver, Cordless 56K Modem, Cordless Serial Adapter and Cordless Hand Scanner). It’s a 5 volt battery pack that can charge/run most 5 volt electronic devices and products that draw power from a USB port.</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2004/20041013-socketportablepower.jpg" /><br /><br />Features include:<br /><br />• Powerful Lithium Ion Battery Pack with 7,200 mAh rated capacity. <br />• Works with Pocket PCs, PDAs, mobile phones, Smartphones, MP3 players, digital cameras, Socket products and more. <br />• Replaces the need to carry multiple power adapters with a single power source. <br />• Rechargeable – can be charged again and again, without memory effect <br />• With a fully charged Mobile Power Pack, you can typically recharge a Pocket PC up to 10 times, or a mobile phone up to 15 times. <br /><br />In many cases I can see this being better than spare batteries. There is no device compatibility chart yet, which is OK because the unit won't be available until November. :wink: They are anticipating a street price of $119-$129.

[felixdd]

Considering that AA-based USB power adapters cost ~$30...this is pretty expensive.

But then again, AA-based USB power adapters can't charge your device 10+ times...so I guess this is good for "the long haul"

[foebea]

as an avid audiobook listener and movie watcher via microdrive . . .


I WANT ONE!

I would love to leave my mass of cables behind.

[drop]

Portable gas station! Good concept. I wonder if all the claims are true. I would love to see a review when this baby comes out.

I might not even need to worry about X50's super model size battery. It is a bit pricy. But for the overly anxious, peace of mind is priceless. I just might bite if it is under $100.

[quikag]

How is this better than a charger you can build out of cheap Radio Shack components? I built one for my old Audiovox Maestro a couple years ago, and it worked great. I used 4 1800mA AA batteries at the time and was able to get several charges out of it. I'm not saying that this device ISN'T better, just curious as to what makes it better? I'm not an EE or anything, so it's quite possible I'm missing something. I just remember that it cost me about $10 to build the charger, and this one is going to cost $120? Granted, you had to take the AAs out to recharge them, but it would have been a simple matter to add some charging circuitry to allow them to be charged in the device. I was just to lazy to incorporate this, but I did read about others who had done it.

Mark

[drop]

Yeah, but do you have a leather carrier case :wink: ?

If yours is as portable as this one and have similar functions, you should think about marketing it. There are many who would like to buy a finished product.

[T-Will]

Yeah that's the biggest rip-off I've seen in a while! 8O Like others have said, just head to Radio Shack and build one of these for less than 1/4 of the cost of this thing.

[Brad Adrian]

In all fairness, yes, you can make your own battery pack; I think we ALL learned how to do that about three years ago, thanks to the detailed instructions that Dale posted on Pocket PC Passion. But, if you can't solder and/or want something that looks a bit more professional, this might work for you.

As a slight compromise, I recently bought a nicely-manufactured charger that takes four AA batteries; it looks a lot nicer than my homemade one.

Finally, Kodak used to make a rechargeable battery pack for some of their early digital cameras that I've been using for a long time with my Pocket PC. All I had to do was go to Radio Shack to get the necessary adapter tips.

I guess the point is that there are battery solutions for just about everybody, from those who want a sturdy manufactured one to those who would rather pinch a few pennies.

[surur]

If its nice and small, I would be willing to pay for this. Its has more amps than most laptop batteries. You could go camping with one of these and still use your pocketpc every day.

Surur

[quikag]

Well, I agree that I'm sure there are some people who may buy this, but I think the difference between $120 and $20 is more than pinching a few pennies. The charger I made, while perhaps not quite as "professional" as this one, still looked fine. It was basically a black plastic enclosed battery case with an on/off switch and a small cable sticking out. Hell, I'll be happy to make one for anyone who wants. I'll only charge $75 for it too! :lol:

Just in case you don't feel like paying me an exorbitant amount of money to do it, here you go:

http://www.earthv.com/articles.asp?ArticleID=474

:mrgreen:

[jasondearyou]

This is rediculous. Why would I want to lug around all these things, now it would make sense if it was a solar charger. Then I wouldn't have to pay for nothing else, and i could take it to the beach... Sorry guys up there in canada. :lol:

[Duncan]

I have a portable 3600 mAh MobyPower battery (same idea as this Socket one). This is why it is worth the money:

1) Large capacity - even the most powerful AA battery extender gives you 4.8v/2300 mAh (and rechargeables of that much capacity are not cheap).

2) Ease of use. I don't need to remember to get the batteries out and stick them in a recharger - and then remember to replace them with spares (more expense) or put the recharged AAs back into the charger.

All I need to do is attach the unit itself to recharge at the end of any day it has been used.

3) I *never* need to attach my mobile phone, GPS, BT headset, MuVo or Loox to thier chargers. Not ever. I only charge the MobyPower battery and take it everywhere I go. When anything needs recharging I just charge from the Moby battery. Brilliantly simple. Combined with Bluetooth and WiFi I am almost entirely cable free and never worry about forgetting to charge anything...!

So count me in for this Socket battery.

[outdoor]

I have a portable 3600 mAh MobyPower battery (same idea as this Socket one). This is why it is worth the money:

1) Large capacity - even the most powerful AA battery extender gives you 4.8v/2300 mAh (and rechargeables of that much capacity are not cheap).

2) Ease of use. I don't need to remember to get the batteries out and stick them in a recharger - and then remember to replace them with spares (more expense) or put the recharged AAs back into the charger.

All I need to do is attach the unit itself to recharge at the end of any day it has been used.

3) I *never* need to attach my mobile phone, GPS, BT headset, MuVo or Loox to thier chargers. Not ever. I only charge the MobyPower battery and take it everywhere I go. When anything needs recharging I just charge from the Moby battery. Brilliantly simple. Combined with Bluetooth and WiFi I am almost entirely cable free and never worry about forgetting to charge anything...!

So count me in for this Socket battery.


Duncan, how big is your mobypower battery??? I'm also curious in how you actually connect these power adapters to different devices, as you have to carry specific adapters for specific devices (e.g. one for ipaq, one for my mobile phone, one for my DC, etc)

[Sven Johannsen]

It's always fun to read the "What? $100 for a waterproof enclosure for my camera. I can put it in a zip lock bag I got from my mother for free." posts.

Not sure how you could build one for $10 out of Radio Shack parts, the AA batteries alone range from $10.49 a pair to $7.49 a piece. That's just for plain old 1800mAH ones. So when you get to RS make sure you pick up four sets of four to get the 7200 mAh this delivers. So we're at around $80. Don't forget the battery holders. You need four of the 4 AA ones. Cool they're only $2 a piece. Up to $88 now. Great. Now we could power our gizmos, but first we have to charge our 16 batteries. Oh, look, they have one that will do 8 at a time for only $30. Should I get two, so I can do all 16 at once? Nah, it's inconvinient enough, to have to get them all out and put them in the charger, it's not that much worse to do it twice. Wait a minut. I need something to put this all in. Might all fit in a small camera bag. Probably get one of those at Walmart for $15-$20.

Yea, dammit, I can get batteries, holders and a case for around a $100 and build me build one these things. Then I just gotta buy a battery charger for $25-$30 and pull all the batteries out, to charge it. Why would I pay $120 for one that is well engineered, power regulated, over current protected, relatively compact and comes with international power support? That's rediculous. :wink:

[cmlpreston]

Not sure how you could build one for $10 out of Radio Shack parts, the AA batteries alone range from $10.49 a pair to $7.49 a piece. That's just for plain old 1800mAH ones.


I hope you are talking about Li cells, otherwise, mate, you must be shopping at the most expensive RS on the planet. Here in Australia you can get 2000 mAh NiMH AA for about $5.25 each (that's about US$3.80). The 1800 mAh are $4.73 (or US$3.40 each).

The Li cells are more expensive, and give you 3.6V, too. Therefore you only need half as many (or a little less, but the values are quantized).

cmlp

[Oleander]

Why would I want to lug around all these things, now it would make sense if it was a solar charger. Then I wouldn't have to pay for nothing else, and i could take it to the beach...

Now that you mention it... Is there anyone here who have used something like the SunCatcher (http://www.powerexperts.com/products.html#solar)?

I've been fascinated by it for some time now, just haven't gotten round to buy one.

Personally I use the Beacon 5 PP-A100 (http://www.beacon5.com/pp-a100.asp) which easily power my iPAQ during 14 days of camping. 8)

[dhpss]

Same thing here, only cost $20:
http://www.semsons.com/pocpowban.html

:D

[PJE]

Same thing here, only cost $20:
http://www.semsons.com/pocpowban.html

Looks good...

The one thing everyone's forgetting with all these home made devices is that the output voltage/power is directly related to the voltage/condition of the batteries.

I'm assuming that the Socket device, and hopefully the above device will have a step-up/down DC:DC convertor built in which allows a constant output voltage over the charge life of the batteries.

[Sven Johannsen]

Not sure how you could build one for $10 out of Radio Shack parts, the AA batteries alone range from $10.49 a pair to $7.49 a piece. That's just for plain old 1800mAH ones.


I hope you are talking about Li cells, otherwise, mate, you must be shopping at the most expensive RS on the planet. Here in Australia you can get 2000 mAh NiMH AA for about $5.25 each (that's about US$3.80). The 1800 mAh are $4.73 (or US$3.40 each).

The Li cells are more expensive, and give you 3.6V, too. Therefore you only need half as many (or a little less, but the values are quantized).

cmlp

Well, yea, I priced LioN, since that's what the Socket device uses. Figured I'd try to keep it apples to apples as much as I could. Got the prices off www.radioshack.com. I notice the 3.6v NiMH and such and they are basically three cells (@1.2v) shrinkwrapped together. Not sure how your 3.6 volts is going to power the 5v devices? Guess you only need two in series which gives you 7.2v. Hope you got the full damage replacement warranty for your devices that take 5v, or know how to build a voltage regulator with current limiting. I won't say it won't work, but I''ll guarantee your PPC will get warm.

In reality 4 AA cells delivering 4.8v don't work in these situations except they deliver a bit more if you keep the load down. You need 1.5v x 4 to get ~ 6v to affect charging.

As far as the Semsons device is concerned, remember that it comes with 1600mAh batteries, 1/5 the capacity of the Socket. Not even sure how a 1600 mAh device is supposed to charge a 900-1100 mAh battery more than once.

Not saying there aren't alternatives, but the Socket device is not overpriced for what it delivers.

[Duncan]

I have a portable 3600 mAh MobyPower battery (same idea as this Socket one). This is why it is worth the money:

1) Large capacity - even the most powerful AA battery extender gives you 4.8v/2300 mAh (and rechargeables of that much capacity are not cheap).

2) Ease of use. I don't need to remember to get the batteries out and stick them in a recharger - and then remember to replace them with spares (more expense) or put the recharged AAs back into the charger.

All I need to do is attach the unit itself to recharge at the end of any day it has been used.

3) I *never* need to attach my mobile phone, GPS, BT headset, MuVo or Loox to thier chargers. Not ever. I only charge the MobyPower battery and take it everywhere I go. When anything needs recharging I just charge from the Moby battery. Brilliantly simple. Combined with Bluetooth and WiFi I am almost entirely cable free and never worry about forgetting to charge anything...!

So count me in for this Socket battery.


Duncan, how big is your mobypower battery??? I'm also curious in how you actually connect these power adapters to different devices, as you have to carry specific adapters for specific devices (e.g. one for ipaq, one for my mobile phone, one for my DC, etc)

Slightly shorter, less than half the width and a bit thicker than my Loox 720. I use three or four short cables kept together in a small bundle. The mobile phone and headset are charged with a USB charge cable.

[altden2002]

Jut go here
http://semsons.com/pdapowsol.html
and get one where you need to take out batteris for $7 or the one which has charger built-in for $20.


With 4x2400Mah AA for $15
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&index=Y&kw=CTAANM2400&is=REG&Q=&O=productlist&sku=316153
you get all the same juice for $35 + S&H.

[k1darkknight]

I see a lot of people posting that they could make one for 10-20 bucks, but would you be able to make one that takes 4 AA batteries, AND charges through a USB socket, for that little? If so, why hasn't someone marketed something like that?

if the average end-user could piece that together for $20, then the average manufacturer could probably piece it together for $0.20, and charge anywhere from $20-50 for it. Myself, I'd gladly pay UP TO 40 or 50, if it were pretty professional looking. I would shop around though, if they were ever made fairly commonplace. (Anyone at Belkin reading these forums?) lol

[PJE]

Jut go here
http://semsons.com/pdapowsol.html
and get one where you need to take out batteris for $7 or the one which has charger built-in for $20.

With 4x2400Mah AA for $15
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&index=Y&kw=CTAANM2400&is=REG&Q=&O=productlist&sku=316153
you get all the same juice for $35 + S&H.

While I'm very tempted to get one of the above for my X50v when it turns up so I can surf the web all night on my sofa it does NOT have the same capacity as the Socket device.

The above would give 2400mAh at 5V whereas the Socket device is claiming 7200mAh (although their datasheet states 4.4Ah at 5V). Therefore it has from around 2 to approx 3 times the power of the above solution...

...I still can't see paying more than the $35 for the semson device for something with this functionality. I also like the look of http://semsons.com/batexwitusb.html but you need to take the batteries out to charge them.

[frankenbike]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this:

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?cookie%5Ftest=1&catalog_name=CTLG&category_name=CTLG_009_012_000_000&product_id=273-1900

I don't know if they make a universal USB power tip or not, but it wouldn't be hard to make one up.

[zilla31]

so what did we decide after all this lively debate? i am real interested in something like one of these (def prefer something w/o removable batteries to deal with). i don't think i need one for like weeks at a time worth of charges - but something to juice my x50v up if i'm on a plane and the battery starts dying halfway through gladiator would be real nice.