Mobility Digest » Charger

Altoids USB Battery Supply for your Phone

Vikram — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:19:12 +0000

XDA forum member hockeyrcks9901 recently decided to make his own altoids USB battery supply for his phone and now he is trying to sell them to anyone else who wants one and does not have the knowledge, the skill or the time to make one of their own. Here is the setup he is using.

In the setup I’m using with Energizer rechargeables, the capacity is 6Wh. If you decide to use alkaline batteries, the capacity would be somewhere around 7.5Wh. The internal battery of our phones is 5.55Wh. So theoretically, you could get another full charge using this design, however, there are inefficiencies and I believe it’s around 60-75% of a full charge depending on the type of battery used. I’m running down my phone right now to test it to get a better number.

He recently lost his job so he is trying to make a few bucks here and there while he gets another job. He is planning on selling them for $30-35 a piece including shipping (he is still checking shipping costs). I dont think he would make a ton of profit on this other than a few bucks and whole lot of altoids from all the tins he will have to empty out.

So if you want one of these bad boys head over to the XDA thread and leave comment.

1 comment(s) for this post:

jimski:
2010-Aug-31 Purchased a USB power supply, I think from Boxwave or PPC Techs about 6 years ago and it still works with my Tilt 2. 4 AA batteries and an on/off switch. Either paid $19.99 or $29.99 (don't remember). The price ($30-35) seems a bit high. Yo can get one of those snazy rechargables for around $50.

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Mobility Digest Review: Seidio Multi-Function Battery Charger

Jimski — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:04:46 +0000

Having an extra battery handy for our power hungry devices (sorry iPhone fanboys) is always a welcome option. But not having a simple way to charge it creates a real hassle. Charging one battery in your phone and then switching out and charging the second is no fun, especially because you need to remain tethered for hours and hours. And the charged spare battery loses juice while it sits around waiting to be used. Stand alone chargers are OK but as soon as you replace your device, your investment becomes obsolete. Wish there was a charger that would work with my current device battery as well as future batteries. Well, my wish has been granted.

The Seidio Multi-Function Battery Charger changes everything. Instead of a dedicated charger for a specific battery, this "why didn’t I think if that" device is comprised of two components; a base and a battery charging plate which is designed for each specific size/shape battery (pretty much everything is 5V today). Currently plates are available for; TouchPro2/Tilt2, Droid Incredible/Evo, Droid2, Eris/Hero, Nexus One, Touch Diamond, TouchPro/Fuze, Tilt, etc. More plates are added as new devices hit the market. Simply pop out one plate and pop in the other and you are ready to start charging. This feature alone would make the charger worth its $29.95 price tag (for base and one plate or $12.95 for a plate alone) but there is more, plenty more.

The Multi-Function Charger lives up to its name as you can use the flip-out, two prong AC plug or connect (with an optional standard USB cable) to any USB port. There is a switch on the side of the charger that allows you change power sources. Additionally, you can plug the charger into an AC outlet (I presume with/without a spare battery) and use the supplied USB to Mini USB (or micro USB) cable to charge both your spare battery and device at the same time. Ingenious. That means this spare battery charger can serve double-duty as an all inclusive travel charger. BTW, the charger handled both my standard and extended capacity battery without issue, as I am sure it would with any extended battery as they all have the same footprint/pin configuration (per device design).

There is a single LED on the front of the unit that turns RED when you insert a discharged/partially discharged battery and changes to GREEN when fully charged. I would not consider this a quick charger, as it might have taken a bit longer to charge my spare battery. But that can be explained with the specs: Input 100-240V, 0.2A – Output: to USB Port: 5V, 1A Max (same as a standard device charger) – Output: to Battery Port: 4.2V, 500mA Max (for a slower trickle charge). Input to USB Port: 5V, 500mA (when charging spare battery via USB). The charger measures: 3.875 x 2.50 x 1.06 and weighs in at about 3.0 oz. (base & plate).

Glad to have found an accessory that won’t become obsolete (like the spare batteries) as soon as I grow tired of my current device. Definitely a keeper. You can find the Multi-Function Charger along with spare/alternate charging plates at Seidio’s site, http://www.seidioonline.com/ or at other online retailers.

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Quick Tip: Longer Power Cable for Your Phone

Vikram — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 01:48:09 +0000

I usually like to browse the internet, check my emails or respond to an email before I go to bed but usually by that time my phone is pretty much out of battery. I plug it in to the charger but the cable seemed really short and the wall outlet was not in a good location so I had to stay on on one side of my bed and could not roll around . So to fix this problem I took a USB extension cable I had lying around the house and connected it to the charger and then connected the cable that came with the charger to the USB cable and TADA! I had a charging cable that was twice as long.

Here is what the USB cable looks like: You can get a 10ft!!! cable if you want for for $0.06 + shipping on Amazon

This only works for people who have HTC phones that came out after the Fuze because HTC started using the detachable USB cable after the fuze. It might work for our favorite Iphone as well but I am not sure. I am sure one of you can tell me if it works for the Iphone chargers too.

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