Product review – Kensington Mini battery pack and charger for iPod and iPhone

by Scott Carmichael on

Today’s product review will take a quick look at a kind of product that has suddenly become quite popular.

Many owners of the new iPhone 3G have been rudely awakened by its poor battery life. In some cases, the phone won’t even last till the end of the afternoon. Since an outlet and charger are not always available, Kensington have developed a portable power source to help get you through the day.

The Kensington “mini battery pack and charger for iPod and iPhone” is a 1.5oz/42g pocket battery pack with an iPod dock connector.

The battery pack contains a Lithium-Polymer battery with enough capacity to fully recharge most iPod and iPhone models. On most devices, you’ll add up to 30 hours of music playback or 6 hours of video. On the iPhone, you’ll add up to 3 hours of talk time.

The battery pack can be charged using your computer or any other power source with a USB connector, including the AC adapter included with some iPods.

Using the battery pack couldn’t be easier, you simply plug it into the bottom of your device, and let it charge. On the front of the battery pack are 4 lights. Three of these lights show the charging status of the iPod or iPhone, and one turns on when the battery pack itself is being charged. One of the other big advantages of the Kensington battery pack is that you can charge your phone using USB, which means you can leave the Apple charging cable at home (of course, you can’t synchronize your device through the battery pack).

Included in the package is a handy retractable USB cable and a plastic cover to protect the dock connector when you are not using it. The only minor complaint I have is that the battery pack adds close to 2 inches to the total length of your iPod when it is plugged in. An alternative product is the Kensington ultra portable battery pack, which I reviewed last week. Of course, with that product you will lose some of the convenience of having such a light battery pack, and you will need to carry your iPod charging cable.

The Kensington “mini battery pack and charger for iPod and iPhone” costs $49.95 ($47 from Amazon).

Product review – Kensington Ultra Portable Battery Pack

by Scott Carmichael on

Gadgets are great, and they can make your trip much more comfortable, but they become pretty useless once they run out of power. It’s a pretty aggravating experience to get stranded at the airport only to discover that your mobile phone has run out of juice. So in today’s product review, I will take a closer look at a product that can be a real lifesaver; the Kensington Ultra Portable Battery Pack.

The battery pack is about the size of a small mobile phone and is finished in a sleek black piano finish. The battery pack has 2 connectors; one for powering your devices and one for charging the device itself.

The Kensington Ultra Portable Battery Pack charges any device that can be powered using a USB cable. This includes all iPods, the iPhone, the Sony PSP and most current phones and smartphones.

The device weighs just 3 ounces/84 grams and the internal power source contains Lithium-Polymer battery cells, not unlike the ones used in most high tech gadgets.

The battery pack can be charged through USB, which means you’ll be able to fill it up from your desktop PC, laptop PC, the included USB wall charger, or any other device that has a powered USB port, including some airline seat power ports.

Powering gadgets is just as easy. You plug the charging cord (included with your device) into the USB port of the battery pack, and pretty soon you’ll have a fully charged gadget.

The internal batteries in the Kensington have a capacity of 1800mAH but feel free to forget that, because all you need to know is that the product has enough juice to power and recharge most gadgets at least 2 or 3 times.

According to the specifications provided by Kensington, you should be able to get the following out of the battery pack:

  • iPod/Zune/Creative MP3 player : + 55 hours (of audio playback)
  • iPod Video (5G/Classic) : + 14 hours (of video playback)
  • Mobile Phone : + 5 hours of talk time / up to 4 days of standby time
  • Smartphone (Blackberry/Palm/HTC): + 5 hours of talk time / up to 2 days of standby time
  • PDA (Palm/HP/Dell): + 5 hours of use (when turned on)
  • Portable gaming device (PSP, Game Boy/DS): + 5 hours of play time

The battery pack comes with an AC wall charger rated for 100-240V and a USB charging cable. On the front of the battery pack is a single button to activate the charging indicator, and 5 bright blue LED lights that show the power level. These lights also show the charging status when the device is plugged into the AC adapter or your computer.

It is light enough to carry around, and has enough power to get your gadgets through the longest of long haul flights. Since AC power is not always easy to find (especially at the airport), carrying a portable power source like this means you’ll be able to power and recharge your phone or music player whenever you need it. And just to clarify; the portable battery pack is not suitable for charging your laptop; it is only powerful enough for portable gadgets like MP3 players or a PDA.

If your device does not come with a USB charging cord, you can order a retractable USB cord from Kensington for $14.99. Cords are available for most mobile phones as well as the HP iPaq, Palm Treo and Blackberry smartphones.

The Kensington Ultra Portable Battery Pack costs $59.99 and is available here. Kensington provides a 2 year warranty on the product.

Timothy Ferriss on Packing Light

by Justin Glow on

Our good friend Timothy Ferriss, author of The 4-hour Work Week, (read our interview with him here) recently traveled to Maui and wrote up a blog post which explains everything he packed and why. Packing “fashionably light” is what he calls his method of bringing only the bare necessities, and I agree with everything he says.

I, like Tim, have been on trips with friends and family members who “pack for every contingency–better bring the hiking books in case we go hiking, better bring an umbrella in case it rains,” and it’s not fun. You start to feel bad when you have everything you need in a lightweight backpack, and your friends are lugging giant suitcases through crowded streets, and up and down staircases. While I’m always willing to help out a friend, it’s discouraging to know that you spent time and effort packing efficiently, yet you still have to help your friend carry around a heavy suitcase.

Tim and I share the same opinions on packing. I always pack the bare minimum, knowing that if there’s something I forget, or really need, that I can most likely find it wherever I’m going, often at a cheaper price than they sell for back home. Even so, Tim’s packing list still gave me some ideas. For instance, I didn’t know about the Kensington laptop locks which fit 99% of all new laptops. Tim uses it not only to secure his computer, but also his entire bag when the laptop is packed away.