I found this really cool charger at KD but it has been "soldout" for a couple of weeks. Any ideas of where else I can find this item or similar?
You can charge your phone, gps, etc with the usb port
I have a Duracell CEF23DX4N aa/aaa charger that can do the same thing using 4 aa's. I like how I can charge aa/aaa batteries at home, in the car or via usb from any computer. Plus I use it to charge my ipod or other usb devices. It's a great all-around charger.
They are harder to find nowadays and cost a lot more than the one you linked to. I found mine at walmart months ago but I don't see them anymore.
I've got this DX thing coming to me: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/white-light-led-flashlight-emergency-usb-charger-with-cell-phone-adapters-18883
A bit expensive, but its got a Luxeon emmiter thing that I can probably plug into a wall USB and use as a nite-light-bonus if I can get someone to mod it with a neutral XPG! The best part is the ability of use of 18650's to charge usb devices- 18650's are easy to charge, and cheap to get unprotected.
srfreddy, some info about this charger: I really like mine. The 18650 that came with it is really 2400+ mAh and the charger does its job. Modding the led though is very hard to do because it is mounted on the same pcb as its driver components. Removing this driver pcb from the led usb plug is a pain too. Plus the lens relies on the height of the generic chinese led.
I gave up my modding plan with this one.
Really like the Duracell charger. Does anyone know of one like it? Mainly 12v and USB.
I spoke with a rep at KD and she informed me that the manufacturer stopped production on the charger in my original post. Too bad because for 5 bucks that thing was a great deal.
The best deal I can find is the one with the flashlight head attachment for 16 dollars at manafont. It sounds like it gets positive remarks. Srfreddy let us know how you like it when it arrives. -cessna
ps there is also these 2xAA chargers for 2.39 shipped!! I just ordered one, we'll see how it works. It will probably only charge my cell phone up 1/2 way but thats better than nothing to keep in the GF's purse with all the other junk she carries in there, she wont even know its in there!
The manafont version says 450 mA max output while one of them on DX can be used at 1A.
Yea while it does say that, I would bet money that they are the exact same product coming out of the same factory. Manafont is $2.60 cheaper and ~2 weeks faster shipping time for me. Here is a link of a DX forum post on how to activate the 1 amp charging mode.
@cessnapilot:
I have that charger, purchased for only 0,99 USD to another ebay seller. In a few words: Not work with all devices.
Examples:
Standard generic USB devices, as chinese MP3/MP4 players -> Works perfect
Some Iphones/Ipods: Does not work always, depends in the version of the device
Sony Ericcson W595i mobile phone: does not work
Nokia 5200 mobile phone: works
External USB hard disks: works (HDD spins up and after a few seconds it fails when the AA can not supply sufficient amperage)
Have to say that that charger has a very low efficient circuitry. Draws a bit less than 2A to the batteries to produce less than 450mA in the USB connector.
Conclusion: some devices needs to have a presence of a determined voltage in the DATA pins of the USB conector. Other devices nees the data pins short-circuited internally.... etc
Maybe you will need this cable/adaptor for charging a determined device:
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/usb-male-to-female-data-charging-cable-20cm-length-47088?r=43033281
However, one friend has this http://www.dealextreme.com/p/white-light-led-flashlight-emergency-usb-charger-with-cell-phone-adapters-18883?r=43033281 and works perfect with all devices, I am thinking into buying one (note: if you use the included cable, the retractable one, and the included conectors, it will work with ALL devices. Original cables will not work)
Bye!
I got it a while ago, but it arrived just in time for a trip. It proved pretty useful. It charges iPods and my phone, but the instructions to charge iphones are confusing: hold down the power button and wait for the two lights to flash back and forth. It does that with my ipod touch, but doesn't charge it at all. Just doing it regularly works. The cord is reasonably sturdy, and survived the pocket carry with my iPod while I worked through the Harry Potter audiobooks. :D
As fran82 also said, I also noticed that the ipods need the cable that comes with the charger. The standard ipod cable doesn't work.
Yeah that applies to Iphones or other mobile phones. If dont charge with the original USB cable included with the phone, use ALWAYS the cable included with the dx charger
I forgot to mention
Today arrived new devices to do the same (charge electronics stuff) but dont use 18650... Still interesting enough
2800mAh easy one http://www.dealextreme.com/p/2800mah-emergency-mobile-power-rechargeable-battery-pack-with-cell-phone-adapters-black-59567?r=43033281
3000mAh Includes even a micro usb conector http://www.dealextreme.com/p/3000mah-emergency-mobile-power-rechargeable-battery-pack-with-cell-phone-adapters-black-silver-59568?r=43033281
I use the microusb cord that came with my phone, which works.
Ey guys!
I did a price match request at DX and they dropped the price from 18,62 to 16,20 USD!!!
Now is a more interesting deal
Nice that they did that even though the DX version comes with a case and I'm not convinced the internals are the same either.
I wouldn't spend $30 for a "manufacturer rated" 3000 mAh though, I'd get the Sanyo 5000 mAh rated one even though it's around $70.
@mfm: are you talking about the 18650 version or the "square" version?
First the 18650 one then the square versions.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Could this be spam? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
On topic, I got the one from DX and it's useless crap.
The ONLY cell that fits is the included FLAT TOP unprotected cell that is exactly 65,00mm long. Protected cells? Never. Unprotected button-top cells? Unlikely.
9 reviews on DX and lots of topics on the product page but noone was smart enough to mention this simple fact?