Friday, May 25, 2007
Power to Go!! -- the iGo powerXtender review
Posted by Don Tolson in "HARDWARE" @ 08:00 AM
The powerXtender in Use
The power tips attach with a strong friction fit, with small ridges to provide a noticeable click when they are engaged. The tips are also polarized, so they can't be plugged into the battery unit the wrong way. Each of the power tips automatically configure and regulate voltage to the device attached.
Figure 6: The powerXtender with the power tip attached.
Power tips are available for:
Figure 7: List of devices supported by power tips (from Mobility Electronics website).
Figure 8: A comparison shot of the powerXtender beside my Eten X500.
According to Mobility Electronics' website, the powerXtender can provide “Up to 10 hours of talking, 20 hours of playing or 28 hours of listening” “Runtimes [are] based on performance tests and manufacturers' stated battery life for Motorola RAZR™ V3, Blackberry 7280, iPod® Nano and Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP. Runtime will vary according to the device being charged. Runtimes indicated are with 2 premium AA batteries.”
Figure 9: Table of additional run time provided by the iGo powerXtender for various devices (from Mobility Electronics website).
Unfortunately, I didn't really get a chance to test these, since none of my devices lend themselves to use when the powerXtender is attached. Instead, I focused on using the unit as an emergency backup recharger.
