Powermonkey eXplorer Solar Charger for Cell Phones, MP3 Players, iPods, PDAs, PSP and Digital Cameras - PM-eXBoxGrey

The Power Monkey charges fairly quickly with solar power (1 day), and it will charge quicker on the AC charger. The device charges my cell phone quite well. A Blackberry device with a standard battery is another issue altogether. Using a fully charged Power Monkey, I have only been able to charge the Blackberry up halfway before the Power Monkey is depleted. Overall it's not a bad sustainable energy product, it just may not have all the juice that you need when away from other charging alternatives. The best thing about the product is that it comes with a large variety of charger tips and adapters.
 
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This little power pack is useful to take with me when I'm not going to be near a regular power source. If my cell phone, ipaq, or sansa mp3 player needs charged, I whip out my PowerMonkey and plug it in. Short time later, the device is fully charged. Either place the included solar panel in the window and recharge it or plug it into the wall to recharge it. The one draw back is I wish there was a longer cord on the solar panel so I can leave the panel on the dash of the car while the power pack (with battery) is stored in a cooler area of the car. Even with that little drawback, I still give it a 5 rating.
 
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I too was swayed to buy this for the rebate that was being offered. But since then I have come to think of this as a wise purchase at any price. The various adapters can be used to charge just about anything from anywhere. I use it to charge my iPod as well as my phone (a BB Pearl). I also bought a simple cigarette lighter to usb adapter elsewhere to charge it up in the car, that works awesome too. try it you'll like it and wont want to go back to conventional chargers.
 
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I tried it because of the rebate (due in a few weeks so I can't tell whether that went well). The selection of connectors is excellent, and the solar panel is very easy to carry around. The iPod connector tends to be loose and came with a crack, but it works as long as I check on it from time to time. It's slow to charge the battery, but after it's done, it's super to have a backup battery for my devices that don't come with one. Plus it's a nice conversation starter when it hangs from my backpack!
 
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Excelent product. One of my most beautiful and useful gadgets. Ideal for the road warrior.
 
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I ordered this because of the rebate. I was quite impressed. There is a large selection of adapters for both wall plug charging and connection to your portable device. The thing seems to have a decent set of electronics built into it to manage the charging of the monkey and of your device. I was thinking that you could hook up your portable device to the solar panel to charge it but that is not the way it works. The solar panel charges the powermonkey and then you disconnect that and plug your device into the monkey. My only complaint is that I wish the solar panel charged a little faster. If I want to do my little part I can solar charge the monkey during the day and then use it to charge my phone at night.
 
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I use this item often on the music festival circuit. A lifesaver for staying in touch with the outside world. Would be 5/5, but there is no inverter to charge AC-powered devices from the battery. The AC plugs provided can only charge the PowerMonkey. Gadget-lovers will love the attention this toy gets you.
 
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I was in the market for a PSP battery but ended up buying this, since with mail in rebate, it's a far better and more versatile option. It's a great compact item. The PSP connector is flaky though and requires a bit of adjustment sometimes before it starts charging. I need an extra adaptor for my cellphone, however it charges my friends RaZr with the mini USB adapter flawlessly. Very nice item, excellent for those weekends out of town. Can recharge the whole set using a computer's USB port..so convenient. Even if the mail-in rebate doesn't go through, I'd consider this a worthwhile purchase.
 
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The quality of the Powermonkey is excellent and the packaging is well done. I needed 2 additional plugs not included in the original kit and the company was very responsive in responding to my request at an excellent price. The product set-up and handling instructions were less than expected and required some "figuring out" to properly use the product.
 
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At this rebate price the Powermonkey is an absolute steal. It works really well and with the tip assortment they include it will charge my PSP, Nokia N800, and my Jawbone headset. Having a display on the battery unit is tremendously useful since you will actually know if the battery contains sufficient charge or not before you use it so you will not be confused whether or not the battery has enough juice for your device. The solar unit works as advertised; yes it takes a while to charge the battery, but having this option is really useful. The entire kit is a bit bulky despite the included case, but if you strip out only the tips you need you can consolidate to a much smaller package. The kicker in the whole deal though is that I could not charge my Blackjack 2 with the include tips or when using the BJ2 charging/data cable and the powermonkey USB tip. I emailed the manufacturer and explained my predicament and they told me that the usb tip would not work with charging cable but that they did have a tip that would...and that they would send it to me for FREE from the UK (please note, YMMV). This is tremendous customer service and demonstrates that Powermonkey really stands by their product. This is the first external battery charging product I have purchased that works as advertised and has been utterly hassle free...I highly recommend
 
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I stumbled upon the Powermonkey (PM) when looking for additional power for my iPod. Typically, the charge of an iPod is fine for just music on a flight but movies can drain the battery quickly. The PM is a great source for additional power. The best thing is one can use it with your cell phone (Blackjack or Razor) with the attachments. Better yet, you can make it the all-in-one charger for travel since it can handle 220 or 110 thus elimination lots of converters while overseas. Add the solar panel and this is even better. Throw in a rebate and why not buy this! I am buying a regular PM for use as well since I only need one solar panel and it works on the original PM as well. Buy this today!
 
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This is the ultimate toy for geeks who like to go places there is no ready source of electricity. :) The solar cell will charge the included battery, and the included battery will charge other devices, but not simultaneously - the battery will not distribute power while it is charging. The solar cells will charge devices directly but will only charge my iPod if there is sufficient sunlight (I guess the iPod requires a minimum charge). The device is simple to use, find the correct adapter for the device, plug the charging battery into the device, turn it on. It is water resistant if you put the end caps on it and includes a nice carrying case. They even thought to set it up so you could attach it to your backpack. I was impressed by the number of adapters provided with the product, it even included an adapter for my Nokia 6555 (the small tip can be difficult to find). The device includes a USB adapter so it will basically charge anything that can charge via USB, plus anything they have a tip for. The device charges via solar, AC (it includes world adapters) or USB, and creative use of the adapters will let you charge other devices that way as well because the charging adapters will fit all of the tips.
 
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Good charger. It is able to recharge my phone twice before needing a charge itself. Only problem is that the solar charging is very slow (takes at least 2 days to charge completely). It is also on the expensive side but with the rebate it is well worth it. I have a full review of this product on hubpages dot com just search for power monkey explorer solar charger.
 
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