Solar charger $29.99 after rebate

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Dave:

Please write a review. I am most interested in the efficiency of this charger under varying sunlight typical of many hikes. Thanks in advance.

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Great… if I have the "luxury' of laying the charger right under the sun all day, I am sure it will eventually charge up fully — but what I am really interested in is what you described up above — all those imperfect situations where trees, rock facings, deep gorges, etc., all "conspire" to block the sun in and out, in and out. Will the charger still deliver and be worth taking along?

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Hey Dave

I am interested to know the weight of this setup(when you get it). I am just thinking out loud and wondering if a cheap mp3 that takes AAA bateries and you can just carry one or two spares?

I just discovered my mp3 is missing so I am in the market. Really wish the bluetooth tech would hurry up and make a good system but then that would just be more battery usage. just be nice when training at home to not have the stupid wires. There just really is no good bluetooth headphone out yet.

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Check this one out. Looks a bit simpler, though I don't know anything about it. The price is right, though, and sub 3 ounce.

http://tinyurl.com/56nrmt

This is not my area of expertise but someone I know who is an electrician
at Yosemite built this homemade one.

http://tinyurl.com/yzyvev

He is also a avid backpacker.

frank

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Here is a very recent review on the Power monkey
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23722922-11869,00.html
Franco

Buy.com out of stock, other sites are $100 plus for the power monkey. Looks like an opportunity lost. Curt, your tinyurl for the alternative you suggest just hangs my computer up indefinitely, any chance we can dispense with the fancy sleight of hand and just have a regular old-fashioned url?

Elizabeth:

Curt’s tinyurl works on my PC. Try clicking here instead.

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Thanks for the link; it acted the same way. Turns out it didn't really freeze my mac, it just took so darn long that I thought it had. ANYWAY the Devotec charger is out of stock at the manufacturer, but looks good. The non-solar one for $6.50 looks good for the price, certainly, for a non-renewable energy source.

Thanks, all. Keep 'em comin'!

(first post)

DealExtreme (www.dealextreme.com) in Hong Kong has many different solar chargers with built in batteries. They have models with both Nickel Metal Hydride and Lithium Ion chemistry batteries, the latter being lighter and more expensive. I noticed the following on a quick check (searched word "solar"):

** "Solar Powered Self-Recharge USB Battery Pack (2000mAh)" $18 (5.1 oz)
** "18000mAh Solar + AC Powered Emergency USB Charger (with Cell Phone Adapters)" $16.76 (9.7 oz)
** "Solar Powered Cell Phone Charger (0.75W 3.0V/5.0V/9.0V 400mA)" $18.93 (5.33 oz)

They had several others panels that are out of stock right now. The bad thing about DealExtreme (if you haven't used them before) is that it can take anywhere from 10 days to a couple months for the items to arrive. Shipping is free at the listed price though. You need to use a paypal account to purchase on the site. Another Hong Kong site that will also have similar solar chargers is Kaidomain.com. I have ordered from both sites without any problems.

They both also have nice bright LED flashlights and torch lighters on the cheap.

Matt

I made one of these last year …. works great. unfortuntatly, It takes more than 100 MA to charge my ipod, but it will trickle charge my cell phone with it turned off.

http://tinyurl.com/yzyvev

I was going to add a rechargeable AAA battery pack, but it didn't make much sense anymore. An extra AAA for my MP3 is lighter than the charging unit.

I'll still carry the solar for my cell phone, however. It's about two ounces with the cable I need for USB to the phone, but well worth it for the peace of mind it provides.

I just attach the solar cell to the lid of my pack and head on down the trail.

Hi everyone. Through June 27 you can get the Powermonkey eXplorer-Solar Charger for either $10 or free (color must be the yellow). Here is the buy.com link for the product

http://www.buy.com/prod/powermonkey-explorer-solar-charger-for-cell-phones-mp3-players-ipods/q/loc/111/206229851.html

Current price is $110. If you use Google checkout, you can knock another $10 off taking you down to $100.

Once you purchase it, go to worldwiderebates.com and on the left side find the "by offer code" and put in PM-5042 and click go or choose PowerMonkey under the "manufacturer" option and find the rebate that applies to you. Choose either the U.S. or Canada $100 rebate option and proceed with filling in the forms. You have to wait 8-10 weeks for your rebate but the final price is $0 after the rebate. Hopefully this will be of some help to those interested in this product.

Thanks for the info. I just pulled the trigger on this. After I get it, I'll post a review.

It arrived today and I have a few thoughts/warnings for people out there.

First, the all important weight (on my scale).
Battery pack: 2.8 oz
Solar Panel: 3.1 oz

After trying to read as much on the PowerMonkey eXplorer as I could, I'll share a few things that I never saw. If the battery pack is charging, you cannot charge a device at the same time. So you cannot have the panel strapped to your pack AND have the battery pack charging something. But, once the panel fails to charge the battery pack (ie shade), the pack will instantly switch into discharge mode to charge a connected device. This is true even when battery pack is fully charged.

Second, the PowerMonkey does not work with a 2nd generation iPod Shuffle with the tips supplied. After testing and verifying I have a working iPod Shuffle dock (the one that came with the Shuffle), I tried to charge the Shuffle with the generic female USB power adapter included with the PowerMonkey. The orange LED on the Shuffle will blink three times, then fail to charge. While I haven't found anything from Apple that decodes this error, I know it is not charging.

To verify that the generic USB provided by PowerMonkey doesn't work with iPods, I attempted to charge a regular iPod with a USB cable. The iPod failed to charge.

To make sure the PowerMonkey wasn't incompatible with iPods, I used the iPod adapter. It worked perfectly. I'm sure someone knowledgeable with USB power delivery systems knows why this isn't working.

I then spent some time searching PowerMonkey's site for a solution. It appears they make an "iPod USB adapter." I sent them an email to see if that USB tip will work with iPods. Once I hear from them, I'll pass on the knowledge.

The main reason why I purchased this was to charge my shuffle on longer solo hikes, cell phone in case I forget to turn it off and need it, camera, and a GPSr (which I saving up for). I know there are solutions out there that use batteries and adapters, but I like the backup ability to use the solar panel to charge devices.

Hey Greg, I have used the PowerMonkey quite a few times with success. If we are talking about the same product- mine holds one AA. And one AA battery will charge 1/2 of the capicity of a IPOD NANO. One more AA Battery and I have a full charge for a NANO. Lithium Batteries are litgher and store more juice. The PowerMonkey is very light weight. Depending on the length of your trip you can bring 2 AA's or 4 AA's- which I will bring on a 110 mile trip in July. GOODLUCK!!

(bump)

First, the iPod attachment works wonderfully for all iPods except for the 2nd gen shuffle which does not use the normal Apple dongle.

Second, for those of you who did this deal and purchased AFTER the 18th but before the 27th, the manufacturer is now claiming that the rebate was only to go to the 18th, not till the 27th. So now WorldWide Rebates is denying everyone who purchased after.

Apparently, in the terms & conditions, you agree to any and all changes at any time that may occur with your rebate. In other words, they can change the rules at any time they want to and don't have to notify consumers. So if you're in the same boat as me, give the rebate center a call to express your displeasure.

Quote from worldwiderebates.com after entering the number of the deal:

"Purchased Between:
6/10/2008 and 6/18/2008"

It was scorching when it was on though.