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iDAPT i4 review: A unique charger that’s ready for anything

Dave Greenbaum — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:19:48 +0000

With more moving to iCloud and a post-PC era, the need to connect iDevices to computers dwindles — except, of course for charging. If your work area is anything like mine, you have an assortment of power bricks and USB cords cluttering things up. While Darrell’s recent look at Innergie’s new Magic Cable Duo is an option, the iDAPT i4 solves the charging dilemma by creating a universal and interchangeable charging station.

The iDAPT 4 uses one power cable to charge up to four devices at once from one power source. What’s unique about this product is its modular design and use of interchangeable tips. You can swap 3 of the charging bays at will. The standard U.S. pack comes with 6 tips: 1 mini USB, 2 micro USB, iPod-iPhone, Samsung 4, and Nokia2 (there are different versions of both Samsung and Nokia chargers). You can order a custom pack of tips on their website for over 20 different devices.

You can even order an AA-AAA battery charging tip. This was a killer feature for me, as I’m always needing to swap batteries in my track pad. Along the side of the unit is a USB port to give you a fourth place to charge. Plus, if the ports aren’t charging, they aren’t draining power, making this a much greener solution than keeping a series of power adapters plugged into the wall.

I’ve used the device for a few months now and generally I’m pretty impressed. Some devices like my Bluetooth headsets had a bit of trouble fitting on the unit due to their unique shape, but other devices such as my iPod, MiFi, and external battery packs worked without issue. For devices that didn’t easily fit, I just use the USB port on the side.

The unit comes in a variety of colors (even white for Apple purists) as well as power cables for the U.S., the U.K., the E.U. and Australia. Tips are generally $9.99, and the unit is available from a variety of resellers.

Disclosure: iDAPTt provided a unit for this review and additional tips.

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A Powerful Problem: iPhone/iPad Batteries and Chargers Compared

Dave Greenbaum — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:30:22 +0000

They say you can never be too rich or too thin, and in the case of the average iPhone or iPad user, you can also never have enough power. Personal hotspots, FaceTime, and many games push your battery to the limits. Luckily, a myriad of products in a variety of styles exist to help the power-challenged. Which is best? It depends on what you want to use it for.

Battery power is generally measured in milliamp hours (mAh). The more of these at your disposal, the more battery reserve you’ll have. The more power, however, the bigger the battery is generally going to be. You’ve got to make some choices and compromises. There are generally two styles of external chargers: integrated case-style chargers, which thicken the phone while providing power, and dongle-style chargers which hang off the phone’s dock connector.

Case + Battery Backup

Dexim Super Juice for iPhone 4

If you’re interested in an integrated case and battery pack for an iPhone 4, Dexim’s Super Juice ($69.99 retail) is the best mix of power and features. First, it has a 2000 mAh battery to give you six additional hours of talk time. What makes this battery stand out, pardon the pun, is a nice little kick stand in the back that allows you prop it horizontally for easy video viewing. Unlike the Mophie’s version (Juice Pack Plus), the top part of the Dexim case is integrated into the design, so it can’t be lost (after the first week of testing the Juice Pack Plus, I lost the top!) The Dexim also retails for about 30 percent less than the Mophie. Unfortunately, the Dexim only comes in white, while the Mophie Juice Pack Plus comes in a variety of colors — white included.

Standalone Portable Reserves

ChargeBlockXL

For smaller boosts of power during the day, I absolutely fell in love with the Chargeblock XL ($39.99 retail) from Miccus. With 1500 mAh of power, it will give you a significant boost, and its compact curved design makes it fit easily into your pocket or purse, then attach to any device with the standard dock charger. This was the only external dongle-style charger that I could keep using while holding the iPhone. Other dongle-style chargers are just to bulky or awkward to hold while connected.

However, a strong runner-up in this category is the Mophie Juice Pack Boost ($59.95). While not as compact as the Chargeblock (sized similar to an iPod classic), it does have a built-in carabiner keychain to attach it to just about anything and it doubles as a flashlight! I did have trouble with the retractable, 30-pin connector on the Juice Pack Boost keeping a stable connection to my iPhone, and it was impossible to use while holding the iPhone, which is why the Chargeblock remains my first choice for daily use.

Charger/Battery Combos

Kensington PowerLift

For charging my iPhone 4 while on a plane (or anywhere else where you won’t use the phone for talking), I really liked two different Kensington products. My first choice was the Kensington Travel Battery Pack and Charger ($69.99 retail). It provides 1500 mAh of power, but its dock cap acted as a built-in horizontal prop stand (similar in function to the Dexim Super Juice) so I could watch video on the plane hands-free. In other situations, the dock cap was a nuisance, as it added too much bulk to the iPhone and fell off while talking on the phone. Shortly after Macworld, the Kensington PowerLift ($49.99) was released. This charger provides 1200 mAh of power and has a built-in vertical stand which is ideal for FaceTime. The stand is integrated and can completely fold out of the way. The PowerLift is my first choice for this style of battery pack, and I keep one in my office as a convenient iPhone charging station.

iPad Battery Backups

Given the iPad’s extreme power requirements, the field is somewhat narrow for iPad users. Only two devices I tested provided enough power to truly extend the iPad’s battery (and skyrocketed my iPhone power!). One was the Richard Solo 9000 mAh charger ($69.95 retail). While a great product, the design was quite bulky. I found it difficult to carry around with me, as it wouldn’t easily fit into most cases and certainly not my pocket. However, 9000 mAh made it a leader in capacity. In contrast, the Miccus ChargeBlock for iPad ($99.99 retail) provided 8200 mAh of power, but did this with a design almost identical in size and shape to the iPhone 3G, and thus is very easy to carry around with you. The convenience more than made up for the loss of capacity. Cool flashing blue lights didn’t hurt my love of this product.

Best Overall

Dexim BluePack S8

Overall, my favorite charger was the Dexim BluePack S8 ($79.90 retail). Although it was small and sleek (slightly smaller than the iPhone 4), it provided 3000 mAh of power and a built-in flashlight — as well as a slew of USB adapters for not just 30-pin connectors, but also Micro and Mini USB charging. However, I skipped using those and opted to carry around with me a Scoche flipSYNC ($19.99 retail), which is an iPhone charge-and-sync cable you carry around with you on a keychain. I keep both devices in my laptop bag and use them on a daily basis.

As you can tell, I got a bit obsessive with finding just the right external iPhone and iPad charger. I’m an extremely heavy iPhone user and can’t make it to lunch without a bit of a boost. I guess my iPhone has become too much like its owner!

Disclosure: All devices were supplied by the manufacturers and, yes, Dave got a real charge out of all this research.

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Apple’s New Battery Charger

Bryan Schuetz — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:37:28 +0000

Mixed in amongst all of the other Apple product updates this morning was an unassuming little battery charger. At a cost of $29 and including six reusable AA batteries, this little white charger offers you the chance to power all of your wireless desktop accessories with a clean conscience knowing that you’re doing your part to help the environment.

According to Apple, the charger sets a new industry standard for lowering standby power usage by sensing when its batteries have achieved a full charge and then automatically reducing its power consumption. Each charger comes with six high-performance AA NiMH batteries with an estimated lifespan of up to 10 years per battery. With six batteries, you should be able to power your wireless keyboard, new Magic Trackpad, and still have two replacements left at full charge. It’s worth noting, though, that the first generation of the aluminum wireless keyboard actually requires three AA batteries.

Apple’s sales pitch offers us the chance to “..finally break the cycle of buying and disposing of those toxic, single-use alkaline batteries.” This is undoubtedly the natural continuation of Apple’s ongoing effort to improve its image as an environmentally responsible company. Energy efficiency has been one of the company’s primary avenues for reducing the impact its products have on the environment.

While scoring relatively well in the most recent Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics for efforts to reduce the amount of toxic chemicals in its products, Apple still took some knocks for waste and energy. Whenever it builds a product with an internal battery, Apple goes to great length to ensure it’s the most efficient it possibly can be in the space available. I suppose it’s only natural, then, that it has now extended that design philosophy to batteries that are removable as well.

New MacBook Pro Battery: More, Longer, but Locked In

Darrell Etherington — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:41:01 +0000

Well, the Macworld keynote has come and gone, and we received a lot of new software from Apple, but not too much on the hardware side. In fact, the long-awaited missing unibody MacBook Pro is the only machine to come out of the event. But it might not be the laptop itself which becomes the biggest headline. In fact, the notebook’s battery is much more deserving of attention.

As rumored, the 17-inch MacBook Pro will have a built-in, non-removable battery (or not removable without major surgery, at least) when it ships later this month. The reason for the battery being locked in, rather than switchable? According to Phil Schiller and Apple’s engineering department, the new design increases space efficiency immensely, allowing the 60% boost in battery life Apple is claiming for the new laptop. That’s 8 hours (or 7 running the dedicated graphics card), compared to only 5 claimed for the last gen Pro.

There’s also the shape of the batteries. Using lithium-polymer instead of a straighforward lithium-ion, as do most current notebooks, Apple engineers were able to change the shape of the battery cells. Lithium-ion batteries necessitate a cylindrical shape for their cells, but the new lithium polymer allows for thinner, more sensible shapes that better fit the space allotted in the new ultraslim aluminum MacBook Pro case.

Finally, the chemical makeup of the batteries themselves is new, and along with a new chip that improves communication between battery cells and the computer, this allows for a greatly expanded battery life. Apple is claiming a lifespan of up to 1,000 charging cycles (complete charge and discharge of the notebook battery), compared to between 200 to 300 for existing Apple batteries. If true, the lifespan of the new battery would far exceed that of existing notebooks, both Apple and non-Apple. According to Apple’s own calculations, this puts the outside range of the new batteries at 5 years, which, they also point out, means less waste, and a more environmentally friendly product.

There is an obvious downside to all of this, namely that you can’t do a quick switch-out of the battery on your own. Instead, Apple will offer a takeback and replacement program in case you should require a new battery. That also means you can’t stock more than one of the device’s batteries for quick replacement on the fly when you’re away from a power source for an extended period of time. Arguably, the much longer battery life decreases the need for this sort of thing, but we all know that manufacturer estimates of battery life are usually incredibly optimisitic, so there’s still the possibility that this thing won’t provide true all-day computing yet.

I’m most interested to see how long it takes the new tech to make it’s way down the line into the more reasonably priced Apple laptops, and how people react to the new, locked-in form factor. Personally, I prefer to depend on Apple’s help as little as possible once the computer’s on my hands, so I’m not thrilled about the design. What about you?

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