Comments on: Minty Boost: Charges Palm Pre and Freshens Breath, Too

By: JohnC

JohnC — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:56:01 +0000

Regarding mobbile power/chargers:
Sanyo sell a very neat gizmo KBC-E1 as part of their ‘Eneloop’ range of products. This can charge any NiMH AA batteries via any USB connector, two at a time, in about four hours. You can then use the device to power or boost any other device via a USB connector, including iPhone/iPod. You can also insert charged AA cells into the device to get USB power on the move. See attached link. I’m very impressed with it for about Y2200 including two AA NiMHs. Hope that helps.

By: Simon Dale

Simon Dale — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:46:43 +0000

I have a very similiar commercially available product that I bought from Poundland here in the UK. It was £1!

It takes 4 AAA batteries and outputs 5V in either a USB socket or a Nokia plug. It is made by Signalex and the product code is IPD5.

Poundland carry a whole range of Signalex products – I also have a tiny 4 port USB hub with USB extension lead which was also £1.

By: gmazin

gmazin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:32:44 +0000

$20 is a bit much to ask IMO.

and you could buy a big altoids tin, and 4 nimh batteries+charger (from walmart) for about $15 total (and salvage the remainder of the parts from elsewhere) and use that, since 4 nimh batteries = 4.8v = almost usb voltage

By: GoodThings2Life

GoodThings2Life — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:02:49 +0000

My attitude is that it’s still very much “1.0″ version with a LOT (TON, actually) of potential. If you’re a non-tech or average-tech user, you’ll probably love it. If you’re a very techy person, you’ll probably like/enjoy it but constantly wish for this/that feature.

By: PJ

PJ — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:13:26 +0000

Oops, I forgot to click on the “Notify me of follow-up comments via email” on the last comment.

By: PJ

PJ — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:12:23 +0000

Hi Kevin,

So, since you’ve had Palm Pre for couple of weeks, how do you like it? How does it compare to your iPhone? I always try to avoid this question but I can’t help it since I can never have a decent conversation about iPhone and Pre with any of my friends who use iPhone, as first thing they will say is “iPhone rocks and Pre sucks”. And I don’t know anyone who has Palm Pre. I am debating whether to get an iPhone or Palm Pre and want to get some insightful advice from users, which I just can’t seem to get. I’ve read tons of articles comparing two devices but I want to know how the phones measure up on practicality and functionality in real-life situation. Since you have both phones, I thought I’d get an unbiased response from you and, if possible, from James as well. =D

By: bluemonq

bluemonq — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:59:45 +0000

Just don’t bring it to the airport, though; remember when the TSA agents had trouble with the MacBook Air? Now imagine “getting caught with a small metal case with wires and batteries in it *shudder*