From TNPC issue #4.16...

Preventing PDA Power Shortages

by Al Gordon
August 9, 2001

Color PDAs are esthetically pleasing, offer brighter, much easier to read displays than the monochrome LCD screens, and show off applications and the Internet well. But they are power hogs. So what to do if you are, say, on a trip and are not anywhere near an outlet for your PDA's recharger as your handheld runs out of juice?

You get yourself PDA battery backup, that's what.

For Compaq iPAQ users, Teletype GPS (they make GPS modules for PDAs) has a $29 battery pack that takes four AA cells.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/416/tr.cgi?al3

Slip the batteries in, and you can run the iPAQ off the power pack instead of its rechargeable cells. The pack is a good choice for purposes such as listening to music over the iPAQ's Windows Media Player during a long flight. You otherwise would have a dead iPAQ after a couple of hours of playing MP3s.

But the "killer" product in this category is Electric Fuel Corporation's Instant Power Chargers for PDAs and cell phones. They can be used to recharge the devices as well as a source of auxiliary power.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/416/tr.cgi?al4

Electric Fuel manufacturers Zinc-Air batteries for purposes ranging from chargers to electric vehicles. No electrical or chemical engineer am I, but the gist of the technology is that rather than containing all the reactants inside a sealed cell like typical batteries, the Zinc-Air cell is perforated and draws in oxygen from the air as part of its energy generating process. The result is supposed to be more energy from a smaller, lighter unit.

The PDA/Cell phone chargers all use the same "Instant Power Cartridge" battery--a matchbox-sized black plastic flat rectangle. It ships in a $20 kit that also includes a "smart cord" customized for the particular device. The cord both connects the cartridge to the device's power terminal and also times the charging process. The cell ships in an airtight bag and a resealable bag is included to keep the air out between reuses. Each cartridge is good for up to three recharges and replacement cartridges are $10 each. The company says the Zinc-Air cells are environmentally safe to dispose. Units are available for many HP, Casio, Palm, Compaq, and Handspring PDAs and Audiovox, Philips, Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, Panasonic, Samsung, and Siemens cell phones.

I tried Instant Power with a Visor Prism, HP Jornada, and Compaq iPAQ, plus a Nokia cell phone. In each case, the unit charged up in two hours or less. The Zinc-Air cells get warm while they are charging, but no warmer than the PDA itself gets in operation.

It is a neat design that can keep road warriors in action far from any A/C outlet.

You can reach Al Gordon at:
mailto:al@TheNakedPC.com

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