6 portable chargers for the mobile professional
Summary: Business travelers can find it difficult to have their phone or tablet get through a busy day on the road without running the battery dry. These portable chargers solve that problem.
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Portable chargers for smartphones and tablets
While phones and tablets now get decent battery life, frequent travelers can stretch that life to the limit. Long days away from power outlets and heavy usage can drain even good batteries dry.
Portable power chargers are small battery packs that can be used during the day to top off batteries when they get low. They add very little bulk to briefcases and gear bags and can be lifesavers when needed.
There are dozens of portable chargers on the market, many from unknown companies that might not be good. This collection has been assembled based on personal recommendations from folks using them. It is thus a good place to start when looking for a good portable battery pack for your smartphone and/or tablet.
The prices and links for these gadgets are those from the charger manufacturer. Many of them can be found at online retailers like Amazon, so it's always a good idea to search online before ordering one.
Note that many of these OEMs are quick to push their products for use with iPhones and iPads, but with USB charging ports they will work with most phones/tablets.
These chargers will not work with laptops, as those require special high-power battery packs. Those are typically very big, heavy, and expensive, so they are not included in this collection.
The packs included here are by no means the only ones available — they are just the ones recommended to us. If you have another power pack that has served you well, please share it in the TalkBack below.
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Talkback
Summary
It's taken you 3 years to catch on James
Are these really worth the money
I have android stuff, so basic universal charger stuff by the way
But it seems to me you would have to be so badly organised or be carrying 27 devices to need any of these. Not only that, you would have to make sure your charging device is charged as well as your chargers. Far better to bring a normal dual plug and a couple of USB cables or if you buy a phone, like the Samsung, get a spare battery on eBay for $5. Really not worth spending the 100 bucks on a device which you are just as likely to forget as a spare charger or battery.
IMHO xxx
I think...
Then again, why not have solar panels on the backside of laptops and notebooks?
My $0.0002
Ridiculous!
I travel for work, and the last thing you want is to be across a foreign city, maybe needing to use your GPS to navigate back to the hotel, and having to plug in some big, expensive, external dongle to rip your suction cup mount off your windshield. Totally unacceptable, Rube Goldberg workaround to the fundamental problem:
YOU bought a phone without a removable battery.
By contrast, I can keep a charged battery in my pocket (which is tiny), and just pop it in anytime I want, and I'm back to 100% charged. Instantly.
Also 'by contrast', I bought two 2200mah batteries (stock is 2100 on my phone) and an external charger for $15 with free shipping on Amazon... meaning I have a total of three batteries, so I can keep one in my laptop bag, one in my phone, and one in my pocket so I'm never stuck without that weird thing I'm otherwise likely to "oops, left that in the hotel room...".
Just boycott phones without removable batteries. Vote with your wallet, and stop jumping through hoops. It's how manufacturers will get the message.
They build products to suit customer demand... so stop buying products that don't suit ALL your potential needs!
missing your logic
Then, you prefer to keep an fragile and dangerous spare battery in your pocket so that you could install it when in need?
If you only have one phone, of known brand that that brand does not change their batteries over time (all of them do!), possibly you could do it "your way".
But if you happen to have several gadgets, each of which has apparently very different battery, then you will carry N different batteries, correct? Or N*2 batteries, just in the case you use one of the devices more.
Then, those two batteries + charger for $15 things: that is guaranteed junk. If you put any value in your phone, you would not put a battery like this inside...
But then, it's your money and your devices to waste.
And yes, I mean $15 total for all three...
http://www.amazon.com/Hyperion-Compatible-GT-i9300-T-mobile-CAPABILITIES/dp/B008FQGN7K/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1364316214&sr=8-3
You get my point. ;-)