Kensington Mini Battery Extender and Charger for iPod; iPhone 1G, 3G (Black)
by Kensington
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List Price: Our Price: $23.30 You Save: $26.69 (53%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Kensington Mini Battery Extender and Charger for iPod; iPhone 1G, 3G (Black)
Customer Review: Must Write - its so good
Summary: 5 Stars
I have never reviewed an Amazon product, though I would never purchase an item without reading them. (I know - duh!) I recently purchased the Kensington unit to go with my newly purchased iPhone 3g. It is so useful I must write! I have used it for several weeks. Although I haven't actually timed it, it seems to charge in about the same time to takes to charge my iPhone. I generally plug it in to the iPhone if the phone is between 10 - 20% charge. Within minutes it is up to 75% charge. (in the time it took to write this review it took my iPhone from about 10% to about 80% charge). And in far less than an hour the phone is fully, or nearly fully charged. I can use the iPhone while it is charging. The fact that the Kensington unit uses a mini USB port for its own charging means that I don't have to have the specialty 3g iPhone cord available in order to charge. My camera cord, my old motorola car charger, many cords at my office or friends house, etc. There is always a mini USB cable and a USB charging source. AND you can charge the Kensington and the iPhone at the same time. My wife has the 1g iPhone (BTW, it's cable will not charge the 3g) and she had to buy and keep charging cables everywhere. Office, purse, night table, etc. I can now use pre-existing usb cables :) Because the 3g can be used for so much,it is in use most of the day, so the battery often won't make it thru the day. I charge them both on the night stand at the same time with a mini usb charger. In the morning the Kensington is small enough I drop in my pocket and head out. Appearance and fit are great, although I would not them plugged together in my pocket. Kensington - you did awesome on this one!Customer Review: Great little add-on that works
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this for my wife who is a medical doctor. At the hospital, she uses her iPhone to check e-mail, look-up drug data, and communicate with co-workers. A tough day of call in the hospital might last 12-16 hours and the iPhone was understandably not able to keep up with that work load.
The battery extender attaches to the docking port on the bottom of the phone and immediatly begins charging the phone. While it's connected, you may continue to use all other phone features to text, make calls, connect to wifi, etc.
A fully charged extender will give a dead iPhone (3Gs) 60-70% charge over the course of about 1.5 hours before the extender battery is exhausted. It would be nice if it was more, but not if the extender had to be bigger or heavier. This boost has proven to be enough to get us through most situations including long days at work, long flights, or heading off to school when you realize your phone is dead.
Pros: Pass-though charging means you plug the extender into your iPhone and the charger will charge both your phone and the extender. Simple LED lights tell you charge status of the extender during use and during recharging.
Cons: The connection via the docking port is fragile as it would be with any device conneted to this port. Dropping the phone / extender when connected would be very bad. The phone takes longer to charge from the extender than it does from the standard iPhone charging cable.
My wife and I each have one now. I'm very happy with my extender and I use it much more often than I ever thought I would. Overall, a very worthwhile purchase.
Customer Review: A must-have for IPhone owners and frequent IPod users
Summary: 5 Stars
I own both an iPhone 3G and an iPod Classic. While the Classic holds its charge for a long time, the iPhone's battery can be depleted fairly quickly when I'm using it to retrieve email, run applications, and connect to the internet in addition to talking. When I saw this Kensington battery extender, I knew I had to have it.
The battery was larger than I expected, slightly more than one-third of the length of the iPhone itself. In retrospect, that shouldn't have been a surprise, given that it's an extra battery. Once I got over the disconcerting appendage to my iPhone, I found it invaluable. I keep it charged and carry it with me so I can just plug it into the iPhone, with no interruption to service.
You can charge both the battery and the iPhone together, or you may charge the Kensington separately using a USB port. (You cannot recharge the battery via an electrical outlet.) The charging itself takes a few hours to go from empty to full charge -- too long for new technology, in my opinion -- but the charge it delivers to the iPhone or iPod is immediate. You can operate your device directly from the battery power, or, if you aren't using the iPhone/iPod, you can let the Kensington transfer its charge to the main unit. Although it cannot fully charge the iPhone, any extra battery power is welcome.
The Kensington mini-battery is one of those items that you don't know you need until you have it -- and then you cannot imagine how you did without it.
-- Debbie Lee Wesselmann
Customer Review: ipod 1st gen touch user
Summary: 5 Stars
just bought it today and plugged it into my computer to charge. Took just under 2hrs for full charge. Drained my touch to 20% at the first warning and plugged it in. I turned everything else off on the ipod to see how fast it would charge. It took just over an hour for a 95% charge.
I bought this charger for use while flying and it seems like its going to work great. Fast charging both from the computer to charger and charger to ipod.
I don't like the idea of not being able to listen to music while charging, but cant have everything. The charger also doesn't seem to fit completely tight to my ipod touch so i wont be keeping it in my bag while charging, it seems like it might break off. But it kept a solid connection through charging.
The charging indicator lights are a nice feature both for charging from computer and to ipod. The charger stayed nice and cool through both charging applications which was a concern.
The charger is about the same size as a Zippo lighter so very compact.
Price was reasonable paid 40.00 for mine and seems like a good investment for travelers.
Customer Review: Iphone 3g emergency battery
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the kensington iphone battery extender from Amazon and the first one they sent me never worked. I charged it and tried to use it on my Iphone 3g but either the charges never took or it never recognized my iphone. I was easily able to return it to Amazon free of charge and they sent me a new one the same week also free of charge. The new one works perfectly and I was able to use it right away to charge my Iphone 3g anywhere after I charged the kensington battery charger though the usb cable with an outlet. This was exaclty what I was looking for as I use my Iphone as a GPS device on the golf course and the battery never lasts a whole round. I am very pleased with this product and the price was very reasonable also. Amazon had great customer service when the first one did not work and I was able to do the return and get the new one all online, which was a great time saver. Kensington Mini Battery Extender and Charger for iPod; iPhone 1G, 3G (Black)