USB Batteries – webworker tool of the week
February 13th, 2007 (10:56am) Chris Gilmer 9 CommentsTweet This
Everything takes batteries, from phones, cameras, mp3 players, and that wireless mouse on your desk. How many times do you carry a few spares when you travel? Sadly, I never do, and always kick myself when my wireless mouse starts getting jumpy from low juice. In devices like my digital camera I usually have rechargeables powering it. Now how often do I have the charging base with me? Never.
That’s why I’m so excited about coming across USBCELL. This company offers batteries that charge conveniently by USB. As web workers we always have our laptops with us, so what better way to utilize power, and always have it accessible when we need it? Supposedly just a few minutes of charging AAs is all a wireless mouse needs for several hours of usage. These AA batteries are priced at just over $17US for a pack of two. USBCELL also has 9V batteries, AAAs, and a range of batteries for major phones, handheld devices, and of course Blackberries that will be released shortly.
[via scifitech]
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
I know this has been done to death on Slashdot, Engadget etc, but for the benefit of those who came in late: These batteries suck
While the USB idea is cute, they’re piffling 1300mah batteries, which compared to normal 2400mah AAs will run your device flat in less than half the time. So you can recharge easily, but you have to do it twice as often.
They’re also (as the article points out) insanely expensive: For the price of 4 USB Cells, you could get a USB battery charger and 12 2400mah AAs, or a USB Battery Charger, 4 AAs and a month’s Broadband/7 Coffees/1 Nice Lunch/whatever your metric.
They’re also pretty slow to charge. Whilst most USB chargers quote a 90% charge in 3 hrs, these quote 5 hrs. Whilst that’s probably a little kinder on the battery (and you really care about these things lasting when they cost $AU14 each), it’s pretty annoying when you need the power now.
So yeah, they’re not really recommended, except as a novelty.
LG
Not as compact, but Think Geek has a USB-powered charger for rechargeable batteries, so at least in a pinch you don’t need a wall outlet. They also have the opposite – a battery-powered device for delivering power over USB.
Thanks for the tips LG!
wow, freaking awesome!