Product: MySoldius Universal Solar ChargerManufacturer: Soldius
Lowest Historical Price: $15 [History]
Introduction
I recently had the opportunity to make a 5+ hour drive from San Francisco down to Santa Barbara. An obvious necessity during extended driving sessions down the California coast is music, and plenty of it. Therefore, I had my trusty iPod in tow pumping tunes on my slammed ride. But there was something special supplying the power to keep the iPod battery topped off - The MySoldius Universal Solar Charger.
Unboxing
The MySoldius is a simple device. It is a clamshell style array of solar cells, with a power output to pump the sun's juice into your devices. Upon opening the bubble pack, you'll find the aforementioned main solar cell, as well as a variety of adapters that should be able to connect with most devices. The goal of the MySoldius is not to independently power your device, but to supply a supplemental current to either recharge or minimize the drain on the battery while in use.
The main solar array is about the size of a personal checkbook when folded, and it opens up to double the available surface area. Adapters are included for USB, iPod, Motorola, Samsung, Sony, and several other unnamed connectors. The power that it generates depends on the amount of light that it receives, but it is rated for up to 6.58 volts @ 320mA in direct sunlight.
Usage
Usage couldn't be easier. You plug it in to your device and put it in the sun. If there's enough sunlight, your device should be fooled into thinking that it is plugged into a regular charger. With the iPod, that means that the screen light turns on and the little power charging icon comes up. While using the Soldius, I was able to make the 10 hour round trip without plugging in my iPod (which could be done on battery alone), however at the end of the trip the iPod still registered about 3/4 charge.
Conclusion
The MySoldius can be used at home to charge your devices during the day without using "the grid." It can also be used while you're completely unplugged, such as while camping or on a road trip. The price was $15 when I bought it in mid September, which is about the price for a few months' supply of disposable batteries. In light of the simplicity and utility of the MySoldius Universal Solar Charger, I would definitely recommend picking one up if the price comes around to the $15 range again. Keep checking BensBargains.
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#1
heidelbergensis - Posted 3:02 pm PDT 10/23/08 (501 Posts)
Unlimited power for milf_hunter and nuisance_sucks' pink iphone.
#2
CombatJack - Posted 3:13 pm PDT 10/23/08 (379 Posts)
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So, "up to 6.58V" means that this thing's completely unregulated?
#3
Chrisman - Posted 4:20 pm PDT 10/23/08 (2571 Posts)
An unregulated, unlicensed, clamshell-style solar accelerator in my car??? I DON'T think so...
#4
mrmorality - Posted 5:31 pm PDT 10/23/08 (499 Posts)
Can't decide if this makes Ben a pimp or a whore. Any suggestions?
#5
adalmi - Posted 6:15 pm PDT 10/23/08 (4 Posts)
How about your car charger?
#6
Jaseball - Posted 6:54 pm PDT 10/23/08 (13 Posts)
Perfect for powering my GPS when the end of the world comes and we all fall into economic chaos. I'd buy it for $15.
#7
byuan85 - Posted 10:19 pm PDT 10/23/08 (351 Posts)
how far in time can i travel with this
#8
jessewh - Posted 1:50 am PDT 10/24/08 (392 Posts)
Does this come in AGP? Do I also get a free slab of bacon?
#9
forestgump - Posted 8:43 am PDT 10/24/08 (61 Posts)
Will this make my car battery last longer if i don't use the cig lighter jack!? =P
#10
menz212 - Posted 9:10 am PDT 10/24/08 (14 Posts)
way better then battery i say.
#11
wogga - Posted 10:27 am PDT 10/24/08 (444 Posts)
How about a more useful device that's still a voltage regulated 6 or so volts, but can support actually running the unit. 320ma is nice, but that means recharge only.
#12
juzdyn - Posted 11:02 am PDT 10/24/08 (216 Posts)
i got one two of these and they're pretty cool...i'd say a decent device to keep in the car for emergency usage. Haven't gone camping with it yet but hope to see how useful it is on the campgrounds
#13
dave_c - Posted 1:36 pm PDT 10/24/08 (7521 Posts)
| Quote: |
| How about a more useful device that's still a voltage regulated 6 or so volts, but can support actually running the unit. 320ma is nice, but that means recharge only. |
Still regulated? It looks like 28 cells, 2 parallel sets of 14 in series. 14 x 0.50/cell - 0.42V (blocking diode loss) = 6.58V. You could regulate after this device and end up with 5V (or less) if you wanted to.
320mA is enough to play and recharge most things simultaneously, the key factor is that 6.5V/320mA is only it's peak output in great conditions, in normal use you'll end up with significantly less output than that. I don't know what an average consumption for an iPod is but if you take the battery AH rating divided by # of hours runtime then you should have the average current consumption of the device, until the battery starts aging and can't supply it's full rated AH anymore.
#14
kstoney - Posted 1:51 pm PDT 10/24/08 (139 Posts)
Still waiting for solar panels in my coat. Or a solar panel tattoo? Or a solar paneled hat with the two beer holders?
Or how about the motion generators. Works off the motion of your body throughout the day? Promises, promises!
Or how about the motion generators. Works off the motion of your body throughout the day? Promises, promises!
#15
nuisance_el_gordo - Posted 3:12 pm PDT 10/24/08 (3996 Posts)
Oink
#16
australopithecus - Posted 9:30 pm PDT 10/24/08 (1781 Posts)
Sorry pedoph!le nuisance_sucks, this thing charges phones, not your pink troll tent. Please learn to read first.
#17
pimpin_one - Posted 11:24 pm PDT 10/24/08 (145 Posts)
I bought one for $19.99, free shipping, just to see how it worked. My office window gets plenty of sunlight and figured I could top off my Blackberry, etc with it.
The one I got was scratched up, since it has a piano black finish and wouldn't charge anything I hooked up to it. It seemed sturdy, but would definitely be hard not to scratch even further, toting it around in a bag. It had plenty of tips, but just didn't charge my Blackberry or my Ipod. I sent it back for a replacement and they were no longer available, so I had to accept a refund of my money.
Overall, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but $20 for something that's actually pretty big and takes forever to charge (3 to 4 hours for a Cell phone), might as well pass unless you want something to toss in a backpack or laptop bag for a remote area with no power.
#18
nuisance_el_gordo - Posted 9:44 am PDT 10/25/08 (3996 Posts)
Oink
#19
australopithecus - Posted 9:57 am PDT 10/25/08 (1781 Posts)
Everytime pedoph!le nuisance_sucks loses an argument or gets pwned into oblivion, he will just call other people what he is, such as HOMID or pedo or bacon in large letter bold face. But pedoph!le nuisance_sucks and milf_hunter are the only HOMID around, having created Hundreds Of Molested ID's which got banned by Ben. milf_hunter is another HOMID as he bitched at nuisance this week about nuisance reporting to Ben and had one of his HOMID banned. As for bacon and pedo, everyone knows that nuisance_sucks is a pedoph!le for posting disgusting child porn earlier, and he also came out of closet before about his sexuality.
#20
nuisance_el_gordo - Posted 11:33 am PDT 10/25/08 (3996 Posts)
Oink
Wii
iPod