Hello everyone. I found this on Buy dot com & thought it might be of interest to some in this forum.

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=206229850&adid=17654&dcaid=17654

hi all.

this seems like a good deal to me. it will allow me to just carry the battery pack to recharge my ipod nano (at least once) on a 4-5 day trip. or i can carry the solar charger too, to top the battery off. it has some pretty good reviews, and is priced at $128.15 on amazon right now! you have to do an $80 mail in rebate and wait for a coupla months, but it's a pretty smoking deal.

a couple of reviews:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140986/article.html
http://www.smartplanet.com/reviews/tech/10000904/review/powermonkey-explorer.htm


i bought the item on buy.com as above, and got 5% off the full purchase price by combining with this deal...
http://www.dealigg.com/out.php?id=73500

so with "budget" shipping (free) my total was $112.07, with an $80 rebate. so i'll get the item for $32.07 total.

Items: $104.49
Shipping FREE
Tax: $7.58 (you have to pay tax on the full price)
Order Total: $112.07

.

Edited by DaveT on 05/01/2008 10:39:39 MDT.

Dave:

Please write a review. I am most interested in the efficiency of this charger under varying sunlight typical of many hikes. Thanks in advance.

i can write up a review once i get a chance to use it. i'm not positive that the solar side of it will be "perfect" for the kind of hiking i usually do, which is really long days on the move. it would likely work best if you had it sitting facing into the sun angle. however, i'll strap it to the top of the pack and see what happens. and i definitely see the value in taking along the fully charged battery portion as a way to charge up an ipod on a 5 day trip. and it will work well for car camping, base camping, music festival camping, and the like. i'll let you all know what i think after i get it.

Great... if I have the "luxury' of laying the charger right under the sun all day, I am sure it will eventually charge up fully -- but what I am really interested in is what you described up above -- all those imperfect situations where trees, rock facings, deep gorges, etc., all "conspire" to block the sun in and out, in and out. Will the charger still deliver and be worth taking along?

yes, i agree with you.

keep in mind that the system is two separate units - the battery unit that you charge up and charge from, and the solar collector. you can charge the battery portion from the solar collector, from an outlet, or via USB. so you can start the trip charged up. then you can trickle into the battery (however imperfectly) while on the move in the day (atop a pack) and at lunch/siesta stops (which i enjoy). and then charge your ipod at night off the battery.

for backpacking, it will probably come along on 4-7 day trips when i want lots of music for solo hiking - either just take the charged batter portion to recharge the nano once (or more?) or along with the solar collector if that makes sense.

and of course it will still have utility for car camping, music festivals, base camping, etc.

i was looking at the solio 1000 unit for this purpose, but this seems like a well done item, and for $32 total, it's a steal.

i'll post more thoughts after i check it out!

Hey Dave

I am interested to know the weight of this setup(when you get it). I am just thinking out loud and wondering if a cheap mp3 that takes AAA bateries and you can just carry one or two spares?

I just discovered my mp3 is missing so I am in the market. Really wish the bluetooth tech would hurry up and make a good system but then that would just be more battery usage. just be nice when training at home to not have the stupid wires. There just really is no good bluetooth headphone out yet.

hi jeff.

the weights are listed as 82 gm for the battery unit and 83 gm for the solar collector, i think. so each one is about 2.9 oz?

as far as batteries and mp3 players, i like my 8Gb Nano, so I'm just looking for a way to charge it up while on the trail. i can definitely see using just the battery pack as a way to charge the Nano up once on a 5 day trip. and using the solar collector part where it makes sense.

we'll see!

dave.

Check this one out. Looks a bit simpler, though I don't know anything about it. The price is right, though, and sub 3 ounce.

http://tinyurl.com/56nrmt

This is not my area of expertise but someone I know who is an electrician
at Yosemite built this homemade one.

http://tinyurl.com/yzyvev

He is also a avid backpacker.

frank

http://www.buy.com/prod/powermonkey-explorer-solar-charger-for-cell-phones-mp3-players-ipods/q/loc/111/206229851.html

Now you can get the solar charging PowerMonkey Explorer for $18.99, with free shipping, after a $100 rebate.

And, as always, make sure to Google "buy.com coupon" or "buy.com promo code" to see if you can get another 10% or whatever off. I did when I bought mine.

Edited by DaveT on 05/22/2008 16:21:10 MDT.

Here is a very recent review on the Power monkey
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23722922-11869,00.html
Franco

Buy.com out of stock, other sites are $100 plus for the power monkey. Looks like an opportunity lost. Curt, your tinyurl for the alternative you suggest just hangs my computer up indefinitely, any chance we can dispense with the fancy sleight of hand and just have a regular old-fashioned url?

Elizabeth:

Curt's tinyurl works on my PC. Try clicking here instead.

.

Edited by hellbillylarry on 06/07/2008 14:09:47 MDT.

powermonkey (non-solar version) at newegg for $6.49 afte rebate... see my post here:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/14068/index.html?id=84uwCLLd:75.54.146.44?skip_to_post=104324#104324

Thanks for the link; it acted the same way. Turns out it didn't really freeze my mac, it just took so darn long that I thought it had. ANYWAY the Devotec charger is out of stock at the manufacturer, but looks good. The non-solar one for $6.50 looks good for the price, certainly, for a non-renewable energy source.

Thanks, all. Keep 'em comin'!

(first post)

DealExtreme (www.dealextreme.com) in Hong Kong has many different solar chargers with built in batteries. They have models with both Nickel Metal Hydride and Lithium Ion chemistry batteries, the latter being lighter and more expensive. I noticed the following on a quick check (searched word "solar"):

** "Solar Powered Self-Recharge USB Battery Pack (2000mAh)" $18 (5.1 oz)
** "18000mAh Solar + AC Powered Emergency USB Charger (with Cell Phone Adapters)" $16.76 (9.7 oz)
** "Solar Powered Cell Phone Charger (0.75W 3.0V/5.0V/9.0V 400mA)" $18.93 (5.33 oz)

They had several others panels that are out of stock right now. The bad thing about DealExtreme (if you haven't used them before) is that it can take anywhere from 10 days to a couple months for the items to arrive. Shipping is free at the listed price though. You need to use a paypal account to purchase on the site. Another Hong Kong site that will also have similar solar chargers is Kaidomain.com. I have ordered from both sites without any problems.

They both also have nice bright LED flashlights and torch lighters on the cheap.

Matt

I made one of these last year .... works great. unfortuntatly, It takes more than 100 MA to charge my ipod, but it will trickle charge my cell phone with it turned off.

http://tinyurl.com/yzyvev

I was going to add a rechargeable AAA battery pack, but it didn't make much sense anymore. An extra AAA for my MP3 is lighter than the charging unit.

I'll still carry the solar for my cell phone, however. It's about two ounces with the cable I need for USB to the phone, but well worth it for the peace of mind it provides.

I just attach the solar cell to the lid of my pack and head on down the trail.

Edited by flash582 on 06/19/2008 09:27:13 MDT.

Hi everyone. Through June 27 you can get the Powermonkey eXplorer-Solar Charger for either $10 or free (color must be the yellow). Here is the buy.com link for the product

http://www.buy.com/prod/powermonkey-explorer-solar-charger-for-cell-phones-mp3-players-ipods/q/loc/111/206229851.html

Current price is $110. If you use Google checkout, you can knock another $10 off taking you down to $100.

Once you purchase it, go to worldwiderebates.com and on the left side find the "by offer code" and put in PM-5042 and click go or choose PowerMonkey under the "manufacturer" option and find the rebate that applies to you. Choose either the U.S. or Canada $100 rebate option and proceed with filling in the forms. You have to wait 8-10 weeks for your rebate but the final price is $0 after the rebate. Hopefully this will be of some help to those interested in this product.