going green with an energizer sp2000

[scottjl]

Just a mini review here. Recently picked up an Energizer SP2000 solar-panel USB energy 2000mAh lithium polymer battery. Pretty nice little device. About the size of a small paperback, it has 3 solar panels (which flip out at the touch of a button), a standard sized USB port, 4 LED lights and a charging socket. It comes with a plug-in charger for fast (3-4 hours) charging without sunlight, a small custom charging cable with 6 "tips" and a carrying bag for everything. It has a 3 year warranty from date of purchase.

Basically it's a rechargeable battery that you can use to recharge and power other devices. It will accept a standard USB cord, or you can use the cord it comes with along with various "tips" for it. It comes with 6 (standard Apple iPod/iPhone, mini-usb, and some for a few popular cell-phone manufacturers) standard and additional tips are "free" (with a $5 S&H charge each for 2 per year). You can charge it via the small wall-wart in 3-4 hours (the documentation recommends 8 hours for the initial charge) or approximately 6 hours on a good sunny day (according to the documentation). The unit is made of plastic and is very lightweight (which makes me wonder why they didn't cram more battery in there). There are 4 LEDs (blue) which light up when it is charging via wall-socket, or if you press the button next to them. It gives you an idea of how much power the unit has stored in it.

It is able to charge my 600 using the USB cable it came with. No, you can not read with it while it is charging via USB. If you have a USB to Sony round-tip cable (I have a $3 hydra cable I got online that has a Sony tip, mini-usb, and a few others) you'll be able to charge and read at the same time. You can also get a "free" ($5 S&H charge) tip if you want to use their USB cable.

Energizer claims (with the usual disclaimers) that you can get up to 12 hours of cell-phone talk time, 60 hours of music on a mp3 player, 12 hours playing games on a portable device, or 750 photos on a digital camera. I have no idea how many page turns that equates but I'm guessing it's a good many.

I bought mine to charge up my phone, 600, and various little gadgets. I travel frequently and like the idea that I can leave it in a hotel window, or outside a tent when camping to charge up all day, then charge up my device at night while I'm sleeping.

I picked up mine for $90 from newegg.com, Amazon has it for a similar price.

[Ben Thornton]

Thanks for the review - that looks interesting.

I can't see that model at Amazon.co.uk, they do have a power monkey device which sounds similar. Does anyone have experience with that? It says that it comes with a PSP connector, which should work (although as it has female USB, most things can be got to work, I guess).

[scottjl]

Oh. I guess I should point out, it seems Energizer doesn't actually make the unit, it's rebranded from XPAL Power, you might want to check www.xpalpower.com