Charging Options

So I am going on a long plane flight on Friday; actually two one 2.5 hour flight and one thirteen hour flight. So I am worried about my iPod staying charged for the flight. (There are not power outlets on the thirteen hour flight, I am in coach – non upgradeable as it was much less expensive as in almost 60% less than upgradeable) I started considering my options, I talked with a friend and he said he liked his and he thought he got it at Amazon. So I went out to Amazon and looked at a few items. I found two things that I thought looked promising.

• Griffin TuneJuice Charger for iPod and iPhone (Black)
• Kensington Mini Battery Extender and Charger for iPod; iPhone 1G, 3G (Black)

So I used the key consideration to decide:

• Griffin TuneJuice – $44.23
• Kensington Mini Battery – $28.25

Very simple decision there. Plus the fact that Kensington was direct through Amazon and not having to wait for another store put the final solution in there. So order placed. Later that afternoon I got an e-mail from my friend

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/tunejuice-for-iphone This is not available on Amazon, but according to Best Buy’s website, it is in stock in the Mishawaka store.

I had to go right by Best Buy while running other errands so I figured I would take a look. Yes, they had it in stock, it was $29.99. It included batteries. I decided to purchase it as that way I would have it while I pondered this next question, “Batteries or rechargeable?”

Using the Battery solution, I can easily replace the batteries. The batteries are typically readily available – if expensive – at airports. This also allows me to simply place extra batteries in my travel bag as it is just 4 AAA batteries. Not a huge problem. Not very green and can easily add up in terms of cost. However the flexibility of just being able to purchase more batteries as needed can make it pretty flexible.

The Rechargeable solution allows me to stretch the time I can use the iPod, however it still requires that I charge it. I went to the Kensington website to find out a little more information.  According to the manual I can charge both the iPod and the battery at the same time. However it does not say how long it will take to charge, and it is charged through a USB port. The thing that has me the most concerned is this section from the manual: “Do not store your Mini Battery Pack and Charger either fully charged or discharged. It is best  to store your Mini Battery Pack and Charger with 60% charge remaining. To check the charge level of your Mini Battery Pack and Charger connect it to a power source with a USB cable. Check the charge level lights for a 60% charge level.” Not exactly easy to do and seems to be counterintuitive to the way that a user would typically use it.

The flippant answer to this decision is to buy rechargeable batteries to put in the Battery. That would be about $13 for the batteries, and then I would need to carry that charger as well. Just what I need more electronics to travel with. Plus I would have to remember to charge them.

I am going to wait until I see the unit in person, by my hunch is that the usability of being able to purcahse, acquire, store, carry … etc. fully charged AAA batteries is going to outweigh the form factor of the unit. But kind of disappointing on two fronts, one that the Rechargeable is not more “flexible”; two that the pricing and searching did not reveal some of this information in a timely fashion. It just goes to show what happens if one gets too dependent on one source for purchasing items. Next time I think I am going to do a Froogle search in addition to Amazon.