Wed, 20 May 2009 11:27:04 +0700WeeblyWed, 20 May 2009 09:43:04 +0700http://freeloaderportablesolarcharger.weebly.com/1/post/2009/05/freeloader-portable-solar-charger.htmlThe FreeLoader Portable Solar Charger is a nifty little device which supplies you with power for your mobile devices while you're out, or when you otherwise don't have access to a power socket. It is versatile though, and can even be used without sun, as long as you have a computer.

The FreeLoader works in three ways, and can:

* Charge its internal battery from the sun (as is evident from the name)
* Powers its internal battery from a computer via a USB connection
* Charge your portable devices without wait time either by solar power or USB if you hook them in when it's charging.

The only drawbacks are minor ones. First, there's a kind of slack charge time if you're utilising the solar option. It took about 8 and a half hours for me to charge my FreeLoader Portable Solar Charger immediately after I received it on a mostly sunny day in Los Angeles. Still, that's no trouble, because if you want a faster charge time you can just plug it into a USB port (three hours, more or less) or charge the device directly by hooking it in while FreeLoader charges.

The only claim I don't trust from their marketing rhetoric is that it will charge "any hand held device." There are two plugins on the device itself, and a further twenty two connector tips that arrive with it. That is a lot, no mistake, but I'm not sure it's enough to warrant the "any hand held device" label.

Still, these are pretty much the only flaws with this neat charging gismo. If you have a few portable devices that need charging on a regular basis, its many adapters are useful. If you spend a great deal of time outside away from power sockets, it's great for that too.

Definitely worth checking out!

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