Duracell 852-0217 MyPocket Charger for Cell Phones

This little gadget is a very cool idea, but unfortunately it seems to trigger a fault protection if a cell phone tries to draw close to (or more) than 5V/0.5A out of it. I tried a bunch of different HTC phones and this little device seems unable to feed any juice into it. On the flip side, all bluetooth headsets I tried charge fine.

Also this thing only works with real batteries it refuses to turn on if one feeds it NiMH rechargeables. Tried with Sony CycleEnergy, Sanyo Eneloop, Duracell rechargeables. It only wants real alkaline batteries. That's a pitty, since NiMH batteries have a lot more juice to feed into a gadget...

Do not buy this product. The light indicating that the charger is working only comes up about 10% of the time. When I am lucky enough that they light comes on and stays on, as soon as I connect the other end to my phone or MP3 player, the light immediately goes off. 2 HUGE, COMPLETELY UNRELATED PROBLEMS! The sign of a truly bad product. Save you're money and buy something you know will work well, like an extra battery.

Buy Duracell 852-0217 MyPocket Charger for Cell Phones Now

I use this to charge my BlackBerry on the go if I don't have any other options available to me -it works very well, and you can store batteries in the device without worrying about killing them just leave the cables unplugged. I wasn't excited about having both the mini and micro USB cables, but now that more devices are standardizing on the micro USB, I'm glad that I have it!

Read Best Reviews of Duracell 852-0217 MyPocket Charger for Cell Phones Here

I use this to keep my Garmin Forerunner 305 charged during events lastin longer than 9-10 hours. Lasted 54 hours at a temperature of -35f with 2 battery changes. Blue light goes out when the AA batteries die and need changing. What a great find.

Want Duracell 852-0217 MyPocket Charger for Cell Phones Discount?

I found this item at a warehouse club during Christmas and thought it would make great a stocking stuffer, so I bought several of them. The club store version includes both tiny connectors for the iPod and Blackberry (mini USB.)

I was eager to test this charger and had an excellent opportunity since my Blackberry was nearly dead. Upon inserted two AA batteries and connecting it to my Blackberry (Bold), the indicator light turned green and the unit became warm. It ran for about 15 minutes and then turned off. I thought it was defective since it only added one bar to the battery meter on my phone and turned off so quickly. I removed and reinserted the plug and the green light quickly turned on and then immediately off. Believing the batteries might be defective, I inserted an additional 2 cells nnd the process repeated itself, while adding another bar to my phonne. Thinking the unit was defective, I opened another new unit and tested it again with the same results.

I'm was surprised by the small amount of power generated by two AA cells, and using such a method for even emergency charging would likely take 8-10 batteries for a full charge. I tossed this unit and bought the Duracell USB Charger DR7000LI, which contains a sealed lithium ion battery and functions the same. The difference a lithium ion battery makes is remarkeable.

While this unit might charge small electonics like iPod (about 75% charge from 2 AA cells,) I cannot recommend this product, particularly if your intended use is to charge a Blackberry device.