I got the gear! and myPowerALL: Review

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Here at GearDiary, Judie and the team simply love using and conversing with you as our participants, about the technology that we are blessed to come in contact with. We enjoy listening to our music to go, GPS that help us navigate over the roads and through the woods when we’re geo-caching, cameras and camcorders that capture our “WOW” moments that we can share on Flickr and You Tube, cell phones and smart phones that pull down our emails and allow us to tap into WiFi hotspots, laptops that are light and portable and don’t forget the DVD players and every other piece of gear in-between.

We carefully pack our gear to go in our bag with our USB connectors and electrical cords. As for me, when I am at the airport, not only do I want to be queued up in line, but near a electrical outlet. Sure I love my thin Samsung and Palm Treo phones, but four hours of battery life? I’ll watch a DVD, but every movie is two-part viewing with my Dell laptop’s 2-hour battery life. And I miss some great shots because my camera is on its last legs from taking multiple batches of 100 photos a day.

It’s true; I want mobility, size, speed and cost but it seems the battery size, life and capacity is the weak link that slows down our mobility at the most inopportune times. Each gadget has it’s own proprietary battery and they go dead at the worse possible time! Ever had an Apple iPod battery go dead? $99.00 please will that be cash or charge?

Tekkon has introduced a lightweight universal rechargeable battery: the myPowerALL MP3400 that will power and charge all the mentioned devices. This is exactly what I’ve been looking for!

Specifications:
myPowerALL is available in two versions: MP3300, which provides up to 14V, and MP3400 (reviewed), which provides up to 19V and 40% more capacity.

Weighs just 11.8 oz (MP3300) and 15.9 oz (MP3400)

Size is 3.28″ (W) x 6.80″ (L) x .92″ (D)

Output current: 3.5A max

Rechargeable lithium polymer battery

4 hour charging time

Supports multiple voltages

Output power 40 Wh (MP3300) / 56Wh (MP3400)

Full one year warranty

The package has everything needed to get started.

I really dig the glossy black finish of the unit. This is not the run-of-the-mill utilitarian (ugly) battery pack!

The package includes 8 adapter tips that connect to most devices.

Included is a velvet lined leather case with a magnetic closure flap with a belt strap on the back side.

After a 4 hour charge, the myPowerALL is ready to go. As advertised, simply plug in the cord, attached the appropriate tip, select the voltage as indicated by pressing the button, which lights up the red indicator to the voltage selected. The voltages range from 5V, 6V, 7.5V, 9V, 12V, 14V, 16V and 19V.

Each of the tips have a mark, so once the tip fits the particular device you want to charge, just use the enclosed at a glance card in the pocket of the carrying case to record the device, voltage and adaptor needed.

Here is the part that requires a bit of due diligence to keep from possibly damaging your device:

(1) Just because the plug fits doesn’t mean the device will charge properly. For instance a 3-volt adaptor tip was supplied as one of the eight tips. For my Panasonic digital camera, it takes a 3-volt tip, BUT the myPowerALL lowest setting is 5-volt. The Tekkeon MP3300 model has a 3-volt setting, so this tip shouldn’t have been packaged with the MP3400 model.

(2) Keep in mind that myPowerALL supports Center Positive polarity only.

The manual clearly states this, so again a bit of due diligence is in order. My TomTom Bluetooth GPS receiver has a Center Negative polarity, so I’ll write that on the at a glance card as a reminder to myself NOT to use the charger for my GPS.

Once all the above preventive steps are done, I just connect the adaptor plug to the power output cord. Each the tips fit only one way and the fit is very snug, so there’s no forseeable danger in the adaptor tip falling off. There is a velvet drawstring pouch supplied to keep all of the adaptors and cord together.

The next step is plugging the cord to the DC OUT jack.

Adjust the voltage level for your device by pressing the voltage selector until the proper setting is set by the red light indicator, slide the voltage lock to the locked position to ensure that the voltage setting doesn’t change AND then connect the device of your choice.

One of the neat thing about the myPowerALL the capacity on some devices of applying a charge on the internal battery while also powering the device. The lights on top will give an indication on how much power is left in the pack.

Tekkeon has a online source to obtain the adaptor tip for any device – simply go to the Tekkeon store to select your particular need. Device manufacturers include Apple BlackBerry, Dell, HP/Compaq, HTC, Kodak, LG, Motorola, Nikon, Nokia, Palm, Samsung, Sony and many others in between with the only notable exception being the MacBook Pro power adapter with MagSafe connector.

Tekkeon supplied upon request extra adaptors for review; a PA-A11 for the Palm Treo models, a PA-N05 for my Dell laptop and a PA-USB adapter all listing for 4.95 list.

Customer service was quick and responsive when I asked, “Is there NOT a iPod cable/tip for the myPowerALL, but rather is the myPowerGO* is the proper device to use for the iPod – correct?”

Left to right: PA-USB adapter, mini USB adapter and Treo adapter.

“Yes, however the myPowerALL has the ability to charge your iPod video as well. Here’s the setup to do it: myPowerALL unit + PA-USB adapter + your iPod USB cable. The PA-USB adapter will be included w/ your shipment. Once you have this setup, set the myPowerALL unit to 5V. Then, plug your iPod video to the iPod USB cable. Your iPod video should begin charging.”

NOTE: myPowerGO * will be reviewed separately (myPowerGO provides emergency power to popular mobile phones, plus many more small portable devices.)

So what kind of extta power is expected out of the myPowerALL?

Portable Device: Approximate Usage 3400 Model
Portable DVD player: 7 hrs
Notebook computer: 4 hrs
Digital camera: 5,500 photos or 12 hrs
Camcorder: 14 hrs
Portable media center: 14 hrs of video; 35 hrs of audio
MP3 player (HD based): 48 hrs
Portable CD player: 110 hrs
PDA: 16 hrs
Mobile phone: 70 hrs of talk time

I didn’t try to substantiate the times listed above but I was pleased to get the much needed extra time for my woeful 2 – hours I get out of my Dell laptop and the Palm Treo talk time. Knowing that I could have a ready source of power for my digital camera was a huge relief of not missing out on any great shots while away from civilization.

If you are a power user of gear, meaning that needing a constant supply of electricity is vital for your sanity, then I highly recommend the myPowerAll universal rechargeable battery. I would add the Female Cigarette Lighter Adapter Model #: PA-CLA (List: 14.95) for added flexibility.

For road warriors, carrying a myPowerAll universal rechargeable battery is less hassle than packing all of the necessary individual power chargers and cables or having to purchase a spare laptop battery at $129 list for my Dell. The weight – 15.9 oz – plus the leather case is not an issue when power is scarce. The last time I was at the Los Angeles airport for a four hour flight delay, I was camped out by the water fountain hogging the only available outlet in the terminal.

Over time, I’ll get more comfortable with relying more on using the myPowerAll as a main source of power while eliminating the overkill of cables that I carry for each device or hunting down a electric outlet. Anybody who travels should add the myPowerAll as standard equipment in his or her gear bag.

On a personal note, I wish I had this device with me during October 2005.

I headed out of Nashville to join the team of the Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief mass-feeding unit helping to prepare up to 50,000 meals per day in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita, while stationed in Sulphur, Louisiana. My desire was to do some blogging from the road to share some stories and photos.

There were areas of Louisiana that had no Internet access let alone electricity available to wash clothes or run refrigerators. As I visited people burdened from the disaster, the request was made to please tell our story – we need help. I simply ran out of power to capture all the stories and photos behind the lives affected.

Having the myPowerAll available at the time would have been welcomed; it is now part of my backpack. I won’t leave the house without it.

The myPowerALL is available directly from Tekkeon and from other retailers.

MSRP: $159.95

What I Like: Beautiful design; leather case; works as advertised; many adapters available; necessary gear for road warriors.

What Needs Improvement: Package the Female Cigarette Lighter Adapter as standard.

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About the Author

Gear Diary Staff
Gear Diary was founded on September 30, 2006, with the goal to create a website that would not easily be labeled. Everyone who is part of Gear Diary is a professional who uses technology in their work and daily lives. On this site, we share our enthusiasm while exploring the gear we use — the equipment that makes our lives easier, more entertaining, more productive, and more manageable. Our hope is that Gear Diary visitors find this site to be a welcoming, friendly, and accessible place to learn about and discuss interesting topics — and not only those that are tech-related! Gear Diary is a place to discover and explore all kinds of new gear, including smartphones, computers, kitchen gadgets, Toys, EDC, camping gear, or even your next new car! You can follow us on Twitter @GearDiarySite.

5 Comments on "I got the gear! and myPowerALL: Review"

  1. Nice!!!

    I have a BatteryGeek battery pack for my MacBook Pro at the moment which I will be testing and posting the review in a few weeks. And alternative for those who need it for the MacBook/MacBook Pro.

  2. Nice review as always. Was researching on the portable batteries/chargers and was wondering whether you have come across any that can power up/charge up two gadgets simultaneously?

  3. Thanks hongkongphooey for stopping by. I haven’t seen anything that powers up two gadgets simultaneously in a portable fashion – The only thing I can think of is charging the laptop with myPowerAll as it powers and charges at the same time and then use the USB port to charge a device if applicable.

    I have a night time ritual to to charge everything overnight and use a Cigarette Lighter charger when possible.

    So much gear, not enough power!

  4. Wow, what a great device! I have an extreme amount of cords for all the electronics I have, and it’s just too difficult to bring them along on trips. This would be a help. I just recently bought a new ipod battery replacement as I was getting about an hour play time max. Not sure this device would have helped that, I think the battery was just fried, but I’m going to think about purchasing this. Thanks for the great detailed review!

  5. Well seriously considering getting this for my new Sony UX-27. Was reasearching a bit and saw another Universal Powr Bank called Mfuel where their flagship model ($399) could power and charge up 2 devices at the same time. Google it and check it out.

    My only hesitation with the MP3400 is that it does not have enough juice to saty up for long trans-pacific flights.

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