Customer Reviews

ReVIVE Series Back-Up Rechargeable POWER Boost for ALL BlackBerry's, Kindle 2 & Kindle DX - Refuel 3 Ways AC, USB and SOLAR

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

I bought this because I wanted something small to keep in my briefcase for when I needed extra power for my BlackBerry Tour or iPod Touch, and also because of this product's claimed solar recharge ability. The product comes with lots of different tips (though remarkably not one for the Kindle 1, which was a disappointment).

When I initially reviewed this product I gave it four stars, but based on my further experience using it and a recent serious emergency discussed in my latest update below, I have downgraded it to three stars and do not recommend it for emergency use with a BlackBerry.

1. This product did power my iPod Touch for two hours. But then this product took 3 1/2 hours to recharge in an AC outlet. I have another portable charger (Tekkeon MP-1800) that is a little bulkier, but provides a much longer charge time and has a shorter recharge time. A portable charger should not take a lot longer to recharge than the charge it supplies. And for a long plane or car ride, this unit would quickly "run out of gas."

2. When this product is charging in an AC outlet, you can simultaneously power a gadget. That is fairly standard with any portable power supply. I was hoping, however, that I might be able to do the same thing with a solar charge after I had sunlight on this unit for a couple of hours. No such luck. Instead this unit powered my iPod Touch for only a short time after being exposed to the sun for a couple of hours and not reaching a full charge. This means that if you go to the beach, for example, and forgot to charge your iPod, and have used up the power on this product, then you will be out of luck for many hours.

3. Any portable power source eventually loses power. However after a few days in my briefcase this unit lost more power than I expected.

4. Most portable power sources require a USB cable to power an iPod gadget. Not this unit, which instead uses a simple adapter. While it is convenient not to have to bring along a USB cable, unless you keep the adapter perfectly straight while attached to this unit and the iPod, you will lose the charge connection. If you are not using the iPod and are just charging it on a flat surface, that is fine. But if you want to put it on your lap and listen to it while charging, this unit requires more effort than when you use a USB cable and just put the portable charger someplace off to the side.

Bottom line: This unit does work, but has a limited power capacity compared to other portable chargers. The trade off is that it is much smaller and more compact than most portable chargers, so if size rather than charging capacity is more important, this unit will do the trick. However since the solar charge takes so long, and since the unit will not power a gadget during a solar charge (as opposed to an AC outlet charge), the solar charge feature has limited usefulness. I guess if you are going camping it would come in handy. But if you are riding in a car, for example, even if the sun is streaming in the window, this unit will still run out of power because it uses power much faster than it can be replenished with a solar charge.

I like to have this unit in my briefcase for an emergency. But I prefer my Tekkeon MP-1800 (which I have reviewed on Amazon) as a portable power source for my gadgets when I travel.

Update September 11, 2011: Due to hurricane Irene we lost power in our home for four days, and on top of that our corded land line phone stopped working. Although we stayed with friends until power was restored, I had to be at my home during the day to supervise a flood restoration crew and other persons. Even though I fully charged this unit at our friends' house, it failed miserably at keeping my BlackBerry charged for any length of time, and on top of that if I moved it ever so slightly the connection with my BlackBerry was lost. Fortunately I also had my Tekkeon MP 1800, which worked quite well to keep my BlackBerry sufficiently charged during the day so that I could make and receive phone calls and email.

Bottom line: This failed miserably in a true emergency. I no longer keep it in my briefcase, but instead keep the bulkier Tekkeon MP 1800 on hand.

I received this as a gift, and was quite excited when I first got it. It seemed to work very well, it charged from the lamps in my house, it had many different kinds of connectors and it was a very handy size. But, as soon as I started to use it, I realized how poorly made it really was. The seller claims that it will work for any BlackBerry, but it wouldn't work for my Curve 8310 from the beginning. On top of that, the BlackBerry connector broke after just a few attempted uses. I have tried it on my iPod, and it gets the job done, but the battery doesn't last very long and it takes about 7 hours if you want to charge from solar. It does charge from three sources, but charge time isn't very good. The quality of the product is quite poor also. I was reading the labeling on the device, and some of the lettering was upside down. The device will tell me that it is fully charged when I push the "Status" light, but I will then plug it in and it charges for hours. The thing really isn't well made. Don't buy it. The thing is more trouble then it's worth.

I had to give this item a 1 star rating because there isn't a ZERO star rating option!

I got this solar charger to provide backup power for my Amazon Kindle and yes, the charger was adaptable to the Kindle USB port. I dutifully charged it up using the USB power feed from my computer, and then it simply wouldn't work to provide power to my Kindle.

This thing is JUNK!

The batteries will not hold a charge over night. It is worthless.

Do not buy it!

At first it looked like it would work fine even though it appeared cheaply made. It charged fine and the first time I plugged it into my iPhone it recognized it. So I let it stay charged for a few days and when it came time to really use it to charge my iPhone it lasted for 30 seconds and then wouldn't work at all anymore. My guess is something shorted out inside. The website had absolutely no support what so ever. I am getting a refund from Amazon.

Purchased product from vendor and it worked for two charges before failing. I was not able to charge it up again with the solar option. Vendor exchanged device for another one. So far I've been able to complete two charges. It takes something to recharge the battery pack with the solar charge.

It's hit and miss with this one.

A solar charger for cellphones and personal electronics is a great idea, but this product falls short of greatness in several important respects.

Putting power in: the solar charging aspect of this is kind of a gimmick. I guess if you knew were going to be out in the desert holding still for hours under a blazing sun you might be able to depend on the little solar panel for some juice, but for most uses you'll have to plug this thing in somewhere. Unfortunately, that requires using a special cable. So if you forgot or misplaced the only cable in the world that will charge it you won't be able to charge this battery. If you lose their power-in cable, you'll have to buy another one from the manufacturer.

Taking power out: you also need a different special cable to get the power out of this thing, since it uses a female mini usb out the likes of which I've never seen before. Normal usb to mini usb cables won't do you any good. If you lose their special power-out cable, you'll have to buy another one from the manufacturer.

Small design: I like the look of this battery, but that small size is deceiving since you can't do anything with it unless you have the special cables mentioned above. It's also slippery to hold on to.

Rapid drain: the battery drains all by itself very quickly, so you can't just charge it up and depend on it being charged when you need it.

Suggestions for the manufacturer: make this battery work with conventional cables for both input and output; figure out how to make the battery hold a charge better.

Suggestion for consumers: take a look at the Powersource Mobile Mini by Xantrex. It's not solar, but it holds triple the charge and has a built in mini usb output that's perfect for recharging RAZR's, etc, on the go.

On the first day, the battery seemed to last for about an hour hooked up to my Nexus One. The next week, it seemed to last only half an hour. I don't think it's worked since. Just the other day I had it sitting in the sun hooked up to my phone with battery at 30%, the charge indicator was on. A few minutes later I rechecked and it was at 27%. It seemed to actually be sucking my phone's power at a faster rate than having it just sit idle.

My charger felt flimsy and loosely put together. The different adapters didn't stay well attached either, they would fall out of place when I barely jostled them. It was also incompatible with my Droid. It charged an old pre-paid phone that I had, but was unresponsive with my Droid.

My two Eagle Scout sons took this charger with them to the 100th Year National Boy Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia. It perfomed well, handling the heat, humidity and occasional cloud burst without missing a beat. They used this charger for their I-Pods, cell phones and carried it with them to various events for others to try out and use. I would recommend this charger for it's low cost and easy use.

I bought this as a gift for my spouse who is an active duty military member who just returned from a seven month deployment in the Middle East. I thought it would be great for him to be able to charge his Ipod using solar power while on deployment, and that he could keep it in his glove compartment to charge his phone in case of emergencies upon his return. This product does not work at all. I am unable to return it because I dont have all of the packaging, and because the window of time expired to return it expired, as he just returned from deployment and informed me that this product never worked. It is disappointing, and I cant recommend this product to anyone.