Customer Reviews

Turbo Charge TC² Portable Charger for iPod and iPhone

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

I bought this little marvel for my new iPod Classic 80GB... I saw this and tought it would be great for when I'm travelling, in the beach or out for some photoshoot... And I was right man!

I use this with some 2100 Ni-mh and It recharges my iPod without any problem and really fast... about 80% charge in a mere 15 minutes... and you can even charge while the iPod is working. I haven't got into how many charges can it make per a couple of AA's... but with the Ni-Mh's at least 4 or 5.

Let me do you a favor: do no hesitate, just buy it... is trully amazing (and let's face it... is pretty cheap ah?)

I just got this and even though it has a "works with iphone" tag on it, it does not work with the iphone 3g. The company support was very helpful and they say they're working on it. But for now, it does not work. I'll be returning it.

I wrote a review of the cell-phone turbo charger - I had issues, with the process, not the product. This item is great and it really does work. Recently I was on a long trip and used it to continue watching movies on my IPod Classic. The actual charger is the same for the cell phone and IPod. If you have one, you just need to order the adapter for the other. (IPod classic takes adapter TA202).

This is a great little device and it does what it advertises. I can't say it does it any faster than standard USB charging, but it does charge nonetheless. On an iPod Touch 2nd Gen. it is pretty much only good for one charge and then you need to put in another set of batteries. I still find this a better option than a built-in battery because you can find AAs anywhere and not to mention rechargeable AA NIMH batteries. Why AA NIMHs are a better option? Well you can get them in two flavors: 1.) Regular that take a bit to charge and 2.) Fast Rechargeable NIMHs that can usually be charged in 15 minutes. I don't believe any built-in battery devices can recharge in 15 minutes. So charge your batteries in 15 minutes and you got a backup ready when needed.

I don't have anything else to add because most of the other reviews have covered it. I just wanted people to know that it does work with an iPod Touch 2nd Gen. and I highly recommend it.

This charger works great -- it is ideal for long flights to make sure you can keep watching movies on your video iPod or iPod touch / iPhone. Works as advertised.

Their new chargers work with the iPhone 3G/S! The new chargers have an updated circuit that allows them to work with the later Apple products.

Amazing little device being that it can give a full charge using measly AA batteries.

Using Lithium AA batteries allows the charger to charge the iPhone 3GS to 100% (verified). Rechargeables (NiMH) will give about 60% charge. Regular alkalines will give about 20%. These observations are from personal experience and testing.

[...]

While this seems like a good idea, it doesn't work on my iPhone 3G. The problem, I'm assuming, is that since the iPhone isn't usually powered off completely, the charge is not strong enough to overcome the power draw.

It's nice unit, but stay away if you have the 3G model.

Works for the most part as advertised. Used with my first generation 16 GB iPod touch. As some have mentioned the power switch does easily move and switch from off to on too easily, you can have it in your pocket or bag and it will switch to on or LED mode by itself. However, to me that is not a big problem, I just turned around one of the batteries while not in use and 'switching' problem solved. I am using Duracel batteries and they don't last as long as maybe they should, I get about one or two good charges per pair of batteries. Later I'll buy 4 rechargeable AA's. Used mine on a long flight from the U.S. to Asia and it worked great, when wanted was able to listen to my iPod at any time. I suggest only listening to audio while charging, if watching video it will never charge enough and drain your AA's quickly (or turn off the iPod until fully charged). I couldn't get a "full" 100% charge on mine, got up to about 50-60%, but that was enough for me and simply recharged when the iPod battery got to 10% life. This is a much cheaper alternative than some Ion $100 chargers that some buy.

The trouble with this product is that it is one of a kind; to my knowledge there are no other products that offer this kind of portability.

I have been using this product for months in a variety of ways, and it has SUBSTANCIALLY increased my quality of life, providing iPod recharging in locations (like Iraq) where I do not have reliable places to recharge. And while, initially, I thought it was ridiculous and useless to include a mini-flashlight on the top of it (like including a car adapter for a blender), I have found that I've needed it CONSTANTLY. You will not always be in a well lit location, and while I can't think of many people that carry flashlights/booklights with them, this iPod charger goes with me almost wherever I go, and can be used when I need to read, write, or look for something in my bag. Turbo Charge was actually ingenious to add this to their product.

For that alone it should get FIVE STARS.

However, I have had two significant conflicts with this product:

1) Many users complain about the ease in which this product switches on in your bag and drains the battery completely. I have also experienced this problem plenty of times, and though other electronics far more notorious for eating batteries while my back is turned, TC2's problem is significant enough to register in a review. To specify: I don't have a problem with it turning on in my bag, but when I stick it in my pockets I can almost guarantee that it's going to turn on at least once while I'm walking around.

2) The cable is a piece of garbage. I have repurchased this product once already because the cable attaching the batteries to the iPod is flimsy and poorly made. As a result the inside wire rips/tears/disconnects/whatever and once it does, - unless you angle it a certain way - it's done for. You CANNOT be rough with this product (i.e. carrying it - plugged in - in your pocket) Poney up the dough for another one.
This product gets four stars because it could use modifications and a quality makeover. However, much like some products/services (e.g. Comcast) it is the only legitimate solution to portable iPod charging. Suffer the inconveniences because it's better to have it than to be without it.

This is a great product, but it isn't assembled correctly.

Luckily, there's an easy way to fix tour turbo charge with a piece of aluminum foil.

First, open up the battery area and find the battery contact that's covered by a piece of plastic with half a circle cut out of it. This contact doesn't work because the bumps on the metal behind the plastic isn't directly lined up with the half circle.

To fix the problem, take a bit of aluminum foil about 1X4 inches and fold it over both ways to make a long strip. Size doesn't really matter that much.

Next, bend the two ends and put the strip into the end of the battery compartment (without springs) so that it lines the wall and blocks both metal contacts. Now, put the batteries in, but push the springs in more so that the batteries pin the strip to the wall but don't move it out of place.

You can now put the battery cover on and the charger should work.

This works because the metal at the end of the battery case only has the job of connecting the two batteries.

If it didn't work, check that the ends of both batteries are touching the foil. Also check that the foil is at the side of the battery case without springs and that the batteries are aligned the right way (one of the batteries has the positive end touching the spring unlike most battery cases).

If that didn't work, then the problem with your charger wasn't the contacts at the end of the battery case.