Review: Folding Solar Power Gadget Charger

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So you’re on the beach and you reach for your BlackBerry to glance at some emails only to realize…. it’s completely dead! You’re far from an outlet and yes you may have a car charger but who wants to sit their hot car just to charge their phone on a gorgeous sunny day?! Can someone say torturous? BudgetGadgets.com is here to help wipe the sweat off your brow and solve your little juiceless debacle with the Folding Solar Power Charger. Sure, solar power isn’t quite a new concept and never has it been a more prevalent topic than today with the race toward affordable, renewable, reliable alternative power sources. But when you are away from your home or your car, what is more abundant to try to get that gadget going than the sun!?! The Folding Solar Power Charger is a versatile little device in that it comes equipped to charge a wide array of electronic devices including cell phones, mp3 players, digital cameras and PDAs. To be honest, it will charge any device that has a usb, mini usb or 1-3.5mm jack like port for powering up the gadget. One downside I found when using the charger was that it did not support devices with micro-usb ports, therefore I could not charge my BlackBerry Storm with the charger but it would power up my Verizon Curve. Included inside every order is 1 solar charger, 1 charging cable, 1 discharging cable, 4 adapters and a set of instructions.


[Design] The Folding Solar Power Charger is a handsome looking device. On the outside, the clam-shell charger sports a textured black matted coating with a perforated chrome bezel, there are also two LED indicators (green and red) to indicate if there is a good or bad connection with the gadget you intend to charge. The charger opens at the ease of a quick-release button and when closed it sits secure and sturdy to protect the solar panels that lie within. On the inside, two 3.5 inch solar panels collect the sunlight to pump power into your gadget. The charger is a very solid build and measures no bigger than your average smartphone or iPod Classic.


[Usability] The Folding Solar Power Charger can be used as it’s name states, from solar power, or it can be used as a traditional outlet charger. BudgetGadgets.com claims, from a completely dead battery, a charge time of 10 hours for a fully charged battery from solar power and a charge time of four hours from an outlet for a full battery. From my tests the solar power charge seemed to be much quicker than that and provided a good strong charge for the BlackBerry Curve. The charger is very easy to use and connects with ease. Just find your appropriate adapter to fit your device, (a total of four adapters are included) connect your gadget to the cable with the adapter, plug the mini usb prong into the solar panel housing and open the clam-shell charger in a sunny well lit environment and PRESTO….. you have juice!


[Verdict] This is a definite buy. Under controlled circumstances, the Folding Solar Power Charger absolutely worked as promised. I couldn’t think of a more suitable option for charging my gadgets when at the beach, camping, out playing ball or just plain away from a home or car than the Folding Solar Power Charger. It may not be the fastest way to charge your gadgets but when you have NO other option, make the Folding Solar Power Charger YOUR only option.


The Folding Solar Power Charger, along with a wide array of other excellent gadgets, is available for purchase at www.budgetgadgets.com and retails for $21.79. When placing your order on the website and upon check out be sure to use the discount code DM5OFF21 for a 5% discount on all items sitewide.