[pct-l] mp3 choices and charging

[arm chair]

Great observation, thanks. I don't know enough about all this to evaluate
the choice well and I appreciate the 'illumination'!

I was going to ask you some more questions, but I thought I would just call
the company directly.

Here's what the owner told me (as accurately as I can relate a long
conversation)

First he definitely agrees with you thoughts on the power consumption, the
http://store.sundancesolarcorp.com/poso4aafosob.html
only charges AA batteries. I asked about USB - no this charger won't do it.

On the F15-300:
http://store.sundancesolarcorp.com/po5wafosobac.html
It is the smallest of the series of foldable chargers.
It is OUT OF STOCK until perhaps March, April and he "is not holding his
breath", but wishes the manufacturer would start shipping the panels
quickly.
The choice of a female 12volt female lighter adapter: this is the best
default interface to all electronic devices, especially if you have several
different voltages or connector configurations. I have usb and camera
connectors etc. My USB voltages and amperages turn out to be different. My
Ipod works but my PDA requires a different voltage/amperage. They both
use USB connectors.
He sells a battery charger for AA and AAA batteries, several in fact. I
didn't ask which he recommends.

What IS AVAILABLE AND WORKS VERY WELL:
The F15-300 (folding) is out of stock, but the R15-300 (rolling) is
available and is quite similar.* *

The R15-300:
http://store.sundancesolarcorp.com/poror15wafls.html

As to connectors for it there are several
http://store.sundancesolar.com/porosepoposo.html


I solved my 12 volt adaptor problem by using an adapter system from IGO.com
http://www.igo.com/product.asp?sku=3379359
and made a choice of several voltage/amp tips :
http://www.igo.com/searchresults.asp?search_id=7

The IGO cable is a male car adaptor to user changeable tips. You can change
just the tip for different devices rather than carry several cable.


I hope the above is of interest to those looking for Solar Chargers. I
currently use the Solio with the IGO, but would be very interested to learn
how the R15-300 works out.

your semi-techie friend,
armchair


On 2/22/07, Hank Magnuski <hankm at ncast.com> wrote:
>
> On Thu, 22 Feb 2007, arm chair wrote:
>
> > Bear is hiking this year and has posted that this one was interesting:
> >
> > http://store.sundancesolarcorp.com/po5wafosobac.html
>
> This unit is also based on the PowerFilm cells, and produces more power
> than the
> unit below (4.62 watts vs. 1.44 watts). But it weighs more (6.08 oz. vs.
> 3.4 oz.) and if you use a 12V cigarette lighter type system to run a 5
> volt
> USB device, you are throwing away 58% of the generated power as heat (in
> down-converting to 5 volts) which is a waste of energy and weight.
>
> Adding that extra weight and size just to throw it away doesn't make sense
> to
> me. Thus I prefer the quad AA model.
>
> > > Sundance Solar has a quad AA solar charger for sale which is the
> lightest
> > > one
> > > I've seen on the market:
> > >
> > > http://store.sundancesolar.com/poso4aafosob.html
>
> Hank
>
>