Echarger Emergency Charger Product Review

Charging things like MP3 players and phones on the move has become big business. After the car charger was invented, then came the question of how to charge away from the home and the car. You can now get mini-turbines and solar panels like the Solio Hybrid we reviewed. This emergency charger from Echarger is basically a way to connect an AA battery to any device and give it a charge in an, er, emergency.

And it works pretty well actually. I was impressed with it. You just find the right connector and connect it to your device and let it do it’s business. You can use a normal AA battery or a rechargeable one - other size batteries doesn’t fit.

I used a 2700 mAh rechargeable battery to charge my MP3 player through a mini USB connection and after about 45 mins it filled up one bar - which doesn’t sound a lot but is similar to the main and gave a good hours worth of listening. And even when the battery couldn’t charge anymore it the little LED flashlight still worked on any residual battery life that remained. It won’t light up a whole room but could help you find you keys in the dark.

It comes with a wide range of connectors, although the Sony Ericsson adapter was the old style so I couldn’t check how well it charged my phone - you can contact Echarger for a new one. Another nifty feature is that if you put a rechargeable battery in it then you can connect it to your computer and charge it up off the USB.

I find it a handy little device to have around, it measures only about 8cm long so you can even keep it in your pocket when you’re out hiking. As with all these charging devices, the product itself isn’t made from environmentally-friendly materials, but if you used a rechargeable battery and plug it into the computer while it’s on ayway, then you have a pretty green way of charging.

Available from Echarger, the emergency charger costs £15.

Oscar USB Hub Eco Product Review

The United Pepper Oscar USB Hub is another device that attempts to take an eco-friendly approach to electronics in addition to their Lili webcam we’ve previously reviewed.

Designed in Belgium, and made in Vietnam the Oscar USB hub is made from 70% Fair Trade components. Removing as much of the plastic as possible, the usb hub is made from paperboard, cotton and kapok, and comes in red, blue or green (we got a green one of course!).

There’s not much to say about it, it looks cute, came in 100% PET recycled packaging, is only just over 6cm (about 2.5″), and has four USB sockets. It connects to your computer via a USB lead that connects to the hub via a mini-USB socket, so if you need a longer lead they’re easy to find.

Available for $30 or €25 from United Pepper it’s a nice sustainable approach to electronics.

Echarger Mobile Solar Charger Product Review

Solar charging has almost become the method of choice of charging gadgets on the move. With products like the Solio Hybrid, if you live somewhere sunny it’s an easy decision to make. But what about in less sunny climes? Well in the UK, Echarger has launched theMobile Solar Charger.

Unlike the Solio, it doesn’t have an internal battery so you’ll need to put in up to three rechargeable batteries and then unfold the case to reveal the solar panels. Then it’s up to the sun. You can also use it to charge the batteries through your computer using the USB cable, but I went for six hours in the British sun. And it was a lovely day so I hoped for good results.

It was recommended that I use 1600mAh rechargeable batteries for best performance but as I’ve only got 2700mAh ones I had to make do. The charger comes with a few connectors - Nokia, Sony Ericsson, iPod, USB and one for the Nintendo DS so that’s what I decided to try and charge with it afterwards. I left it alone to charge although you can play it while its charging (but I didn’t) and the three batteries gave one and a half hours of charging. This translated to almost an hour and a quarter of game play on the DS before it died - and that was with full sound and the screen brightness at maximum. Which is pretty good really.

The downside is that although the charger is portable in size, you can’t really use it on the move - it doesn’t attach to a backpack like the Solio Hybrid for example. Also as a piece of electronics it’s not made from environmentally friendly materials, but using rechargeable batteries powered by the sun is better than using the mains or normal batteries.

The Mobile Solar Charger costs £30 from Echarger.

Lili Webcam Eco Product Review

The United Pepper Lili Webcam is one of the first sustainable design electronics, and certainly the first sustainable webcam I’ve come across.

Made from sand, cotton and kapok, the Belgian designers (it’s manufactured in Vietnam) have tried to remove as much plastic as possible. 70% of the material is Fair Trade, and it comes in recycled (PET) packaging.

As a webcam itself it’s not bad. A 1.3 megapixel camera does the job as a webcam but don’t expect to be producing quality recordings with it. It has a built in microphone and when communicating with family it works great, though the colors can be a little washed out. The sand filled legs are flexible that makes it easier to position on difficult surfaces.

The test version I’ve got strangely has a seperate plug for the microphone socket, as well as the USB connector, though I’m not sure if it’s like that in the final product. Installation was on a minin-CD and was pretty simple though novices might find the lack of clear English and full instructions a little tricky. It has a manual focus lens too which actually made some things easier to see than my much more expensive webcam.

Overall, for a simple webcam with a built in microphone you can do worse, and for a sustainable webcam, you can’t do better. Available for $45 or €40 from United Pepper.

Solar Shaver Eco Product Review

I like the idea of a solar shaver, available from Nigel’s Eco Store. It’s clearly designed for traveling with a nice picture of an airplane on it. Leave it out in the sun for a few hours (or days if you forget about it like me), and it’s fully powered for your, er, shaving needs.

I use a razor usually and found changing to a shaver a little difficult. For a start this one just didn’t get that close, it was an effort to get a clean shave. I could have shaved my whole face by the time I had done one cheek with this. I’m not sure whether it was this shaver or electric ones in general. It is pretty handy, it’s small enough not to be cumbersome, either when carrying around or using. The only problem was when it ran out of juice (it lasts surprisingly long), you then have to put it in the sun for a while to recharge it. With half a shaved face.

With an intergrated cleaning brush in the cap, the solar shaver is available from Nigel’s Eco Store for £29.99.

Solio Solar Charger Product Review

The Solio H1000 is a universal charger for electronic devices that stores power, either from an electrical socket or from solar energy - a “hybrid” charger. I was sent one on loan for a 3 month trial on behalf of the manufacturers, Better Energy Systems.

As you can see I was sent a lovely orange one, but other colours are available. The Solio is dubbed a “hybrid” device because it accepts power from either a standard wall socket or the sun. Unlike standard chargers it uses no energy when plugged into a wall socket and not attached to a device (once charged of course).

It can store this energy within its internal battery for up to one year, and can be used any time for on-the-go charging of most portable electronics devices. It comes with several plug attachments, one for Nokia phones, a mini USB connection, and a female USB connector (see the photo for more details). It also comes with a USB connector to charge the Solio if you have not charged it from the sun. There is no wall socket adaptor when you buy it, this can be purchased for additional cost (probably to encourage you to use the solar panel), as well as an iPod connector, 12V car charger adaptor, Gameboy, Motorola adaptor and so on.

 

My testing with the Solio didn’t get off to a perfect start, I was unable to charge it from the sun, I had to charge it through the USB connection to my PC. I don’t know why, but leaving it in the sun initially had no effect - it did of course later on.

Despite the device being simple and having only one button and two lights (one red and one green) it was at first a little confusing to wonder what all the light flashes meant. The instruction manual is in pictures rather than words which helps transcend the language barrier but doesn’t particularly help with other aspects of its operation. After the first use though it all became clear.

The device itself comes in several colours, and as you can see from the pictures it has a clip for attaching to backpacks etc, which came in handy once on a walk and in a coffee shop when my mp3 player battery died. It’s also a great conversation piece! Talking of mp3 players, I’ve tested it on two, an iRiver S10 and a Creative Zen:M.

The iRiver charged perfectly as you can see from the picture and the video above, I just used the female USB to connect this up. The Zen did not seem to charge up (via the mini USB), however it seemed to accept this as if it was a wall socket connection, and essentially powered the Zen during operation rather than charging the battery. In a way it achieved the same goal - using the device - however in this case I had to have to Solio connected if I wanted to use the device, rather than charging it for a while and using it separately. Maybe it was just me, I’m not sure if this is usual or deliberate, but it wasn’t a problem.

Overall I think it’s a useful product, it survived a trip to Europe and back, the auto show in Detroit and once again proved handy in airports and train stations where all the sockets were taken up by laptop users. Currently you can get 10% off a Solio by visiting the Life Goggles Reviews and Shop page.

If you’ve used the Solio, or a similar device, why not leave a comment below or drop us a line and let us know your thoughts?

Product Review: Spooner - Recycled Bottle Opener From ECOutlet

As you may have gathered elsewhere on the site, I like reusing things more than recycling. And this reused (or as they call it ‘recycled’) bottle opener is a great example. The Spooner is basically it’s a dessert spoon with a hole in it that will open bottles. And that’s it. It’s simple and works.

It’s one of those things where you think why haven’t you seen it before. The hole is an attractive star shape and each spoon differs as they used to be actual spoons so from different sets. You may think what was wrong with it as spoon, well not much. Mine is a bit worn and the rounded end is dented a bit which would probably be uncomfortable in the mouth. The spoons have been picked up at car boot sales, markets and auction sites and transformed by hand.

At first it seems odd that the star-shaped hole can deal with bottle tops, but deal with them it does. I got slightly overexcited when testing it and used it as an excuse to buy various bottle beers to see if it could open the all. I even played with the technique of using the long handle as a lever and then just using the ’spoon’ part and both ways work well.

I love it even more than my Homer Simpson one that talks to me and I keep it hung on the cupboard handle by the fridge for when I’m in desperate need of a drink. Which is often.

A snip at only a fiver, they can be found at online ECOutlet. While we’re on the subject of ECOutlet, they have a great little points scheme when you buy stuff which doesn’t really help you, but helps the environment instead. You can find out more here.