View Full Version : Smartphone & charging/batteries
DrRichardCranium
03-22-2010, 09:54
What's the best way to deal with a smartphone (ie a Droid) & batteries?
I plan on leaving it in airplane mode on the trail (to save batteries), and using it to take a picture or two per day, and write notes in it. Then when I get to a town I would take it off airplane mode & transmit to my journal & check email, etc.
Should I:
1) Carry one or two extra batteries, and charge them all up when I'm in town, or
2) Get one of those AA-battery-powered re-charger thingies & recharge on the trail as needed or
3) some other strategy
Mrs Baggins
03-22-2010, 10:11
So far I'm finding that my Droid is eating the battery pretty quickly and I don't even use it every day. So I'd like to see the answers to your question, too.
Dobie Swift
03-22-2010, 10:15
What's the best way to deal with a smartphone (ie a Droid) & batteries?
I plan on leaving it in airplane mode on the trail (to save batteries), and using it to take a picture or two per day, and write notes in it. Then when I get to a town I would take it off airplane mode & transmit to my journal & check email, etc.
Should I:
1) Carry one or two extra batteries, and charge them all up when I'm in town, or
2) Get one of those AA-battery-powered re-charger thingies & recharge on the trail as needed or
3) some other strategy
I probably would have never bought one on my own, but I was given one of these as a gift:
http://www.solio.com/charger/solio-charger-classic.html
I used it for the first time yesterday morning to recharge my iPhone while on the Sheltowee Trace. It charged the phone nicely. I have yet to try charging it on solar only...
Having the same question, here is a link to an earlier thread where I posted some actual data for evaluation that might help you decide.
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?p=980618#post980618
Let us know what you decide.
I am also using one of the application killers that the earlier thread described so things are shut down. I did find things were running after I thought I had exited them.
I'm trying my Powerfilm USB&AA charger today. It's currently charging my Peek Pronto email device. If it charges that thing completely, I'll use the remaining capacity to top off my cell phone. After that, I'll discharge the AA batteries completely in my LaCrosse battery charger and then use the Powerfilm to charge them today, and then stick it in the LaCrosse again to see how the solar charger worked.
white_russian
03-22-2010, 11:21
I am a fan of the spare battery. The one for my smartphone is lighter and was cheaper than constantly buying more AAs.
SGT Rock
03-22-2010, 11:38
On the trail I carry a Motorola Q9C. I've tried one of the AA battery charger without any luck at all charging the thing off that. I ended up carrying a second battery and the charger for use in towns - but not the lightest solution by far. After doing some research on why my phone wouldn't charge off the AA battery charger I found that Motorola Smartphones (and some other Motorolas) have this issue. They won't even charge off a computer USB unless you install the drivers which do something to the voltage that the computer sends via the USB when it detects a Motorola phone attached.
What I finally hit on (for now) is a 1000mAh charger similar to this:
http://www.meritline.com/images/product/medium/209-797.jpg
It weighs 50 grams. Add 14 grams for a cable.
That will charge the phone if the phone is off.
I also carry one of these:
http://assets1.wmexperts.com/store_images/product_images/accessories/large/1092.jpg
it only weighs 24 grams. This lets me charge the extra battery while in town while I still have the phone on me working.
And, I found this:
http://media.mydoitbest.com/imagerequest.aspx?sku=817791&size=2&warehouse=C&newsize=200
This will charge my spare battery in the box above while I am on the trail. I haven't used it enough yet to know how many charges I can get off one charging of the Duracell thing, I do know it is more than one. I can also recharge this thing in town using the adapter and cable above. It weighs 43 grams.
On shorter trips I don't carry all this stuff.
I'm thinking of getting a Droid next year maybe. I figure it will have issues similar to my Motorola Q.
While airplane mode is good. Carry a charger for it and possibly a spare battery.
My own experience with a smartphone last year was to just turn it off except when I was using it to take a photo for my journal or typing up a journal entry to send. This would allow me to go more then a week on a single battery. If I needed to go longer, I carried a spare battery. I normally kept my battery charger in my bounce box, though I occasionally carried it with me. I had a small AC to USB wall plug and I swapped out the USB cable depending on if I was charging my phone or my music player.
What works best for you depends on how much you need to use it and drain its battery.
kayak karl
03-22-2010, 20:42
What I finally hit on (for now) is a 1000mAh charger similar to this:
http://www.meritline.com/images/product/medium/209-797.jpg
It weighs 50 grams. Add 14 grams for a cable.
That will charge the phone if the phone is off.
I also carry one of these:
http://assets1.wmexperts.com/store_images/product_images/accessories/large/1092.jpg
it only weighs 24 grams. This lets me charge the extra battery while in town while I still have the phone on me working.
And, I found this:
http://media.mydoitbest.com/imagerequest.aspx?sku=817791&size=2&warehouse=C&newsize=200
This will charge my spare battery in the box above while I am on the trail. I haven't used it enough yet to know how many charges I can get off one charging of the Duracell thing, I do know it is more than one. I can also recharge this thing in town using the adapter and cable above. It weighs 43 grams.
On shorter trips I don't carry all this stuff.
I'm thinking of getting a Droid next year maybe. I figure it will have issues similar to my Motorola Q.
i used the same stuff, but upgraded to the Curve from the Q. i carry two oversize batteries with the larger back cover. i make it 6 days with phone OFF till needed. in the winter below freezing that dropped to 4 days. battery backup chargers are great for emergency, but i would only get 15 minutes from 2 lithium.
Another option:
http://www.thepocketsolution.com/PSI-61340.html
DrRichardCranium
03-22-2010, 21:12
How well do solar chargers work in the Long Green Tunnel?
kayak karl
03-22-2010, 21:12
Another option:
http://www.thepocketsolution.com/PSI-61340.html
every solar i tried didn't cut it even in a kayak with no cover. did this one work for you.
Wise Old Owl
03-22-2010, 22:37
i used the same stuff, but upgraded to the Curve from the Q. i carry two oversize batteries with the larger back cover. i make it 6 days with phone OFF till needed. in the winter below freezing that dropped to 4 days. battery backup chargers are great for emergency, but i would only get 15 minutes from 2 lithium.
curve and q are two generic to google,
got a link?
I have been using a second battery as they hold a charge over a month loose, and they weigh nothing.
white_russian
03-22-2010, 23:04
curve and q are two generic to google,
got a link?
I have been using a second battery as they hold a charge over a month loose, and they weigh nothing.
Blackberry Curve and Motorola Q
Mrs Baggins
03-23-2010, 06:28
I just rec'd a new book from Amazon that I pre-ordered a couple of weeks ago - "The Droid Pocket Guide." It pretty much just recommends having one or two extra batteries. Amazon has the batteries and chargers for about 1/2 the usual retail price. With our first digital camera, taken to New Zealand for a 3 week trip, we had 3 batteries - one charged one in the camera, one charged one ready to go, and one in the charger when we had a power source. We never found ourselves without a charged battery that way and because we camped many nights we didn't always have a place to plug in a charger.
http://www.amazon.com/Powerhouse-Charger-Universal-Cable-Mini-USB/dp/B0039XZLPY/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1269341922&sr=8-14
I use this. I can charger it in towns, then it'll recharge my Ipod/MP3 player 12 full times, or my blackberry 4 or 5 times, before it needs recharging. I can be recharged in a car cigarette lighter, home electrical outlet, or via USB port on a computer. I love it.
SGT Rock
03-23-2010, 07:19
http://www.amazon.com/Powerhouse-Charger-Universal-Cable-Mini-USB/dp/B0039XZLPY/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1269341922&sr=8-14
I use this. I can charger it in towns, then it'll recharge my Ipod/MP3 player 12 full times, or my blackberry 4 or 5 times, before it needs recharging. I can be recharged in a car cigarette lighter, home electrical outlet, or via USB port on a computer. I love it.How much does it weigh?
I believe mine weighs between 7 and 8 ounces, but for me thats ok. I can fully charge my cell and MP3 player and with this charger fully charged, I can go about 10 - 11 days, with a fully charged phone and MP3. The MP3 will run about a hour or two a day, and the cell will be on all day long, but will be turned off at night
Look into using a charging source at www.RichardSolo.com (http://www.RichardSolo.com) and check out the BluePack S3. It's a great back up and will accomodate several smart phones as well as HTC.
My Powerfilm USB/AA solar charger is working great so far at keeping my Peek Pronto, Motorola cell phone and 2700 mah AA batteries charged. It's pretty fast too.
The Unknown Hiker
04-16-2010, 16:15
I carried my iPhone totally turned off (not airplane mode) to save as much juice as possible. Id turn on every day or so for signal check and retreive messages/ call home.
Whenever I stop at a post office I'd ask the employee if they would charge the phone for me behind the counter (so it wouldn't "walk off" from a lobby plug). They usually would. Even 45 minutes to an hour charge made a big difference when keeping the phone turned off.
I know there are folks carrying iPhones who use the iPod music feature to listen to music. But to save the iPhone battery I just carried a small, dirt-cheap mp3 player that ran off of a disposable AAA battery.
I am still in the grey realm of if i want to go solar. Yes i am very hopeful for the potential just havent convinced myself as to how efficient they work. Dobie Swift you talked about getting one of these as a gift: http://www.solio.com/charger/solio-charger-classic.html
could you give a more detailed review as far as how your liking and using it? I am very hopeful and optimistic for solar but just not sure it will meet my needs as of yet
I just got a droid (htc Hero) and the way it sucks up the battery and then the length of time it seems to take to fully charge it, I don't think I would waste space and weight with something to charge it. I like the idea of the extra batteries, and a charger in a bounce box. But then again by the time I do my thru this phone will be long gone. (2013)